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."

~ I was given an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review, I'm not associated with the author or publisher in any way and the views expressed are completely unbiased and entirely my own. ~

'The Bird King' by G. Willow Wilson is a historical fantasy novel which takes place in 15th century Granada at the fall of it's last Muslim dynasty as they are conquered by the Spanish Inquisition.

It follows the journey of a young woman named Fatima, the beautiful, formidable, rebellious concubine of the last Sultan, and her absent-minded childhood friend Hassan, the royal cartographer, who is unassuming apart from the fact that he possesses an uncanny ability to create maps of places he's never been or that don't exist (unless he needs them to.)

Mistaken for a sorcerer by the Inquisition, who's purpose is to eliminate heresy and anything which contradicts the Catholic faith, we follow Hassan and Fatima at they formulate their escape.

The author has created a captivating story in which historical fiction and fantasy harmonise perfectly, driven equally by it's characters and plot.
Fatima in particular is a lively, powerful protagonist and her ambiguous existence at the royal court is beautifully depicted.

All in all this is a wonderfully accomplished novel which I cannot recommend enough.

~ Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this title ~

the bird king is set in muslim iberia, initially in granada, the last bastion of islam in the iberian peninsula which is slowly but surely being choked by the might of isabel and fernando, king and queen of a christian kingdom they are calling ‘spain’. the novel crisscrosses iberia and takes us into fantastical and unseen places. the author has a gift for describing locations, whether natural or man-made. burbling streams and soaring mountains, the heat of late summer and the chill of snow.

the themes
the feeling of islam and spirituality seeps into every line of the bird king. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is. it’s not preachy and proscriptive, it doesn’t state the ways to be good muslim or judge those who aren’t good muslims (or for drinking or not praying), it simply is. I’m muslim myself and I have a particular fondness for muslim authors that include our religion and represent it so lovingly with nuance (see the line below!!)

“Your left-hand angels will wear out their wrists scribbling all of this in the book of your sins!”
- vikram, on hassan and fatima’s stupid antics

little things from my childhood like the left hand angels my parents warned me about, jinn and spirits and prayer. the language and terminology was so familiar to me and reading the bird king felt like exploring new territory and also coming home at last. the musings on faith and belief were also intelligent and insightful.

“The people who want to burn you alive will find a reason to do it, whether you pretend to agree with them or not.”
- lady aisha, on the continued suspicion of muslims and jews who converted to christianity

the characters
fatima is our lovely, strong-willed circassian concubine who has never seen the outside of the harem. she is deeply in love with hassan, a uniquely platonic love as she knows hassan is gay. they meet each other as children and she continues takes refuge in his quarters to escape the bustle of the harem. when a delegate from the king and queen of spain arrives at granada, chaos breaks loose when they accuse hassan of witchcraft for his unique gift. from there, hassan and fatima are pursued.

She could not envision a God who demanded such particularity of belief, whose mercy and forgiveness were confined to such a precise segment of humankind.

I love fatima for her resilience; harem born and raised, she’s never stepped foot outside of the harem until her best friend’s life is threatened. then she makes a choice: safety with the familiar, or the unknown and dangerous. and though she wavers and struggles, she perseveres. fatima chooses the unfamiliar at almost every turn. her courage, her determination even if it’s moored in a kind of selfishness, is admirable.

the conference of birds is the poems that links hassan and fatima together, a thread that runs underneath the story until it’s s revealed in all its glory: the island of qaf and the mythical bird king that hassan and fatima are pursuing. the bird king is a simurgh, a type of firebird (I thought of a phoenix immediately!) what the real bird king is, however, comes as a beautiful surprise.

hassan is absolutely delightful. a bit of a coward at first, soft hearted and doubtful but wow does be grow into himself by the ending!! being gay, or a ‘sodomite’ as he calls himself, doesn’t define him: he’s a mapmaker, a moor, part breton, fatima’s friend. he’s really comes into himself, finds love and comfort and a place to express himself. I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get chapters from his point of view, as he’s not as beautifully characterised and expresses as fatima, who after all is our mc. we do get some nice insights about hassan from fatima’s point of view.

'For a moment she was jealous of Hassan, not for his talents, but for the way the silent, visceral elements of the world seemed to love him and conspire on his behalf, to the exclusion of others.'

the line about the unseen clearing a path for hassan was gorgeous!

the jinn were also a lovely surprise. I adored vikram – no surprise there- and azalel. o vikram, my darling monstrous jinn. he was a handsome, naked jinn with a handsome face, long dark hair and claws!! I’m sold!!!! he’s wry and witty and old as dirt. i love him so much i can’t even talk about him, so let me throw a bunch of quotes at you instead:

“You’re attracted to him,” she hissed accusingly. “I can’t help it!” whispered Hassan. “He’s very well-formed for a jinn and he isn’t wearing a thread of clothing.”
- hassan and fatima are a Mood.

“As you said yourself, I’m a monster,” he told her, his mouth twitching upward wryly. “But I’m not that sort of monster.”
- WE LOVE A MONSTER WITH A MORAL CODE!!

