I've tried few times but I just can't do it. I'm sorry but I find the book terribly slow, tiring and boring. I'm not saying it's bad as my opinion could have changed after finishing it. That said, after another failed attempt to finish it I DNF it at 48%.

The Bird King follows Fatima, the last Circassian concubine to the sultan, and her best friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker. However, Hassan has a secret, he can draw places he’s never been and bend the shape of reality. Unfortunately, they are alive at a time right before the downfall of the last sultanate in the Iberian peninsula. A Spanish envoy comes to the palace, and when they discover Hassan’s powers they want to hand him over to the Inquisition. Fatima decides to help Hassan leave the palace, but how much will she risk to get her friend to safety?

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really loved the setting. Moorish Spain is one of my great fascinations in life and I love reading books set in and about that setting, however, this is at the end of that time period. Even better that this is starts off in the Alhambra, which is absolutely beautiful. It’s a lush and unique setting, which helps to give the novel a strong start. Perhaps, this is what made the second half of the novel a little lackluster.

The second half of the novel, where Hassan and Fatima are escaping the palace and are running away from the Spanish inquisitor starts off strong, but quickly becomes lackluster. It’s full of near misses and the occasional rabbit snack, but the scenery that they are journeying through isn’t as descriptive as the beginning of the novel. It feels like they’re journeying through a weird greyscape essentially. This may have been partially on purpose to heighten the magical dream-like quality the author maybe wanted, but it made the journey fall flat.

The journeying was also incredibly slow. The pacing of this novel needed some help. Parts of it were exciting and just flew by , but they were placed in between long sections of inner character exploration, which while maybe interesting for some readers, I personally can only take some much of. If you enjoy characters looking at themselves and having a great spiritual debate, you may enjoy this novel. Also, the ending was a bit nonsensical. It lacked excitement and purpose.

Overall, I would recommend this for people who like discussions about self and spiritual reflections. Also, for readers who enjoy the long meandering journey novels. However, in terms of a fantasy novel with a quick pace and action, this is not it. It is a slower novel, with some great sections and ideas about spiritual beliefs that I won’t ruin by going into too much detail here. Also, extra points for the Alhambra. I would consider reading another book by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Press for providing me with an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This post will go up on my blog on 03/05/2019.

The Bird King tells us the story of Fatima, a royal concubine and Hassan a cartographer in the Muslim palace in Granada, Spain.
It is a setting filled with vivid detail where we learn about a time when Christians take back the territory that Muslims conquered in the Iberian Peninsula, more specifically, the regions of Spain and Portugal. It tells us about the Spanish Inquisition, the radical persecution that they made to those they considered heretics.
I confess I usually avoid books with religious themes because I'm always afraid that in a clash of beliefs, one religion will be portrayed as "evil" and another as "good". However, the author knew how to balance it and I was glad.
This is a story that's read almost like a fairytale. It presents historical elements and blends with magical realism. This is the kind of novel you might have a hard time understanding, as it uses a lot of metaphors and symbolism and open interpretations. You will be thoroughly confused in some passages trying to decipher the meaning behind and failing or you can just go with the wind and let yourself be swayed by beautiful, lyrical prose as I did. The author delivers a rich description of the world she created, creating a unique atmosphere, and beautiful imagery that's almost poetic. I absolutely loved it.
As for the characters, we have two main: Fatima and Hassan, although I think Fatima gets more protagonism. Even though Fatima seems at first, a bratty girl, you feel for her. This is a story that supposedly does not have romance, but it has love: Her loyalty, her love for her best friend Hassan got my sympathy.
Fatima's undying love for Hassan is unrequited because Hassan absolutely loves her but not in a romantic way (he is gay). Both Fatima and Hassan are overprotective with each other and if needed would die for one another.
Hassan, persecuted because of his sexual orientation and ability to create magical maps that bend reality struggles to find someone willing to love him. Fatima struggles to let Hassan "go".
They embark on a journey to save their lives and to find freedom. They decide that only a mythical Island, where a mythical king lives, aka, the King of Birds is the only place they will be safe from Inquisition, so the book becomes a VERY slow journey to reach the island where Fatima and Hassan go through many obstacles and learn many things. In my opinion, the journey took too long, it dragged through most part of the book and it made me lose interest several times. However, through the book, I got attached to the characters and it made me go on.
Besides Fatima and Hassan, we have three other characters that are relevant:
Luz, a Spanish Lady in Waiting/Diplomat envoy from the Spanish Queen is the villain that commands armies against them. Her relationship with Fatima is something very complicated and complex.
Vikram is a Djinn that is fond of Fatima and he has the best quotes. As a Djinn, he was supposed to be a fickle, trickster creature driven by impulses and desires and yet he becomes the voice of reason and honesty many times and never fails to be loyal to Fatima. I wouldn't mind reading a spin-off of his past, because he's that great.
And finally, we have Guennec, a Breton monk that is not yet a priest but dreams to become one. He becomes someone crucial in the lives of Hassan and Fatima and I absolutely loved him. I would have liked to see so much more of him and his complicated feelings for a certain character.
The end was rushed and a bit confusing. I confess I was slightly disappointed. It was bittersweet and it left some questions lingering.
Nevertheless, in the end, I felt a pang of nostalgia in a way that a book did not make feel for a long, long time. I was so sad with the death of a certain character and it was hard to say goodbye to characters that I saw growing and maturing through the story and I felt so proud of them.

