The Bird King
By G Willow Wilson Grove Press
Publicaton Date March 19 2019
Synopsis
G. Willow Wilson’s debut novel Alif the Unseen was an NPR and Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and it established her as a vital American Muslim literary voice. Now she delivers The 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 to Christian 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.
What I Liked:
Let's start with the cover; this is a gorgeous tapestry of color! The reader is transported back to the palace to a time when embroidery and fabrics were used as works of exquisite art. When I brought it to work with me while I was reading, I found myself daydreaming about Fatima's world, the colors are a true joy to the senses,and I hope the author chooses to release specialty editions with different gorgeous covers so we can collect them all just to showcase on our bookshelves.
The characters:
The main characters had great depth of character. Fatima was definitely a woman before her time in 1491, standing up for religious freedom, freedom to love who your heart loves despite their sex, standing up to freedom to live beyond the confines of slavery so she could go beyond the walls of her palace . Hassan was crafted with broad strokes of genius, Fatima had placed all her faith in her only friend to draw them a map to safety, to their Avalon where the Bird King can protect them. Fatima is fiercely protective of Hassan, so unlike the docile concubine ideal we have imagined her to be, ready to fight men twice her size to protect him as Vickram the Jinn tells her in the beginning;" you have four limbs, as long as you only move one at a time the other three will save you." The characters have a type of Pilgrims Progress, for the development of character is also philosophical ;no matter the trials and tribulations if you are steadfast in your beliefs and have faith you can make it through any obstacle. The other minor characters are as equally developed and at the point when Fatima has the standoff with Luz the Inquisitor, Ms Wilson deftly paints the picture for the reader of how blinded Catholic priests became in the name of religion. Luz's faith became twisted and ugly , Fatima wanted her to understand that they were not as different as one would think; Muslim or Catholic there is still a belief in a Almighty God that watched over them all.Besides the religious history, the geographical Iberian peninsula the author took great detail in the sailing difficulties of the time period with the structure of the vessels, it was interesting that she wrote a priest into their quest that not only was a fisherman but taught Hassan about knot tying and reading ,horizon for latitude and longitude degrees. English and History teachers I can see in the her work can be used as a selection to teach in the classroom for in depth ; to have distinct literary analysis comparing themes to Melville (Moby Dick vs the Leviathan) Twain; ( Huck Finn vs Fatima and her journey and love that sees beyond sexual orientation or religious preference) Dickens or James Joyce the scholar could easily find themes comparing her historical thoughts of society and the distinct leaping into fantasy (Dickens A Christmas Carol,Joyce; Portrait of an Artist) The Ms Wilson work is more than just a historical fantasy it is masterpiece destined to become a classic, and like Austin's Pride and Prejudice it will be a work the reader will want to read again and again each year.
Why it was not a Five:
Where the author did a magnificent job building each character, developing the story line and bridging the story into historical relevance I felt the ending rushed and vague. The last third of the book felt like the last two episodes in Lost when we had great revelations of where the characters were in definition with the world, and time is not what it seems at all, once squandered it is truly gone not to return. I felt like the ending ended with a snap, and like that it was over. I thank Grove Press and #Bookishfirst for my copy of this book, it will be treasured and shared.
By G Willow Wilson Grove Press
Publicaton Date March 19 2019
Synopsis
G. Willow Wilson’s debut novel Alif the Unseen was an NPR and Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and it established her as a vital American Muslim literary voice. Now she delivers The 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 to Christian 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.
What I Liked:
Let's start with the cover; this is a gorgeous tapestry of color! The reader is transported back to the palace to a time when embroidery and fabrics were used as works of exquisite art. When I brought it to work with me while I was reading, I found myself daydreaming about Fatima's world, the colors are a true joy to the senses,and I hope the author chooses to release specialty editions with different gorgeous covers so we can collect them all just to showcase on our bookshelves.
The characters:
The main characters had great depth of character. Fatima was definitely a woman before her time in 1491, standing up for religious freedom, freedom to love who your heart loves despite their sex, standing up to freedom to live beyond the confines of slavery so she could go beyond the walls of her palace . Hassan was crafted with broad strokes of genius, Fatima had placed all her faith in her only friend to draw them a map to safety, to their Avalon where the Bird King can protect them. Fatima is fiercely protective of Hassan, so unlike the docile concubine ideal we have imagined her to be, ready to fight men twice her size to protect him as Vickram the Jinn tells her in the beginning;" you have four limbs, as long as you only move one at a time the other three will save you." The characters have a type of Pilgrims Progress, for the development of character is also philosophical ;no matter the trials and tribulations if you are steadfast in your beliefs and have faith you can make it through any obstacle. The other minor characters are as equally developed and at the point when Fatima has the standoff with Luz the Inquisitor, Ms Wilson deftly paints the picture for the reader of how blinded Catholic priests became in the name of religion. Luz's faith became twisted and ugly , Fatima wanted her to understand that they were not as different as one would think; Muslim or Catholic there is still a belief in a Almighty God that watched over them all.Besides the religious history, the geographical Iberian peninsula the author took great detail in the sailing difficulties of the time period with the structure of the vessels, it was interesting that she wrote a priest into their quest that not only was a fisherman but taught Hassan about knot tying and reading ,horizon for latitude and longitude degrees. English and History teachers I can see in the her work can be used as a selection to teach in the classroom for in depth ; to have distinct literary analysis comparing themes to Melville (Moby Dick vs the Leviathan) Twain; ( Huck Finn vs Fatima and her journey and love that sees beyond sexual orientation or religious preference) Dickens or James Joyce the scholar could easily find themes comparing her historical thoughts of society and the distinct leaping into fantasy (Dickens A Christmas Carol,Joyce; Portrait of an Artist) The Ms Wilson work is more than just a historical fantasy it is masterpiece destined to become a classic, and like Austin's Pride and Prejudice it will be a work the reader will want to read again and again each year.
Why it was not a Five:
Where the author did a magnificent job building each character, developing the story line and bridging the story into historical relevance I felt the ending rushed and vague. The last third of the book felt like the last two episodes in Lost when we had great revelations of where the characters were in definition with the world, and time is not what it seems at all, once squandered it is truly gone not to return. I felt like the ending ended with a snap, and like that it was over. I thank Grove Press and #Bookishfirst for my copy of this book, it will be treasured and shared.