“Yes, you were taught to waste your anger. It’s convenient for girls to be angry about nothing. Girls who are angry about something are dangerous. If you want to live, you must learn to use your anger for your own benefit, not the benefit of those who would turn it against you.”

I’m so sad we didn’t have more time with him.

and azalel!!! our morally grey cat jinn who would very much love to own fatima!! (major sapphic vibes) she has a lot of insight to give to fatima, in between trying to rescue her (ahem, kidnap her to the empty quarter).

“When you’ve been alive a very, very long time, you learn to forget certain things. There’s a great deal in this world that one is better off not knowing.”

now, as for luz. our delightful villain. an inquisitor in disguise, sent by the queen of spain herself to root out heretics and liars. I LOVE villainous women, especially women that are charming and soft seeming with a monstrous side. she’s terrible and delusional and tortures people for information! yet there was something so achingly human about her that it hurt. fatima is fascinated and repulsed by her in turns. there’s so many layers to luz, I would love to unravel them: her devotion to god and the catholic church, to her queen, her righteousness. at first I hated her. then I began to understand her, just a little, and so did fatima.

'She wanted to speak but could find nothing to say that Luz did not already know. The intimacy between hunter and prey had rendered speech unnecessary.'

ugh the sapphic tension could kill me.

'The sight of her braided hair, the snowy crest of her collarbone above the bodice of her black gown, filled Fatima with a feeling she couldn’t name and didn’t like, something that wandered between fury and regret.'

fatima is always aware of the way men look at her, and though she hasn’t weaponised it she does use it as a tool. there was also commentary about the anger of women, and how it’s often deflected or curtailed for the sake of keeping women weak. to harness anger, to turn into a tool, is a skill that men are rewarded for and women are punished. women should be allowed to scream, to rage, to be as messy and emotional as men. i loved the little bits and pieces of feminism, of women’s right to decide who they are and not be defined by men. and this piece of dialogue right here:

“Whore,” he spat at her.
“If I’m a whore for resisting you,” she said through her teeth, “what would I have been for giving in?”
“Whore,” he said again.

g. willow wilson doesn’t sugarcoat the concubine aspect of fatima; she isn’t a hurrem, laughing coquettishly and birthing kings. fatima’s not in love with the sultan, she is his slave and his concubine. sleeping with him is a job, which she occasionally enjoys. it’s very practical and down to earth. there were no grand romances or declarations either. fatima’s romantic and carnal moments, as well as hassan’s, occur mostly off-page or in the background, weaving through the grander tapestry of the story.

the writing
and GOD do I love g. willow wilson’s prose!!! her construction of sentences is a sheer delight, I find myself re-reading passages just for the pleasure of it. I’m literally taking notes on how to improve my own writing. however I did have a little quibble: at the later end of the book, perhaps the last quarter, the fanciful prose declines. it’s less fantastical and more realistic, which I think might have been done purposefully. It was still good, but less enjoyable to read than before (tbh it was probably the lack of vikram)

the ending
I don’t want to spoil too much, but I love how it sends. the island of qaf is for the outcasts and runaways and dregs of society made a place for themselves to belong. people of all colours and creeds and religions, ft jinn, banding together to fight for the right to live in peace! I have so much love for the bird king, I could scream it from rooftops.

The writing is beautiful and the plot is absolutely captivating. I loved Fatima and found her relationship with Hassan moving and fascinating.

Wilson's newest book was worth the wait. Thoughtful, moving, and inspiring, I rushed through it as fast as I could, only to reread every other sentence to savor the writing.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

A historical fantasy that weaves a story of love, friendship and the fight for freedom.

Set in 15th century Europe – specifically the Emirate of Granada (modern day Southern Spain/Gibraltar/Northern Morocco) - The Bird King follows the story of Fatima, one of the Sultan’s concubines and her mapmaker friend Hassan. At the fall of the Muslim Caliphate to the Crown of Castile, Hassan’s life becomes in danger as his harboured secret – being able to draw maps of places he has never seen or been to – is seen as an act of sorcery by the representatives of the now Christian Spanish Monarchy.

In order to save her friend Fatima sets out to help Hassan escape – forcing her to leave her life of shelter and luxury but also servitude. Fed by a story from their childhood, a poem about the Bird King, the two embark on a journey with the aid of a Jinn to escape and reach freedom.

The book sits on the line between being a historical fiction and a fantasy novel with the majority of the book containing hints of fantastical and magical elements before plunging headfirst into fantasy towards the end.

The fast moving plot is eased off across many pages of Wilson’s beautiful and poetic writing; rich with cultural, geographical and historical knowledge of the era to set the scene which I loved. The distinct and often witty personalities of the various characters you meet throughout, each bring something new to the story. The friendship between Fatima and Hassan is wonderful.

Personally I did feel like the last 20% of the book was a bit rushed and confusing and sort of disturbed the pace of the book as a whole, nonetheless it was an enjoyable read.
Final Rating - 3.5/5 Stars