In conclusion, this book might not be for everyone and some might perhaps find it boring because this book requires patience and there are parts where you might get lost (not in a good way).
BUT if you enjoy Historical, Magical Realism and Fantasy genres with beautiful prose, slow narrative, and interesting characters, you will most likely enjoy this. I certainly did!

TW: attempted rape.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (Thank you!).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book. When I saw that G. Willow Wilson had written a novel I was so excited as I love her Ms. Marvel series. This book started at strong but about 50 pages in I found myself not really engaged with this story, in fact I was doing anything to avoid reading this one. The writing was fine, just not enough of an engaging story for me.

This review will run on my blog the week of March 4th, 2019.

Note: I was provided an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Fatima has never known a moment outside the palace walls of Granada in 15th century Spain.  Born into slavery and raised as a concubine, she's had a relatively pampered life, but always with the yolk of being bedded whenever the sultan desired. Her only true friend is Hassan, the royal mapmaker who has a secret gift: he can draw accurate maps of places he's never seen.  On the top of that, if Hassan alters a map of a nearby place - say, adds a door on the map where there is no door in reality - that feature will magically appear.  This ability is taken for granted by the palace until Spanish diplomats arrive to negotiate the sultan's surrender and an end to a long-standing siege.  Among the diplomats is a member of the Inquisition, who sees Hassan's gift - and his homosexuality - as heretical sins. Learning that Hassan is in the sights of the Inquisiton, Fatima helps him escape the palace and together they go on the run.  With the aid of a djinn, the two flee to the coast, hoping to use Hassan's ability to find safe harbor at the mythical island of the Bird King.

THE BIRD KING is a light fantasy, bordering on historical fiction, sprinkled with magical creatures and a dash of supernatural abilities.  It was a pairing that works for the most part, especially in the last third of the book, when things become decidedly more fantastical. As for pacing, I found the tale to be bookended by a strong beginning and ending, sandwiching a decidedly slower middle section.  I was instantly hooked by the brief time at the palace that opens the tale; and the last chapters are beautifully heartbreaking.  In particular, I liked the tension as the Spanish delegation arrives and Luz enters the harem, a Spanish woman of dubious intentions. The actual bulk of the story, however, takes place on the run, which I found surprisingly less engaging.

This is in part because I found the characters in turns fascinating and frustrating.  The time fleeing the Inquisition is as much a character study as it is plot. Fatima, who has never left the palace, has to find a strength of both body and mind to overcome the forced pampered life she has lived all her life.  Fatima's not built for days of running through countryside, through no fault of her own.  Watching her struggle to overcome these handicaps, as well as figuring out what she wants in life now that she finally has a measure of freedom, was a worthwhile storyline.  But the evolving dynamics between her and Hassan, and their various traveling companions, only held my attention for so long, particularly as relationships turned to jealousy and bickering.  This may just be due to my own preferences, and others may enjoy watching these characters more.

