Uprooted

by Naomi Novik

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804179058
Publisher:	Random House Worlds
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	14,642
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	960L (what's this?)

About the Author

Naomi Novik is the New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves, the award-winning novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and the Temeraire series. She is a founder of the Organization for Transformative Works and the Archive of Our Own. She lives in New York City with her family and six computers.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Uprooted"
by .
Copyright © 2016 Naomi Novik.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

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

“A very enjoyable fantasy with the air of a modern classic . . . Naomi Novik skillfully takes the fairy-tale-turned-bildungsroman structure of her premise . . . and builds enough flesh on those bones to make a very different animal. . . . The vivid characters around her also echo their fairy-tale forebears, but are grounded in real-world ambivalence that makes this book feel quietly mature, its world lived-in.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Novik here delivers a tale that is funny and fast-paced, laced with hair-raising battle scenes and conspiracies; it also touches on deeper ecological concerns we grapple with today.”—The Washington Post

“Novik takes us on a surprise-filled journey. . . . The resulting warmth and intimacy provide a nicely nurturing environment for her heroine’s unusual adventures.”—The Seattle Times

“Drawing on her Polish heritage and fairy-tale tropes, [Novik] has penned an original and fully realized fantastical place guaranteed to enthrall her longtime fans and attract new readers. This exceptional fantasy for adult and teen readers should appeal to those who love fairy-tale influenced stories such as Robin McKinley’s Spindle’s End.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Every so often you come upon a story that seems like a lost tale of Grimm newly come to light. Uprooted is such a novel. Its narrative spell is confidently wrought and sympathetically cast. I might even call it bewitching.”—Gregory Maguire, bestselling author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon

“The magic in Uprooted, with its realistic moral dimension, is so vividly believable that it almost seems you could work the spells. But the book will do that for you.”—Ursula K. Le Guin, award-winning and bestselling author of The Earthsea cycle

“Uprooted has everything I love: a great heroine, new takes on old myths and legends, and surprising twists and turns. A delight.”—Cassandra Clare, New York Times bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments series

“Magical and practical, otherworldly and planted in the real, I could not stop reading this book and neither will you!”—Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen

“Wild, thrilling, and deeply, darkly magical. An instant classic.”—Lev Grossman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Magicians Trilogy

From the Publisher

Plain but hyper-talented Agnieszka could risk cliché, but even without Novik's tweaks to the formula, she makes for a gripping narrator, pragmatically personable but tapped into the lyric. The vivid characters around her also echo their fairy-tale forebears, but are grounded in real-world ambivalence that makes this book feel quietly mature, its world lived-in…Agnieszka's brisk narration and shrewd, shorthand observations of character make Uprooted a very enjoyable fantasy with the air of a modern classic.

The New York Times Book Review - Genevieve Valentine

★ 03/16/2015
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. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ 04/15/2015
Agnieszka has no plans to leave her village on the edge of the forest until she is unexpectedly chosen to serve the local wizard, a mysterious man known as the Dragon. Agnieszka's exploration of her new life coincides with an attack from the deadly sentient forest, a kissing queen, and a prince on a quest. Novik's newest is a departure from her previous military influenced Napoleonic dragon fantasies (most recently seen in Blood of Tyrants), so much so that readers can't be blamed for thinking it's a completely different writer. Drawing on her Polish heritage and fairy-tale tropes, the author has penned an original and fully realized fantastical place guaranteed to enthrall her longtime fans and attract new readers. VERDICT This exceptional fantasy for adult and teen readers should appeal to those who love fairy tale-influenced stories such as Robin McKinley's Spindle's End. [Five-city tour; library marketing.]—Jessica Moyer, Sch. of Information Studies, Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Library Journal

Novik’s sure-footed fantasy about a young woman and a mysterious magician is destined to become a classic of the genre. However, Julia Emelin’s narration, while not without its highlights, is not equal to the book. Emelin employs a thick Eastern European accent that helps solidify the setting, and she does an excellent job pronouncing the Russian- and Polish-influenced character names as well as the magical language used by witches and wizards. But her delivery ranges from expressive to wooden, and her character voices blend together to the point of indistinguishability. Also, mispronunciations marr the performance, included repeated mispronunciations of the words “iron” and “drawing.” Dedicated fantasy fans will stick around for the wonderful story, but other listeners may be put off by the performance. E.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

Novik’s sure-footed fantasy about a young woman and a mysterious magician is destined to become a classic of the genre. However, Julia Emelin’s narration, while not without its highlights, is not equal to the book. Emelin employs a thick Eastern European accent that helps solidify the setting, and she does an excellent job pronouncing the Russian- and Polish-influenced character names as well as the magical language used by witches and wizards. But her delivery ranges from expressive to wooden, and her character voices blend together to the point of indistinguishability. Also, mispronunciations marr the performance, included repeated mispronunciations of the words “iron” and “drawing.” Dedicated fantasy fans will stick around for the wonderful story, but other listeners may be put off by the performance. E.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile