The Bird King
A Novel
by G. Willow Wilson; G. Willow Wilson
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Pub Date Mar 12 2019 | Archive Date Mar 12 2019
Grove Atlantic | Grove Press
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Description
From award-winning author G. Willow Wilson,The Bird King is an epic journey set during the reign of the last sultan in the Iberian peninsula at the height of the Spanish Inquisition.
G. Willow Wilson’s debut novelAlif the Unseen was an NPR andWashington Post Best Book of the Year, and it established her as a vital American Muslim literary voice. Now she deliversThe Bird King, a stunning new novel that tells the story of Fatima, a concubine in the royal court of Granada, the last emirate of Muslim Spain, 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 toChristian 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.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780802129031 |
| PRICE | $26.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 440 |
Featured Reviews
Lindsay A, Librarian
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.)
Debbie L, Reviewer
What an absolutely beautiful book, not only is the cover stunning but the story itself is as visually stunning as its exterior. From the exotic setting in Morocco to the fabled shores of the isle of Avalon the story is told in such splendid detail you can’t help being swept along throughout.
The characters are as colourful as their surroundings weaving together humans and mythical creatures alike all culminating in the quest to find the fabled Bird King.
I loved this book to the point I’m struggling to review it without spoilers and to do the story justice. If you enjoyed books such as Robert Dinsdale’s The Toymakers or Katherine Arden’s The Bear and The Nightingale then you won’t want to miss this one.
The Bird King will be published in the UK on March 12 2019 and can be pre-ordered now
A proper review to follow!
Thank you to G. Willow Wilson, the publishers Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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