THE BIRD KING is a slow burn tale of two people just trying to find a place in the world where they can exist without judgement or hatred.  It's a race to freedom that also allows its characters to work through their emotions about the world and their place in it.  How much you enjoy the book will largely be determined by how much you identify with and root for the characters.  Despite my interest ebbing and flowing, I did find the ending beautiful.  It's a fantastical journey looking for a better place, one that we can all relate to, and I'm glad overall for the time I spent along the way.

4.5/5 Stars

I was so excited when The Bird King by G.Willow Wilson was announced and even more hyped when I got approved for an eARC. As always the writing is sublime with deliciously detailed descriptions and fleshed out characters that hold so much emotion. It's a riveting story filled with heart and the exact right amount of magic and history woven together to bring me joy.

Exploring the fall of Granada, the author exquisitely captures the waiting game the last residents undergo; the worry, the pride, and the sadness of an ending. The subsequent escape and adventure is pulse pounding and introspective at the same time. The magic at play feels rich and fantastical but is grounded in story and I always love a tale fueled by unexplainable maps and history.

Fatima is a force to be reckoned with as she dreams to set foot outside a palace that's been her only home as a slave in the sultan's harem. Her best friend Hassan is a talented mapmaker with a secret and the journey they take together is at once beautiful as well as heartbreaking. The focus on their friendship was brilliant, highlighting the highs and lows as both of them come up against some seriously trying obstacles and it was great to see platonic love (as Hassan is gay) on full display.

Overall G. Willow Wilson's The Bird King is an exceptional story full of love and adventure set within the time period of the Reconquista's last days. The characters were honestly phenomenal and I adored Fatima and Hassan to pieces. The emotional connection to this one was high and the superb writing overcame some odd pacing points. I absolutely recommend picking this one up as well as all of G. Willow Wilson's other work.

3½ stars. I have lots of positive things to say about The Bird King, but I am going to get what will surely be the main problem for many people out of the way first: this book is SO SLOW. I honestly considered not finishing it, which I hate to do for arcs. In the end, I was glad I persevered, but I think a lot of people won't make it through.

This is the first novel I've read by G. Willow Wilson and her writing is gorgeous. I made so many highlights of beautiful passages and witty remarks. The history and mythology is wonderful, too. It is set in the 15th century, during the reign of the last sultanate in Iberia, and just before the Emirate of Granada was conquered during the Granada war. This was a time of superstition and holy wars; the Spanish Inquisition was in full force, spreading Catholicism around Europe with the threat of torture.

Into this comes Fatima, a Circassian concubine to the sultan. When the Inquisition declares her beloved friend Hassan a "sorcerer", the two go on the run. Hassan is, in fact, a gay cartographer with a unique gift for shaping reality with the maps he draws.

I've just loosely described the plot of the first 100 pages. What follows is a very long journey across the countryside with lots of close-calls and near-captures. Lots of walking around, navigating, and cartography discussions, plus the occasional gutting and eating of a rabbit. It quickly grew tiresome and dull. The story picked up in places, usually when Luz appeared. She is a fantastic villain, and the dynamic of hatred and respect between her and Fatima makes for some of the book's strongest moments. Likewise the friendship and platonic love between Fatima and Hassan is a highlight.

“These treaties are made for polities, not people. Lives are ground up beneath the wheels of peace.”


Behind this - though it does get buried in the slog at times - is the pursuit of an island often found in mythology. An island of Mount Qaf and the King of Birds, Simorgh, from Attar's mystic poem The Conference of the Birds. Of course, it's all just fiction, though, right? But if anyone can bring this island into being, Hassan can.

The interesting thing about this island - as is noted in the text - is that it appears in some form in many different kinds of mythologies. It is Qaf in Middle Eastern mythology, Antillia to the Christians of Iberia, Avalon in Arthurian mythology, Shambhala to Hindus and Buddhists, and Atlantis to Ancient Greeks.

You can read any number of things into this, but I saw it as a comment on the religious conflict in the novel-- how so many people are fighting and killing one another over details and semantics when really it is all rooted in the same belief. Is the island Qaf or Antillia? This is a pointless question; they are ultimately the same thing.

“Nothing is so frightening or evil that it doesn’t come from the same thing that made the stars.”


A thought-provoking read for those who appreciate a very slow burn literary fantasy.

