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) NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF … review)
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY 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
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I loved this book! Couldn’t put it down. Left me breathless throughout. Top notch fantasy!
A fun romp with a more lighthearted feel than her Temeraire series. I thouroughly enjoyed it.
Loved this unusual take off of Polish folk tale and dark magical fantasy. Agnieska’s coming into her own was a delight to watch. Absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it to others.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Would recommend to any fantasy readers.
Outstanding work! This story is original, well-written, with interesting characters. The world is unusual and well done. The Dragon chooses a young lady of a certain age to serve him, once every ten years. Nieshka is unexpected chosen over the girl who was groomed for the spot almost since birth. Neither Nieshka or the Dragon are what they seem to be. The story and characters were fascinating to me. I can easily see why this author was an award winner. I will be looking up more works by her.
Really cool fantasy, I want more!
I love fantasy when it is well-done like Uprooted, where there’s no sense of reading a story, no awareness of mechanics, no sudden jerks of poor writing or too-far mind-stretches where the suspension of disbelief pops and suddenly the plot is bleeding all over the page. Uprooted was seamless, a truly magical story about magic and a tightly wound but so sweetly subtle romance. I also liked the women characters and their relationships. I read until one in the morning with no sense of time passing.
Fun book. New author to me. Will definitely read her other books!
I found this book to be very original. The characters were well developed and the plot kept me involved.
One of my favorite books of the whole year!
Really sad that this isn’t a series. It’s an absolutely wonderful stand alone book, but it could have been a great series too.
Another excellent book by Naomi Novik. With excellent world building, realistic characters I could relate to, and a engaging story, I couldn’t put it down.