We Love Wednesdays - Uprooted by Naomi Novik

We Love Wednesdays is a chance for our team to give you a look at some great books. Every month, we'll be choosing a theme, and our Wednesday posts will tell you why we love these books. July 31st is the launch of the new Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. As such, our theme this month is Magic and Wizards.

 

“It comes, I suppose,” I said thoughtfully, speaking to the air, “of spending too much time alone indoors, and forgetting that living things don’t always stay where you put them.”

Avid fantasy readers have no doubt heard of Naomi Novik, although most probably for her well established ‘Temeraire’ series, ‘Uprooted’ is her latest novel. It’s a standalone story which is completely removed from her other works and is more akin to a modern day fairy tale than her Napoleonic (with a twist) series.

In all honesty I would have rather read Uprooted after reading Temeraire, simply because I’m a fan of experiencing an authors progression in both writing style and narrative capability, but this was chosen as Bracknell's reading group title for June and within a few pages I was glad it was!

First impressions were pretty strong. In a few sentences Novik had established her fantasy world. It was one with immense character and had a subtle charm. Her main character, Agnieszka, was incredibly relatable and held some fairly believable flaws which boosted her innocent charm. We are carried through the novel by Agnieszka’s voice and experience the story from her point of view. It can be hard for authors to get the first person narrative correct, but it became evident very early on that this wouldn’t be a problem in Uprooted as the world came to life at a well measured pace with easy to follow descriptions.

Enter: The Dragon. Your typical, misunderstood anti-hero. A wizard who protects the villages, with the only price being a 17 year old girl once every ten years.

It's an outlandish concept, but one which is strangely hard to question in the world of Uprooted. You see, there is an evil, only really referred to as ‘The Wood’, and this evil is very evil. The Dragon protects the residents from being corrupted by the wood which is very much worth the ten years of captivity of a young girl.

The wood is where the novel really shines. It depicts the evil as a power, not simply a person with ill intent but the actual concept of the wood is where the danger lies and the idea is fantastic. The darkness of an incorporeal being perfectly complements the light charm of the setting and the perceived innocence of the cast. The wood seems omnipotent and immensely powerful but its the fear the wood creates that is displayed, not simply the physical power that is contains.

It was the kind of concept I haven’t seen utilised this well since the Necromancer in ‘The Hobbit’. Novik focuses on building up her characters and the looming fear in the first half of the novel and I’m really glad she did as it led to some really entertaining reading.

All in all, this is a modern day fairy-tale that is easy to grasp and flows with steady confidence. It has a darkness to it, but the light heartedness of the characters and the general setting puts you under an easy charm that leaves you grinning even during the darkest moments.

It may be time to finally dust off my copy of Temeraire.

Jamie Harper

Senior Bookseller, Waterstones Bracknell.

If you like the sound of Naomi Novik's Uprooted, then why not click and collect it in your local branch? Click here to visit Waterstones.com and reserve this item in store.