CW: Torture; slavery; attempted rape.

"They hate me because I do in the daylight what their own kings are ashamed to do in the dark."

The Bird King was both a fascinating historical tale and a bizarre (in the best possible way) fantasy.

Fatima is concubine to the last Sultan of the Iberian peninsula, and Hassan is the palace cartographer and her best friend. His map making skills are magical and create new doors and places.

When the Spanish arrive at the palace to negotiate an end to the war, they see Hassan's magical abilities as sorcery and a threat to their religion. The two friends attempt to escape the Inquisition together in a dangerous adventure.

I really enjoyed this story from start to finish, and didn't find it slow at all. The relationships between characters felt real and layered. There was love, but also jealousy and anger. I loved the supporting cast of characters that we met along the way, especially Stupid!

The elements of magic and fantasy felt quite jarring at first in what seemed to be a very historical novel, but I quickly adjusted my mindset and appreciated the strange, fantastical parts of the tale.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fantasy.

The Bird King is a compelling read with an intriguing historical setting and a sprinkling of fantasy elements. The pace holds steady for the most part, delivering a story about friendship and finding oneself. The novels plays with history as it tells its tale and adds some action and magic to balance out the threats of war.

G. Willow Wilson’s writing is engrossing, especially when dealing with the historical points of the narrative. The characters are mostly well developed, as are they main relationships throughout the novel, with their qualities and flaws. The fantasy elements could have been fleshed out a little more, but this is still an entertaining read.

I honestly didn’t expect to like the historical parts so much, but they are really interesting and well written. Wilson does a great job at combining those points with Fatima’s POV and giving little hints of historical events as the story progresses. It’s really fun to read about them, knowing what will happen, while still getting a unique story told from the perspective of a new character.

Fatima is a unique narrator, although she can be quite frustrating at times. Other characters do a wonderful job at calling her out on things, though, which I think lends a touch of realness to her that makes her into such a curious character. The novel is very much her own personal journey to finding herself and I really like how Wilson developed her story. The other characters, though? Could have been developed more, as they read a little flat to me. And the relationship between Fatima and Hassan is… not the best, either.

The fantasy bits are also underwhelming? They are never fully explained or developed, so they come across as vague, especially during the last half of the novel. Even when the fantasy is supposed to come into play, it’s just never really fleshed out or it happens off-screen, so scenes that are supposed to have impact end up falling flat.

In the end, The Bird King has great writing and a wonderful historical setting, but the fantasy leaves to be desired. The plot also gets lost a little along the way, but the ending is sweet to some characters and closes the story with a hopeful tone.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The Bird King is a beautifully lyrical tale that tells the tale of beautiful concubine Fatima during the age of the rise of the Spanish Inquisition and the end of her world as she knows it. When emissaries of Ferdinand and Isabella arrive to the palace Fatima grabs her best and only friend, Hassan, and flees when she realizes the danger he’s in. The two go on a journey to find the island the bird king was, learned from an uncompleted poem they’d read, in the hopes they will be safe there. Danger dogs their steps and the cost of freedom is high.
The story is fairly slow paced despite everything that is going on and the dangers faced but the prose are beautiful.
I love the exploration of love. Fatima, a concubine has had no choice really on what’s happened to her body or her and her view of love is very skewed. Even her entirely platonic love for Hassan is quite skewed, because how she knows he loves her for her and not her body she is fiercely possessive of him and his attention and it’s an interesting exploration of the relationship between the two of them.
Also, if the author ever decides to do a story that just focuses on Vikram I will be there in a heartbeat, Vikram was a breath of fresh air (violent, protective, hilarious, and annoyingly vague) and I loved him most.

The author, G. Willow Wilson, did a spectacular job of writing a book that is part fantasy and part magic. I loved how everything blends together seamlessly, at times keeping me so riveted to the pages that I started to feel as if the mundane chores of everyday life were seriously and unnecessarily keeping me away from this story.

The main character, Fatima, a girl who was born into a Sultan’s harem, and never lived outside of the castle, was catapulted into a situation where she had to run for her life and spent much of the book looking after her close friend, Hassan, the Sultan’s cartographer. Fatima rises to the challenges she faces, and even though it seems at times as if leaving Hassan behind would hasten her on her journey, she refuses to go without him. So we have a strong, caring female character as a big bonus in this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and I would love to read more books by Wilson.

