If there was a drawback to reading fantasy, it’s that you usually end up reading a book series. It’s not that I don’t love a good fantasy series (hello, Wheel of Time and His Dark Materials), it’s just that a lot of work goes into reading several volumes of a single title. When reading the installments one after another, you risk getting tired of the characters, which was the case why I had to bench my reading of the second half of Terry Goodkind‘s Sword of Truth series a few years ago and have yet to return to it. And if you’re staggered in your reading or are waiting for the next volume to come out, you end up forgetting some details or feel the need to review the earlier books. Whichever the scenario, book series reading requires a level of commitment that you can’t fully practice, no matter how much you actually want to commit, if you’re struggling to find time to read with a toddler running around. But I can never let go of fantasy and I will always find myself wanting to read a title in that genre, so I decided to put more effort in finding standalone titles.
With the jellybean gaining a measure of independence and learning to play by herself, I’ve been slowly reclaiming pockets of time to devote to reading and watching. It’s never quite enough but I try to work with what I can get. And it helps when you find standalone titles like Uprooted by Naomi Novik that feels like a reward when you read it.
Agnieszka has lived her entire life in a small village bordering the Wood, where strange creatures lurk and those who are unfortunate enough to enter it (and not always voluntarily) come out strange themselves. The only thing that keeps the Wood from overtaking the various villages that surround it on their side of the kingdom is the Dragon, who is actually not a dragon but is instead an immortal human wizard who only leaves his tower for three reasons… to deal with the dangers of the Wood, to go visit the King when summoned, and to collect the tributes from the villages he protects. Every ten years, a seventeen year old girl is taken as part of the tribute. She resides with the Dragon for a decade and returns to her village with a pouch full of silver for her dowry. But none of the girls stay for long, leaving the valley for greater opportunities far from the Wood and there’s also the rumors that they might be ruined for marriage anyway. Agnieszka is among the girls who would be of the right age in the coming choosing, but everyone knows that it’s her friend Kasia, who is far more special, who would be chosen. Surprisingly, and despite the Dragon’s obvious distaste, Agnieszka is the one chosen instead.
I tried not to be too excited about Uprooted, because I was still not yet familiar with author Naomi Novik’s works and didn’t want to be too caught up in the hubbub of the news of a film adaptation (worse fiction titles have been adapted). And I have been wrong before about liking popular books (I’m looking at you, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children). But as I progressed in my reading of Uprooted, it was easy enough for my neutrality, and whatever skepticism I was harboring, to disappear.
Uprooted is more than an enjoyable read, featuring a gem of a female lead character. When the storytelling is told in the first-person viewpoint, it doesn’t always necessarily equate to characters you can empathize with or actually understand. I’ve encountered more than my fair share of titles where I finished a first-person viewpoint story and had a hard time describing the narrator’s actual personality afterwards. Not so with Agnieszka. She is expressive and loyal to those she cares about, but also prone to fits of tantrum and outbursts, much to the dismay of the Dragon, who enjoys order and fine things. She seems wild and uncouth to him, what with her ability to dirty herself at every possible opportunity. And when it is revealed that she was chosen because of her own ability to become a witch, her magic reflects how the Dragon perceives her and forcing the wizard to find a system of education less conventional than he would have liked.
And boy, does Agnieszka and the Dragon clash. With glares and harsh words on his part, and silent rebellion when arguments don’t work on her part. Yet, somehow, you know that they fit together. That Naomi Novik will ensure that they will find reasons to find the other an essential part of their lives. In Agnieszka, the Dragon finds a different viewpoint that just might help in their long war with the Wood and possibly consider making a personal connection after long years of solitude in the Tower, despite the girls he chooses every decade. And in him, she finds the challenge that would make her grow as a young woman and as a witch. Their magic, so vastly different yet so complementary in the most surprising ways, reflect their personalities.
With Agnieszka’s selection to stay at the Dragon’s tower, her world is expanded beyond the valley that her village is a part of. In rescuing a loved one from the Wood, the repercussions include meeting the ambitious Prince Marek, who isn’t shy of his desires to rescue his mother from her twenty year imprisonment in the Wood. His political maneuvering places Agnieszka in a position of spotlight, one that she could only hope to use to protect Kasia and to gain help in fighting against the Wood.
Uprooted offers a lot for a standalone novel, with Agnieszka facing one challenge after another, conflicts with both the magical and human variety. Naomi Novik is excellent at building up the tension, which is reflected in Agnieszka’s sense of dread. And when the conflict comes to fighting, reading through the action scenes can leave you breathless at everything the author dishes out. Agnieszka grows beautifully throughout it all, bad calls and missteps included. There is a realness to her personality that makes her lovable, even if you know she can be intractable, because you know that she will adapt when needed. With everything that happens to her, it’s hard to forget she’s actually a teenager, but when you do remember, you place value in witnessing her grow into her own person.
In truth, there are enough events in Uprooted that can be expanded into its own book series, but I’m glad that Naomi Novik chose to fit it all in a single volume. Because when you consider the gravity of the various events that Agnieszka and the Dragon go through, as exhausting as it was to read them in succession, it makes the ending of Uprooted supremely satisfying. It’s been days since I finished reading its final pages, and I savor it still.
Happy reading!!
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