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Uprooted

Naomi Novik

Start date: December 21, 2017

Finish date: January 14, 2017

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Andrea

Why we're reading this: Group Contemporary novel discussion December 2017
Nebula Award for Best Novel 2015.
Hugo Award nominee for …more
[close] Group Contemporary novel discussion December 2017
Nebula Award for Best Novel 2015.
Hugo Award nominee for Best novel of 2015.

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What Members Thought

Jun 22, 2015 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, witches, magic, female-hero, read-in-2015

Naomi Novik, the popular author of the Temeraire alternate history fantasy with dragons, latest book "Uprooted" is an instant classic, one of the best fantasy books on this year or any year. A beguiling, enchanting delight, this novel succeeds on every level, the first half being nearly flawless and the second half, a powerful magical tale with real relationships, conflict, valor and magical battles. A beauty and the beast story, but combined with a nasty evil character, humor, love and compelli Naomi Novik, the popular author of the Temeraire alternate history fantasy with dragons, latest book "Uprooted" is an instant classic, one of the best fantasy books on this year or any year. A beguiling, enchanting delight, this novel succeeds on every level, the first half being nearly flawless and the second half, a powerful magical tale with real relationships, conflict, valor and magical battles. A beauty and the beast story, but combined with a nasty evil character, humor, love and compelling in every way, this is the type of fantasy that everyone should be reading.

The Dragon, a great Wizard lives in a tower near the haunted Woods, the home of a malignant evil. Every ten years, the Dragon comes to all the towns where he picks one young lady to be his servant. Agnieszka thinks her friend Kasia, beautiful, perfect Kasia will be picked, but instead the Dragon discovers something about Nieshka, that she does not even know and takes her to his tower.

There he will treat her like a servant and force feed her simple magical cantrips but Nieshka is slow to learn the simple spells and the Dragon, a gruff, aristocratic master, does not know how to deal with the simple Nieshka, a village girl and not an aristocrat.

When a magical calamity threatens her town, and the Dragon is gone on a separate mission, Nieshka climbs down from the Tower via a long rope and makes her way to the threatened village with some stolen Dragon potions, but in the aftermath, the Dragon is wounded, and it is up to Nieshka to try to heal him of evil corruption from the Woods. She succeeds spectacularly, but in a way that shocks the Dragon and thwarts the Woods plan.

Novik's evil Woods is much more than a dark, monstrous foreboding place. Enlivened by an evil, malignant seemingly eternal monster who lives in the Woods, who uses magic to attack the humans of Nieshka's valley and her land, this Woods is a perfectly conceived enemy, which uses walking trees, animated giant preying mantises and wolves to attack.

The Dragon is nonplused and amazed, but her power is there and they start to work together. More than magic soon sparkles, as the ornate Dragon and the messy witch join their magic and lives to powerful effect. Soon they are able to save another young victim of the Woods.

But all is not rosy, and the Woods has deep tentacles. When a Prince finds out the Nieshka and the Dragon can counteract the Woods evil entrapment, he seeks to have them rescue his missing mother, the queen of the realm, who has been a prisoner of the Woods for years.

Nieshka travels back to the capital with the prince and his mage, without the Dragon. While her magic is acknowledged, her insights are dismissed. The Woods is not taking Nieshka and the Dragon's victories lightly, and is able to plan a magical assault again.

Nieshka and the Dragon will have to join forces against the Woods in the very heart of her empire.

This is a the type of book that you keep going back to - to read snippets of characters and action. It makes you feel good and want to read another book immediately after to capture the same feeling. But a book this good only comes along once in a while.

Read it.

...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Feb 18, 2020 Tani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: female-author, fantasy-romance, fantasy, favorites, five-stars, 2020-novels, sff-2020, sff-explorer-2020, sff-ladies-2020, sff-awards-2020

Why is it so hard to review the books that I love? Let's just say that this one felt like it was written for me, and leave it at that. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

May 22, 2017 flajol rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-these-books, witches-wiccans-wizards-mages, fantasy, mythic

Oh my goodness, I loved this book! A real fairy-tale feel to it, and it had me gripped all the way through.

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Nov 02, 2022 Kimberly rated it liked it

This book was okay. I read it because I saw it mentioned on a lot of other fairytale-fantasy type book reviews, but it fell a little flat for me. I love the concept of the woods, but don't know if I love the way it unfolded. Kind of disappointed with the way it ended. ...more

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