People often seem to call the latest book a “lush fantasy”, but until now it just seemed cliche. The Bird King, however, is another thing altogether.

Fatima is the last sultan’s concubine in a kingdom falling down to the Spanish Inquisition. When she discovers her friend Hassan is in danger for his ability to create paths and places by drawing maps, Fatima runs away with him and a clever jinn.

The world-building in this book is incredible. It is realistic enough that for much of the tale you forget you’re actually reading fantasy — until a jinn comes along, of course.

The characters are relatable and diverse; the book in general is refreshingly open-minded. There is no 'woe is me' attitude from Fatima while she's not free and I found her attitude towards being a concubine quite educational, as well as the entire palace's attitude towards Hassan's map-making and sexuality in this time of history.

The only reason I gave it four instead of five stars is because I would have preferred more action - so much space was taken up with character-building and world-building that it became a bit heavy from a third through the book.

--Shorter form of review also published in October edition of Style Magazine Toowoomba.--

With nuanced prose, multilayered characters, and a colorful world; The Bird King is full of delicious twists. I devoured it in a day. I recommend this for fans of historical fantasy, G. Willow Wilson is a masterful writer. She has created a phenomenon of a book.

This novel is a mix of both historical fiction and magical realism, two great genres that the author manages to seamlessly blend together.

It took me a few chapters to really get into this book but once i did i could not put it down! The pacing of this story is fantastic and the imagery was mesmerizing.
There is a beautifully diverse cast of characters and I really enjoyed reading about the friendship between Fatima and Hassan, it was poignant and explored nicely.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for an evocative, captivating story. This book left me wanted to read more of G Willow Wilson's works and i can't wait to do so!

Fatima is the last concubine in a kingdom quickly falling to the Spanish Inquisition. Her best friend Hassan has magical powers to create and edit maps, and when inquisitors label him a sorcerer and threaten his life, they run away together, beginning an epic adventure across land and sea in search of the island of The Bird King.

I really enjoyed this novel. It reads like a grown-up YA or even J-level adventure along the lines of The Glass Sentence, one of my very favorite novels (and series). The plot moves quickly and the characters are diverse and entirely believable, so I was hooked from the very beginning. This is a book I'll buy so I can reread every so often. It's really that good.

(The Bird King hasn't been released yet. I got a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review, though that had absolutely no bearing on my opinion of the book. Y'all know me better than that.)