The Bird King

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*4.5 Stars*

A standalone fantasy novel?!  Thank you Wilson!  While I'm starting to enjoy series more than I used to, I always appreciate a good standalone fantasy novel.  The Bird King is a fusion of historical fiction & fantasy, which is my favorite type of mash-up since HF & fantasy are my two favorite genres.  This particular mash-up hit the right notes for me.

Set in 1491, the historical fiction side of The Bird King is centered around the last Muslim controlled emirate located in Iberia.  This book touches upon the conquering of this territory by Spain, and the Spanish inquisition.  The fantasy elements in The Bird King revolve around Hassan, the royal mapmaker with the ability to alter reality through his maps by creating doors, rooms, passageways, etc.  Hassan's abilities in The Bird King gave me similar feelings to books like The Girl from Everywhere and Exit West.  We follow Fatima & Hassan and their escape from the inquisition to the mystical island of the Bird King, Qaf.  Along the way Fatima & Hassan come into contact with different jinn, or Islamic mythical creatures that have both human and animal forms.

My heart really ached for Fatima & her internal struggle: is she really able to love those around her if she is not free?   Wilson really gives us an inside look at the life of a concubine to a sultan - how they are both elevated in status as a concubine, but also treated as property.   Another aspect about this book was the friendship between Fatima and Hassan.   Their friendship was not always smooth sailing, but they had each other's best interests at heart.  It felt very authentic because real friendships are messy sometimes.

Fantasy & historical fiction can tend to be very dense, but Wilson's writing was very easy to read & enjoy.  While the plot was a slow burn for the most part, there was plenty of adventure to keep me satisfied.  This truly is a unique story that kept me interested from start to finish.

If you are not a fan of open ended books, this might not be the book for you.