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Uprooted by Naomi Novik
I finally read Uprooted, by Naomi Novik! I know some of you have read it, because I remember seeing posts about it on my flist/DW (which I avoided reading at the time for spoiler reasons). Come talk to me about it!
I really enjoyed it! I loved the world, especially that it was a fantasy world built around Eastern Europe, which is not something you see much in Western/English-language fantasy (actually, the only other one I can think of is CJ Cherryh's Rusalka). I assume from the author's surname that she's drawing on her own cultural history here. And I loved the characters and relationships. Generally I found it unputdownable a lot of the time. I haven't been reading a whole lot of fantasy lately, and this reminded me how hard good fantasy can pull me in.
I spent a lot of the book not entirely sure if Kaskia or Sarkan was being set up as Agnieszka's main love interest -- not in a love-triangle sort of way, but rather because of her emotional intensity toward both of them. I was happy with how it worked out, but would've been just as happy the other way. Both relationships pushed a lot of buttons for me (hypercompetent grumpy mentor + young female mentee is A Thing for me, as are "die for you" friendships). And I liked that her entire network of relationships with people, and with the land, was important, and that she was a village-witch, Tiffany Aching kind of person, who cared about the trickle-down effect of her actions on people around her, and even empathized with her enemies and wanted to heal them rather than kill them.
The only part of the book that didn't grab me so much was the middle, which felt draggy and slow compared to the rest. I don't know if it was because of Agnieszka being separated from her loved ones and valley for a lot of it, but even though plenty of stuff DID happen, it felt like it bogged down in interminable council scenes and court intrigue. And then it picked right back up again as soon as they had to flee the city. I don't know, it might just be a feature of my personal reading tastes.
I wasn't expecting the plot to escalate as fast as it did. Chekhov's guns didn't sit around very long before being fired, and then there would be an EVEN BIGGER gun, which might be one reason why I felt like a little momentum got lost in the middle; there's only so long you can keep going up before you need a breather, but then it's hard to keep from flagging when it's been nonstop crises up to this point, even if the crises are still ongoing (but less critically WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE AT THIS VERY MOMENT). Generally though, it was a satisfying and rewarding book for me, and I loved the ending.
I got this from the library, but I'll probably end up buying it eventually, because I think I will be wanting to reread it.
I really enjoyed it! I loved the world, especially that it was a fantasy world built around Eastern Europe, which is not something you see much in Western/English-language fantasy (actually, the only other one I can think of is CJ Cherryh's Rusalka). I assume from the author's surname that she's drawing on her own cultural history here. And I loved the characters and relationships. Generally I found it unputdownable a lot of the time. I haven't been reading a whole lot of fantasy lately, and this reminded me how hard good fantasy can pull me in.
I spent a lot of the book not entirely sure if Kaskia or Sarkan was being set up as Agnieszka's main love interest -- not in a love-triangle sort of way, but rather because of her emotional intensity toward both of them. I was happy with how it worked out, but would've been just as happy the other way. Both relationships pushed a lot of buttons for me (hypercompetent grumpy mentor + young female mentee is A Thing for me, as are "die for you" friendships). And I liked that her entire network of relationships with people, and with the land, was important, and that she was a village-witch, Tiffany Aching kind of person, who cared about the trickle-down effect of her actions on people around her, and even empathized with her enemies and wanted to heal them rather than kill them.
The only part of the book that didn't grab me so much was the middle, which felt draggy and slow compared to the rest. I don't know if it was because of Agnieszka being separated from her loved ones and valley for a lot of it, but even though plenty of stuff DID happen, it felt like it bogged down in interminable council scenes and court intrigue. And then it picked right back up again as soon as they had to flee the city. I don't know, it might just be a feature of my personal reading tastes.
I wasn't expecting the plot to escalate as fast as it did. Chekhov's guns didn't sit around very long before being fired, and then there would be an EVEN BIGGER gun, which might be one reason why I felt like a little momentum got lost in the middle; there's only so long you can keep going up before you need a breather, but then it's hard to keep from flagging when it's been nonstop crises up to this point, even if the crises are still ongoing (but less critically WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE AT THIS VERY MOMENT). Generally though, it was a satisfying and rewarding book for me, and I loved the ending.
I got this from the library, but I'll probably end up buying it eventually, because I think I will be wanting to reread it.
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