This book was well-written but I think it just wasn't for me, unfortunately. I was having a difficult time connecting with the characters and their decisions. I found myself getting frustrated without resolve in the end. The writing was lyrical but I found myself getting bored at times. I can't fault the book for what it is, I just think it may not be for me.

As someone with a heavy Spanish family tree, I really wanted to enjoy this book. Most of my Spanish relatives were assholes, rapists, slave-owners and so on, so I wanted to read an accurate historical take on the whole thing. With fantasy elements, of course, because otherwise I'd be reading the wikipedia page for the inquisitions.

But what I encountered in this book, overall, was a mess of elements.
We had the history part, about the muslim not-Spain part of actual Spain and the, uh, Spanish speaking people. And their conflicts, specially evangelization. But it honestly didn't feel well fleshed out at all? It almost seemed like the author got us away from it all because she didn't know how to explain what was going on anymore. Like she had a mess of places and languages and events and she didn't know how to make the characters fit in it except for the premise of the book, so she just made them run away.
The Spanish in this book is not good, and it couldn't have been more than a couple sentences. It's "señora", not "senora". The Ñ sound is WAY different from the N and it's just how the word is written. Just because there isn't a sound for it in English doesn't mean you have to change it for the closest looking letter. And "oido" is not the same as "oído". There are accents in Spanish words for a reason (phonetics), and it always ends up seeming like your Spanish characters don't know how to speak their own language.
Hassan's magic was so so so beautiful and we saw so little of it!!! He's the reason Fatima had to run away, we should've gotten more of it!!

The island part gave me strong Uprooted vibes. It was kinda weird to be honest and it felt like it didn't go well with the first half of the book. Like it should've been a second part, or a different thing altogether. A lot of people were introduced in the last third of the book, and it was confusing af. I didn't even get to know them and they were already dating the MCs or dying!!

I don't think I liked how the gay character was handled, either. He liked every single thing that stood in two legs and had abs, even a half-dog, furry-esque thousand years old jinni. He was jealous of Fatima for kissing/having sex with other men, even though we're told multiple times he has been in relationships before. In the end he gets a boyfriend but makes sure to let her (jealous, obv) bff Fatima that he loves her more. Which would be cute, if he hadn't been the gay best friend trope impersonated. This type of representation is way obsolete in 2019.
(despite all of this he was STILL my fav character)

And last bc I know it's not the author's fault and it doesn't impact my rating: there were many many many italized sentences, but they were like in a different format than the rest of the book? Sometimes they were a bit below the normal sentence they were after, or a bit above, and sometimes they changed lines so you would read (invented example)
"He raised his head and said ' ' with tears in his eyes. <i>Fatima</i>"
So sometimes it seemed like another character was saying it, or that it was a complete different sentence, and it got confusing to read, even more so not being a native English speaker myself. I hope it can be fixed for the actual ebook release.

In The Bird King, Fatima, a concubine of the last sultan of Granada, and Hassan, the royal mapmaker who has magical space-bending powers, flee the royal court in order to save Hassan from the Spanish inquisitors who have asked for him as a condition of the sultan’s surrender to Spain. The inquisitors fear Hassan’s powers, as well as his sexuality (he’s gay).

Much of the book is devoted to exploring Fatima and Hassan’s passionate but nonsexual love for each other. They are each other’s best and only friend. Fatima struggles to understand love, as her status as a concubine never gave her a choice in who to “love.” Her body has always been owned by others, and desired as a sexual object. Hassan is the one man who loves her for herself. Thus, this book is an exploration of her quest to claim ownership of her body and fate, and understand what love is after having been raised with a skewed version of it.

This was a beautiful book set in a period that has been woefully under-explored in the genre so far. I liked the setting and the themes in the novel. I didn’t rate this book more highly because I felt that the pacing of the novel was a bit off. Fatima’s internal questioning was incredible from a character development standpoint, but it removed some of the impact of the characters’ flight from Alhambra.

All in all, this was a lovely, philosophical historical fantasy, but I suspect the slower pacing in the middle may turn off some readers.

Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .

the bird king (G. Willow Wilson)

Title: the bird king

Author: G. Willow Wilson

Publisher: Grove Press

Publication Date: TODAY!! (hardcover/e-book)

ISBN: 978-0802129031

Source: NetGalley

[picture of cover]

This was a heart-achingly beautiful book. I was drawn to this title because of the lovely cover and because there is a character who can draw magic maps. Ye all know how this Captain loves maps of any kind (Arrr!). And while I loved how the maps worked, turns out that they were the least awesome part of the book for me. Because the two main characters, Fatima and Hassan, were the beacons of love and delight in this tale.

Reading this book is like watching a blossom unfold before yer eyes. It takes forever to get to the end point and yet the journey of the blooming is part of the magic. It progresses slowly and subtly and there is a sense of wonder when it be over.

This book starts the voyage in the form of a historical fiction tale. It is set in 1491 in the Iberian peninsula. The last Muslim stronghold, Grenada, is poised to fall to an Aragonese and Castilian force led by Ferdinand and Isabella of what would become known as Spain. Fatima is a slave living in the Alhambra palace during the siege. She is a concubine to the Sultan and a companion of the Sultan’s mother. Fatima is pampered and spoiled but cannot forget that her position is tenuous and she is not free. Her only friend is Hassan, the maker of the magic maps.

The historical fiction part starts to slowly morph into fantastical elements with the introduction of Hassan and his maps. Hassan’s maps are a thing of wonder because they be of places he has never visited. While his skill is utilized, he is not a treasured member of the Court because his magic makes people uneasy. Worse yet, he is gay in a society where that should equal death. But desperate times cause his nature to be an open secret. Fatima often sneaks out of the harem to spend time with her friend. Hassan makes maps so Fatima can visit off-limit places within the palace. One of the other games they share is making up endings to an unfinished tale called The Bird King.

However with the siege in full force, starvation mounting, and surrender on the horizon, both Hassan and Fatima’s lives are irrevocably changed. For a delegation has arrived at the palace to discuss the terms of the treaty to end the war with the Sultan on the losing side. One of these terms is that Hassan must be turned over to the Christian delegation and the Inquisition for being a sorcerer.

And this be where the book truly starts to grow. The magic elements sprout with the addition of a jinn named Vikram. As Hassan and Fatima flee for their lives, the magic elements continue to develop until the reader doesn’t know what is real and what isn’t. I won’t spoil any details for ye here but I am so glad that I was given a chance to read this wonderful book and see the story fully bloom.

So lastly . . .

Thank ye Grove Press!

Side note: the book also introduced me to a type of bird I had never heard of – hoopoes. Arrr!

{picture of bird]
for source click photo

Goodreads has this to say about the novel:

Set in 1491 during the reign of the last sultanate in the Iberian peninsula, The Bird King is the story of Fatima, the only remaining Circassian concubine to the sultan, and her dearest friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker.

Hassan has a secret–he can draw maps of places he’s never seen and bend the shape of reality. When representatives of the newly formed Spanish monarchy arrive to negotiate the sultan’s surrender, Fatima befriends one of the women, not realizing that she will see Hassan’s gift as sorcery and a threat to Christian Spanish rule. With their freedoms at stake, what will Fatima risk to save Hassan and escape the palace walls?

As Fatima and Hassan traverse Spain with the help of a clever jinn to find safety, The Bird King asks us to consider what love is and the price of freedom at a time when the West and the Muslim world were not yet separate.

To visit the author’s website go to:

G. Willow Wilson – Author

To buy the novel go to:

the bird king- Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

In 1491, Fatima’s world is coming to an end. She is the slave of the last sultan of Moorish Granada and a party of Spaniards have just arrived at the Alhambra to negotiate the sultan’s surrender. But even though it’s the end of one world, Fatima is about to go on a great (albeit dangerous) adventure. The Bird King, by G. Willow Wilson, is an amazing journey, full of heroism, sacrifice, battling religions, and magic. I loved every minute of it.

Fatima is a willful woman. Her privileged position lets her get away with a lot, even though she was born a slave and is one of the sultan’s concubine. She has enough leeway to make friends with the miraculous map-maker, Hassan, who has a knack for finding hidden ways around obstacles. Fatima is not particularly concerned about the end of the Emirate of Granada—until the Spanish discover Hassan’s secret and want him handed over to the Inquisition to find out how he does it. Fatima will not let that happen. Her anger and stubbornness, as much as the Reconquista, kicks off this brilliant and exciting tale.

