Awards
Winner of the 2015 Nebula Award for Best Novel
From Powells.com
25 Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far)
Staff Pick
I found myself reading Uprooted while walking down the sidewalk, on every lunch break, and on the bus. The magic in this story makes it feel as though you could cast the spells yourself! Recommended By Junix S., Powells.com
Uprooted by Naomi Novik is one of those stories that you feel has somehow always existed. I mean that as a highest compliment. It captures the essence of a classic fairy-tale: what is really in that tower? and just how dangerous are those woods exactly? Novik has proven time and time again that she’s a fantasy collection must-have with napoleonic dragons, magic schools, fable, and more. Still, Uprooted is where I always send people first. Its magic system is unique and wonderful, the romance steamy and believable, the friendship powerful, the world dark and dangerous but still beautiful. I’m going to go read it again Recommended By Sarah R., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Named one of the best books of the year by
NPR | BuzzFeed | Tor.com | BookPage | Library Journal | Publishers Weekly
Naomi Novik, author of the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed Temeraire novels, introduces a bold new world rooted in folk stories and legends, as elemental as a Grimm fairy tale.
“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
Review
“Breathtaking...[Novik] weaves a tale that is both elegantly grand and earthily humble, familiar as a Grimm fairy tale yet fresh, original, and totally irresistible....a must-read for fantasy fans for years to come.” Pubilshers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
“Novik takes us on a surprise-filled journey....The resulting warmth and intimacy provide a nicely nurturing environment for her heroine’s unusual adventures.” The Seattle Times
Review
“Novik here delivers a tale that is funny and fast-paced, laced with hair-raising battle scenes and conspiracies; it also touches on deeper ecological concerns we grapple with today.” The Washington Post
Review
“A very enjoyable fantasy with the air of a modern classic...Naomi Novik skillfully takes the fairy-tale-turned-bildungsroman structure of her premise...and builds enough flesh on those bones to make a very different animal.” The New York Times Book Review
Review
“Moving, heartbreaking, and thoroughly satisfying, Uprooted is the fantasy novel I feel I’ve been waiting a lifetime for. Clear your schedule before picking it up, because you won’t want to put it down.” NPR
About the Author
Naomi Novik is the acclaimed author of His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, Victory of Eagles, Tongues of Serpents, Crucible of Gold, and Blood of Tyrants, the first eight volumes of the Temeraire series. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and has won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, as well as the Locus Award for Best New Writer and the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel. She is also the author of the graphic novel Will Supervillains Be on the Final?
Fascinated with both history and legends, Novik is a first-generation American raised on Polish fairy tales and stories of Baba Yaga. Her own adventures include pillaging degrees in English literature and computer science from various ivory towers, designing computer games, and helping to build the Archive of Our Own for fanfiction and other fanworks. Novik is a co-founder of the Organization for Transformative Works.
She lives in New York City with her husband Charles Ardai, the founder of Hard Case Crime, and their daughter, Evidence, surrounded by an excessive number of purring computers.