a gorgeous, sweeping tale of daring, faith and jinn
I received a copy of this book from netgalley and grove press in exchange for an honest review. all thanks to them for this wonderful experience!!
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 afterall 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 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 afterall 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.