When she was a bit younger, Fatima read the first pages of The Conference of the Birds, a twelfth century poem by Farid ud-Din Attar. The poem tells the story of a bunch of birds who, after much squabbling, decide to fly across the Dark Sea to look for the Bird King. The Bird King will fix things, they believe. This poem inspires Fatima and Hassan’s mad plan to also sail across the Dark Sea (the Atlantic) to seek the land of Qaf, where the Bird King lives. It’s a wild, incredible plan and Fatima would never have considered it if it hadn’t been for the appearance of other supernatural creatures from Middle Eastern myth and Hassan’s own talent for creating impossible maps.

The journey across the Dark Sea to a place that may or may not exist would have been hard enough, but Fatima and Hassan are being pursued by Luz, a lay nun who would have been an Inquisitor if it weren’t for her gender. Luz is terrifying. She tortures at the drop of a hat, using her faith as license to do anything to “save souls.” She also knows things that she shouldn’t and has an uncanny knack for finding our protagonists even when they set sail. There are so many close calls in The Bird King that I could barely put the book down once I’d picked it up. I just had to know how things would turn out.

The ending of The Bird King is spectacular and beautiful, with a dollop of redemption to make things even better. I loved how Wilson used The Conference and djinn together with actual history to create this tale. Her characterization is excellent, too. Even with everything else going on, we learn a lot about Fatima’s psychology and her abiding friendship with Hassan, who is gay and all too willing to sacrifice himself when things get hard. I loved this book so much that, if I go on, I’ll just gush and ruin things for readers. Run, do not walk, to pick up this book!

Full review to be posted on my blog on 8th March 2019 (can be moved upon request).

I loved this. I wasn’t sure at first whether I thought it was going to be a standalone or part of a series but I think by the end I think it’s perfect as a stand-alone. I would say it is a Historical Fantasy genre. It is a quick read & page turner.

I admit to being naive about the Spanish Inquisition, though I’d heard of it, I had to google it to see exactly who they targeted and what they used as their reasons. It could have set during any time but I felt like it did suit the story.

I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Fatima & Hassan develop and watching them stay true to themselves.

The Bird King is one of those novels that offers a unique mix of truth and fantasy. Set in 1491, it is the story of a young concubine and her witnessing of the fall of the sultanate and the only life she had ever known. When her dear friend is threatened with death, she makes a bold and daring choice. In their travels they meet both friend and foe, as well as some who are both.

The shift of story from almost non-fiction to fantasy is quite smooth. Wilson weaves a tale of friendship and love, of loss and betrayal, and does it in a way that is very realistic. She incorporates non-human characters in a natural way, having them interact with the human characters that is very believable.

One of the story points that really stuck out to me was how Hassan’s sexuality is treated. It is explained that he prefers the company of men and has no interest in women. Aside from the few Christian’s they meet, no one cares who Hassan lays with. Also, the fact that he is homosexual isn’t treated as a big deal, it’s a part of who he is just as much as his ability to draw maps of places he hasn’t seen.

Fatima loves Hassan just as Hassan loves Fatima in return, however they do not end up a couple at the end of the book. Their love is the love of good friends and the fact that it doesn’t change nor is it made light of that I found enjoyable.

On the whole, I greatly enjoyed reading The Bird King. There is some subject matter that some might find triggering, but I believe that the majority of readers will like this book as much as I have. I heartily recommend it to all my readers.

Rating: 3.5 Stars
The Bird King, by G. Willow Wilson, is a novel set in 15th century Spain at a time of transition. As the Islamic empire of the Sultan dwindles, the influence of Catholic kings press down on everyday people. I enjoyed the setting, characters, and narrative style. The book did a credible job of exposing me to a culture and time I knew nothing about. With its symbolism and violent subject matter, this is not the novel I was expecting. The changing realities and timelines made this story difficult to follow, and made the ending less than satisfying.

