The River Has Roots
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4.4 • 33 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
AN INDIE NEXT AND LIBRARYREADS PICK!
The River Has Roots is the hugely anticipated solo debut of the New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award winning author Amal El-Mohtar. Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.
"Half delicious murder ballad, half beguiling love story." —Holly Black • "An absolute must-read." —T. Kingfisher • "Every sentence sings!" —Sarah Beth Durst • "Utterly enchanting." —Fonda Lee • "A story that outlasts itself." —Alix E. Harrow • "Truly exquisite." —Zoraida Córdova • "A beautiful, musical, and loving story." —Emma Törzs
“Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.”
In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.
There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.
But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This spellbinding fairy tale, the solo debut from Hugo Award winner El-Mohtar (coauthor of This Is How You Lose the Time War), introduces the Hawthorn family, who have tended the willow trees separating their human village from the land of Faerie, also known as Arcadia, for generations. The magical willow wood is most often harvested for practical things like furniture or wandmaking, but through the years a "foolhardy few" have been brave and reckless enough to attempt to harvest magic directly from the trees. The latest generation of caretakers are sisters Esther and Ysabel, who fulfill their family's pact to the land by singing to the willows every night to thank them for their magic. Though the sisters are inseparable as children, as they grow older their interests diverge—a rift exacerbated by Esther's romantic entanglement with a mysterious Arcadian called Rin. When the sisters' smarmy neighbor, Samuel Pollard, becomes insistent in his proposition to marry Esther and thereby expand both their families' businesses, Esther must decide once and for all between her mortal ties and her love for Rin. Though the abstract magic system, dubbed "grammar," proves difficult to grasp, El-Mohtar's ethereal prose paints a clear picture of the unbreakable bond between her worthy heroines. Readers will be captivated.
Customer Reviews
New and refreshing fantasy!
“The River Has Roots” is a 2025 Novella by Amal El-Mohtar, and her first full length solo work. It’s an alternate world fantasy, with many elements that the reader will recognize from similar works. It is mostly a tale of two sisters, who live by a magical river which runs out of Faerie (which is known here as Arcadia). This river’s magic is known as grammar, as it allows things to be named and renamed, and thus made and remade. This is again a familiar trope, but used in a different way.
The sisters live near the border with Arcadia, and have actually visited there once when young. The younger sister has met someone from this magical realm, and both have become enamored with each other. However, a more mundane suitor from the world of men also seeks to court her, and this human man does not take no for an answer. This conflict leads to tragedy. But in a world where magic flows and transforms, there are still options.
I found this novella to be an interesting and refreshing fantasy, which seems like a mature fairy tale. It has some darkness, but in the end everything turns out for the best. I look forward to future works by the author, and it seems that there will soon be a short story collection released. My version of the e-book contained the bonus story “John Hollowback and the Witch” which will be included in this collection. This was a good story in itself, so I look forward to this next publication.
Lyrical but very short read
This is a lyrical story that is very short. I don’t know why the Apple Books store says it’s 144 pages; the ebook is 88 pages including extraneous material at the front and back, with the actual story running from page 7 to 61, including several full-page illustrations. While I found the story gripping, personally I think $12.99 for less than 50 pages of a long short story/short novella is a ridiculous price, hence my docking a star.