What a gorgeous, gorgeous book. And what a wonderful story! I requested this book for review based upon how much I loved the cover (guilty) and the fact that it was an ownvoices American Muslim story, and jinn were involved! But what I got within The Bird King was so much more than just a beautiful cover. This is my first G.Willow Wilson novel, but based upon this and her work on Ms. Marvel, I would love to read anything she writes! She has such a way with words. There were so many quotes that I drew from this novel, far too many to include in this review, that really resonated with me. She manages to create such a magical feeling throughout the whole story, while also keeping the basic plotlines and concepts rooted in reality.
The Bird King takes place in the palace of Granada, the last emirate of Muslim Spain and follows Fatima, a concubine of the sultan, and her best friend Hassan, the royal mapmaker. Set during the turbulent time of the surrender of the Islamic Emirate to the new Spanish Catholic monarchy, this book deals with so many different aspects of this time in history. Fatima and Hassan are smack dab in the middle of all of this, both characters having not a very extensive knowledge of the outside world, when the representatives of the Spanish monarchy arrive to discuss terms of surrender. Complicating matters is the fact that Hassan’s mapmaking skills are magical in nature, he has always been able to draw maps of places he’s never seen or been and essentially shape reality to his will. Fatima innocently introduces Hassan to one of the women with the Spanish monarchy, unknowingly exposing him to the very person who will try to condemn him as a sorcerer and a threat to Christianity. Confronted with this harsh reality, Fatima and Hassan escape the castle with the help of a jinn named Vikram who can fluidly shift from dog to person.
I loved the characters of Fatima and Hassan, they were both very naive to the outside world and I felt each blow to their innocence while they are running from the Inquisition; I just wanted to keep them safe at all costs! Fatima is a force to be reckoned with and a wonderful main character, she’s volatile, intelligent, occasionally selfish, but she cares for the people she loves with fierce loyalty.
I also really enjoyed the way we get to see the effect that Christianity was having on the Muslim world and their way of life. The juxtaposition of what’s right in Fatima’s eyes and what was right in Luz’s (the inquisitor) eyes was really poignant. At one point, Fatima is thinking of religion to herself and I honestly think the quote directly relates so strongly to how I feel about religion as well.
"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. Nor, if it came to that, could she fathom hell, which seemed a somewhat contradictory place; you could be sent there for behaving in the right way but believing in the wrong God, or for believing in the right God but behaving in the wrong way."
But this story also has a distinct vein of feminism running throughout it. As one of the sultan’s prized concubines, Fatima was practically raised in the palace, never going out or being allowed to interact with anyone outside of the palace walls. Throughout the story we get to see Fatima coming to terms with her life and her newfound freedom, and what that means for her. Even though she wasn’t treated harshly in the palace, she has still never known what it’s like to be truly free and watching her grow with this freedom was a delight to read about.
“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.”
Lastly, the magical realism in this book was also one of my favorite aspects, though I would have loved to see a bit more of the jinn characters. The imagery and the lush descriptions of the world that the jinn come from, along with the other denizens of that world were so vivid, I just wanted more of them!
Ultimately I would give this book four and a half stars, because the only thing that I would change is more jinn! But overall, the characters, the historical setting, and the messages of this book were wonderful and I would definitely recommend this.
The Bird King takes place in the palace of Granada, the last emirate of Muslim Spain and follows Fatima, a concubine of the sultan, and her best friend Hassan, the royal mapmaker. Set during the turbulent time of the surrender of the Islamic Emirate to the new Spanish Catholic monarchy, this book deals with so many different aspects of this time in history. Fatima and Hassan are smack dab in the middle of all of this, both characters having not a very extensive knowledge of the outside world, when the representatives of the Spanish monarchy arrive to discuss terms of surrender. Complicating matters is the fact that Hassan’s mapmaking skills are magical in nature, he has always been able to draw maps of places he’s never seen or been and essentially shape reality to his will. Fatima innocently introduces Hassan to one of the women with the Spanish monarchy, unknowingly exposing him to the very person who will try to condemn him as a sorcerer and a threat to Christianity. Confronted with this harsh reality, Fatima and Hassan escape the castle with the help of a jinn named Vikram who can fluidly shift from dog to person.
I loved the characters of Fatima and Hassan, they were both very naive to the outside world and I felt each blow to their innocence while they are running from the Inquisition; I just wanted to keep them safe at all costs! Fatima is a force to be reckoned with and a wonderful main character, she’s volatile, intelligent, occasionally selfish, but she cares for the people she loves with fierce loyalty.
I also really enjoyed the way we get to see the effect that Christianity was having on the Muslim world and their way of life. The juxtaposition of what’s right in Fatima’s eyes and what was right in Luz’s (the inquisitor) eyes was really poignant. At one point, Fatima is thinking of religion to herself and I honestly think the quote directly relates so strongly to how I feel about religion as well.
"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. Nor, if it came to that, could she fathom hell, which seemed a somewhat contradictory place; you could be sent there for behaving in the right way but believing in the wrong God, or for believing in the right God but behaving in the wrong way."
But this story also has a distinct vein of feminism running throughout it. As one of the sultan’s prized concubines, Fatima was practically raised in the palace, never going out or being allowed to interact with anyone outside of the palace walls. Throughout the story we get to see Fatima coming to terms with her life and her newfound freedom, and what that means for her. Even though she wasn’t treated harshly in the palace, she has still never known what it’s like to be truly free and watching her grow with this freedom was a delight to read about.
“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.”
Lastly, the magical realism in this book was also one of my favorite aspects, though I would have loved to see a bit more of the jinn characters. The imagery and the lush descriptions of the world that the jinn come from, along with the other denizens of that world were so vivid, I just wanted more of them!
Ultimately I would give this book four and a half stars, because the only thing that I would change is more jinn! But overall, the characters, the historical setting, and the messages of this book were wonderful and I would definitely recommend this.