What I Liked:
Setting:

The story begins in The Alhambra, the palace of the Sultan of Granada in 1491. Fatima, a concubine, is witness to the siege and surrender of the Sultan's empire to Catholic Spain. There is lots of colorful historical details about life in a harem that I hadn't know about. The details of Islamic faith, and culture were also delightful.

There were also lots of insight into the lives of Spanish Catholics at the time of the Spanish Inquisition. What turns people into zealots? How did people become powerful in a time of fear and superstition? I found these questions fascinating.

Characters:

Fatima, the main character is a beautiful teenager who has been raised to be a concubine for the Sultan. She is both cherished (for her beauty) and treated as property. Seeing this contradiction is infuriating to Fatima. But she sees no other way to live.

Hassan, the mystical map-maker, is Fatima's only real friend. He is also treated differently. Prized for his gifts, he is also reviled. The Sultan's people tolerate his loving other men, but also fear him because of his magical abilities. As long as both Fatima and Hassan fulfill the needs of the Sultan, they are safe. They both know that the moment they are not useful to the court, any protection they had will be gone.

Narrative Style:

The novel is very well written with beautifully detailed prose. The world of the harem comes to life in vivid descriptions of food, fabrics, and fragrances. There is a great deal of symbolism and metaphor used in this story. As we learn the stories of various birds, we learn lessons about different types of people. The jinn (magical spirits) also evoke a sense of the spirituality of the Islamic world.

What I Was Mixed About:
Story:

I had very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved how the book took the reader from inside the harem of a Sultan to a race across Medieval Spain as the main characters try to evade the Spanish Inquisition. This was fun and exciting.

However, as the novel continued, the story became muddled. It was very hard to follow some of the key action sequences. This was due to time and space seemingly changing at random, and the author occasionally throwing in a new mythical creature to confuse the action. This caused me to miss some critical information which made it difficult to follow the story. I found myself re-reading critical moments to try and make sense of what I was reading.

What I Didn't Like:
Ending:

I felt very let down by the ending of the book. Considering all the action that proceeded it, the ending just sort of fizzled out. By resolving the main problem too early, the author had nowhere to go with the story. Instead, we are treated to a lot of hand-wringing as the characters decide upon a final sacrifice (Yes, I am being vague because I don't want to throw out spoilers). This was very unsatisfying and it left many questions unanswered about one of the character's motivations, and how they would proceed. Given that this character had lied so much in the past, I didn't find their promises credible at the end, so their sacrifice was empty. By not showing a conversion of personality, there was no way to know if they would actually do what they promised. Would there be another betrayal? We don't know, because the book ended abruptly.

I don’t know how to write this review or recommend this book because while I didn’t end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would, it’s beautifully written and I could see the story appealing to fans of magical realism and religious fiction. 

Fatima is a concubine to the Sultan who spends her limited free time with her best friend Hassan, the palace map maker.   But Hassan is no ordinary artist; he can draw maps to places he hasn’t seen ….even places that don’t exist by creating windows and doors to unseen places.  When he is accused of being a sorcerer by the Spanish monarchy, Fatima and Hassan escape the city and head towards the unknown.   Can they escape their pasts and be free?

I really wanted to like this book.  The premise was promising and the two main characters were well written and thought out.  I just could not get into the story for whatever reason and found myself reading very small parts at a time.  The relationship between Fatima and Hassan was beautiful and a great example of a non-romantic love story.  I was rooting for them the entire book and wanted them to escape the lives they were forced into.  The jinn characters also added a lot to the overall story and added a bit of comic relief during this heavy story.  The language was also gorgeous and the different settings were easy to imagine due to G. Willow Wilson’s fantastic imagery.  However, I found myself getting confused a lot about what was happening, especially when Fatima and Hassan were on the run.  It was hard to keep track of who was who, where they were, and what Hassan had drawn on the map.  I also felt that the character of Luz was not developed well and her motivations, while explained, didn’t make sense in the end.  In the end, I found myself bored with the overall story.

I can’t find fault with how this book was written or the characters, despite my so-so review. The story just didn’t grab me and keep my attention and I found it confusing.  I would recommend to fans of magical realism and fantasy but not general fiction fans.

Favorite Quote:  “...God bless the man who first taught the world how to cure olives. He and the man who invented cheese are two unsung pillars of civilization."