Uprooted
A Novel
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4.5 • 982 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
NEBULA AWARD WINNER • HUGO AWARD FINALIST • “If you want a fantasy with strong characters and brilliantly original variations on ancient stories, try Uprooted!”—Rick Riordan
“Breathtaking . . . a tale that is both elegantly grand and earthily humble, familiar as a Grimm fairy tale yet fresh, original, and totally irresistible.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, BuzzFeed, Tordotcom, BookPage, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
Praise for Uprooted
“Uprooted has leapt forward to claim the title of Best Book I’ve Read Yet This Year. . . . Moving, heartbreaking, and thoroughly satisfying, Uprooted is the fantasy novel I feel I’ve been waiting a lifetime for. Clear your schedule before picking it up, because you won’t want to put it down.”—NPR
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this breathtaking departure from her Temeraire alternate history series, Novik drops readers into an instantly immersive Polish fairy tale. The so-called Dragon is actually a man a wizard who takes young women from a rural village as payment for protecting the region from the poisonous influence of the evil Wood. When Agnieszka is chosen to serve the Dragon for 10 years, she finds within herself a rare and incredible talent for magic. She is disaster prone and homesick, but nonetheless steps up to the role of heroine when the situation demands it. Soon, Agnieszka's fabulous journey expands to encompass a deadly quest, the terrible glamor of a royal court, a true and unbreakable friendship, and just a touch of romance. Novik's use of language is supremely skillful as she weaves a tale that is both elegantly grand and earthily humble, familiar as a Grimm fairy tale yet fresh, original, and totally irresistible. This will be a must-read for fantasy fans for years to come.
Customer Reviews
I am moved!!
An exceptional novel, forever a fan🫶🏼❣️
Beautiful story, Relatable Heroine You Want To Root For
I love the way the story is written, as though you’re an observer peeking in on this section of time. There are subtle threads of romance but the story is really about a woman coming into her own during a tough adventure. 10/10 would recommend！
Expected More
I went into this book with high expectations, and sadly to say I was let down a bit. I’ll start with the positives first; I absolutely loved the world building and the writing. The descriptions of the Wood and how the characters interacted with it always left me uneasy; I felt as if I was there and struggling to understand it’s mysteries with the characters. I was completely immersed whenever I picked up reading this book, and could understand the scene the main character was describing. I enjoyed reading about the politics as well as the magic mechanics in this world, as they were completely different and unique to what I’ve read in the past. There was loads of ideas and thought put into creating this world and the magic system.
To the negatives I have about this book, some of the characters were forgettable and the relationships were not well-developed. Agnieszka and Kasia as characters and their strong bond was lovely to read, while others were left to be desired. The Dragon/Sarkan, for example, never had any sort of character development and remained the same throughout the entire novel. He felt very bland and forgettable, while also being extremely rude to Agnieszka for no reason. Their romantic relationship had no development or build-up, I felt I had just been smacked across the face when the first the “romantic”scene occurred, because it came out of left field completely and made absolutely no sense. There was no chemistry or “playful” banter whatsoever, it was just Sarkan being overly cruel even after being saved multiple times by Agnieszka (never even said thank you??). I don’t understand what Agnieszka could ever see in him after how he treated her. I felt I would’ve been more satisfied if there had been no romance at all and more time was spent on developing characters.
Overall, I did enjoy the book and I am glad to have finally read it. I just think it could’ve been greatly improved in certain areas.