Set in 1491 Grenada, most of this novel reads like a devoted historical novel where the Muslim world is mixed with the Christian at a time when the Spanish Inquisition is running strong and the last Emirate is about to fall.Fatima, the last concubine, and her friend Hassan, a mapmaker with the ability to open up doors to the Other, transforms this novel from a strict historical to an outright fantasy. But it happens slowly. The historicity of the world is rich and lush and it introduces the worl...

There are few recent books that I have looked forward to reading as much as I looked forward to reading The Bird King. And there are even fewer books that I have anticipated that have been as disappointing to me as this one was. It was not a complete disaster. There are redeeming qualities. But there are also a lot of wasted opportunities.But first, let me explain why I looked forward to this book so much. Two reasons, really. The first is that I really liked G. Willow Wilson's first two (non gr...

All the stories poems are true!I gave this book my full attention until the 80% mark after which I mostly skimmed because having called out who the Bird King was in the first couple of chapters I felt very meh about the entire thing being revealed. The fact that it got really preachy really quickly didn’t help either: “Fear only God,” murmured Vikram, pulling her onward. “Not man, nor beast, nor jinn, nor death: fear only God and you will be safe.”The things I liked about The Bird King :▪ th...

Mini review:DNFTrigger warning: Mention of war. Up till the point I read.I received this E-ARC via Grove Atlantic and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was really looking forward to reading this! I've read and enjoyed Ms. Marvel. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it.I really enjoyed the friendship between the two main characters! However as I read on I started to lose interest. I didn't much care for the historical aspect or the war. I didn't care about the plot.Overall this was a persona...

Al-Andalus is a gilded vision imprinted into the minds of many Muslim children, myself included. It is a dream of glory days long past, the Golden Age of the Islamic Empire, a time of prosperity and tolerance. The Bird King begins not in the midst of this glory age, but at the door of its downfall: the year is 1491. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand have laid siege to Granada, the last remaining stronghold of the great empire of Muslim Spain, tenuously held by the sultan and his retinue. Against...

I am kind of bored reading fantasy books set in pseudo-European medieval setting. I've tried to diversify my reads (and authors) this year. So far, I've read 12 of non-pseudo Euro medieval setting out of the total 19 fantasy novels/novella/graphic novels. Yet, I feel I still need to challenge myself to read more and then this book came along. G. Willow Wilson has dazzled me since I read Alif the Unseen. She scored high in everything I want: characters, plots, worldbuilding (!) and dialogues. The...

“The real struggle on this earth is not between those who want peace and those who want war. It’s between those who want peace and those who want justice. If justice is what you want, then you may often be right, but you will rarely be happy.” 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 ar

Plot: 3/5 Characters: 4/5. Writing: 5/5The Bird King was a historical fantasy book set in 1491 in Granada, the last emirate of Muslim Spain. There were many things I liked about it, however, there were also many things I disliked- that's why I gave it three stars.It was about Fatima, a Circassian concubine who fled from the palace of Granada with her childhood friend, Hassan, who could make magical maps that altered the layout of places in real life. They were escaping from the Spanish Inquisiti...

I really enjoyed the early chapters of this fantasy historical novel which is set in the Alhambra during the dying days of the Sultan of Granada's rule. In 1491, Granada was under siege with no supplies getting in and it's people slowly starving as Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain close in in their quest to force Granada to capitulate. Representatives have arrived at the palace to negotiate terms when Fatima, the Sultan's favourite concubine discovers that amongst their number is an Inquisitor wh...

I was a huge fan of Wilson’s 2012 debut novel “Alif the Unseen.” I loved her heady concoction of Middle Eastern fantasy and modern hacker culture woven into a truly unique and spell-binding tale. I have been waiting for seven years for her second novel, and here it is at last!It started out in a promising fashion. Set in Granada in 1491, Fatima is a concubine in the court of the sultan. She is a “possession,” and has little freedom, but manages to befriend the royal mapmaker. Hassan has an unusu...

Set in 1491 during the reign of the last sultanate in the Iberian peninsula, this novel tells the story of Fatima, the concubine to the sultan, and her friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker. With the enemy at the gate, Fa and Hassan attempt an escape with the help of a jinn.Wilson blends fantasy and magic with history, morphing into an epic adventure, and I love that the story is told through two characters who have never been free until now. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy through Ede...

I received a free e-copy of The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson from NetGalley for my honest review.Thank you G. Willow Wilson for this beautiful and enchanting novel, written with rich history. The writing is absolutely magical and rich with emotion. The kind of writing that makes you go back and re-read parts of it just for the sheer joy. Fatima is the last sultan’s concubine in a kingdom falling down to the Spanish Inquisition. Her friend, Hassan, is in danger for his crafting ability of drawin...

***Note: I received a copy curtesy of Netgalley and Grove Atlantic/Grove Press in exchange for an honest review.A Circassian concubine in Alhambra, at the time of the last sultan, learnes of a threat to her gay friend and decides that they must run away in order to save him.The writing is beautiful and lyrical, and the story is a mix between historical fiction, fantasy and magical realism. The first part, taking place in Alhambra and the desert, I found very good and greatly enjoyed it, but the

A few lulls but for the most part an excellent read. It felt like I was reading a Guy Gavriel Kay book; which is a huge compliment! There is a lot of Muslim culture here that most Westerners are not likely to be familiar with. I loved learning about the culture and seeing the world from the Muslim viewpoint. And while this is Earth during the 13th century; it has all the magical aspects of the stories we know from that time. Use of 'magic', secret islands, famous swords, etc. You can decide for

This book gripped me. A rich blend of historical fiction, magical realism, and religious philosophy, it is both gorgeous and profound. The characters are all flawed and endearing in a way that is relatable and beautifully true to life. I think my favorites among these are Vikram the jinn and Gwennec the monk."The Bird King", set in the last days of the last emirate of Muslim Spain, follows two unconventional best friends-- Fatima, who is concubine to the sultan of said emirate, and Hassan, a map...

“Lies are for those who are afraid or ashamed of what they are, and I am neither.” 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 Catholics 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 ma...

A lovely novel about a friendship, flight from the Spanish Inquisition, and the search for a mythical land of safety.I’m a huge fan of G. Willow Wilson’s Kamala Khan, so I was pretty excited to read this book. The writing is wonderful. There are numerous beautiful passages throughout the book, and I particularly liked the interactions between Fatima, the sultan’s concubine and unwilling slave, and Hassan, the sultan’s mapmaker. Hassan is more than a conventional mapmaker: he's able to create doo...

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest reviewWhat a book. Wonderful prose, great characters, interesting setting...what else could a reader want?

I do enjoy a good magic realist novel, many are among my favourite books of all time – One Hundred Years of Solitude, Senor Vivo and the Cocoa Lords, the Alchemist and the Enchantress of Florence (and does the Last Unicorn count?). The Bird King does by definition tick all the MR boxes. It bends time and reality, has elements of the supernatural or mystic and hybridised animal-human characters. Nevertheless, there are a number of aspects that simply don’t work. Set in the late 1400s in Moorish S...

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