Uprooted: A Novel

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But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand. Irankunda, Larissa (October 16, 2020). "Racism vs. Representation: The Missteps of Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education". The Mary Sue . Retrieved May 23, 2021. And she does that in more ways than one. Because yes, of course, this is Agnieszka’s story first and foremost but this is also the story of her world – of the Wood, of the people around the Wood and the history behind it all. It is also about the history of magic and how it works and the difference between learned magic and intuitive magic – the magic of roots and the magic of intellect. It is also a story that looks at mortality in a deeply felt way. One of the most affecting scenes in the novel is when Agnieszka realises that as a witch, she will live a very long life, possibly outliving everything and everyone she knows. Part of her coming of age is coming to terms with that and finding a way to move forward that will serve her loving personality well. And I understand that these words are often used in negative ways when describing a book but here I want to use them in the most positive way imaginable.

Marek is a prince, not the crown prince, and he has no qualms about making his displeasure on that topic known, and when I met him . . . I didn't know what to think. He behaved abominably, but in a way that he himself wasn't absolutely abominable. Just self-interested. But redeemable. Until he isn't. Then suddenly you have hope for him again. Novik, Naomi (October 10, 2020). "Apology for A Deadly Education". NaomiNovik.com . Retrieved May 23, 2021. The worst bit, though, was that she had the cadence and emotion of a robot. Words that are italicized or followed with exclamation points in the book sound no different coming from the narrator's mouth as words without emphasis. Her timing was bizarrely off as well; it was impossible to tell when half the sentences ended and new ones began. Kallam, Clay (25 August 2015). "Worlds Beyond: Naomi Novik's 'Uprooted' will have readers rooted". San Jose Mercury News . Retrieved 13 November 2022. a b DJangi, Taraneh (March 5, 2019). "Congratulations to Our 2019 Audie Award Winners". Books on Tape . Retrieved May 22, 2021.

The Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale has never been as captivating. . . . Spinning Silverfurther cements [Novik’s] place as one of the genre greats.” — Paste SPINNING SILVER ART TOOLKIT

Tanjeem, Namera (December 3, 2020). "A Response to Claims of Racism in Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education". Book Riot . Retrieved May 23, 2021. Will Supervillains Be on the Final? Liberty Vocational, Vol. 1". Publishers Weekly. March 7, 2011 . Retrieved May 23, 2021. Uprooted is influenced by Polish folklore: Novik was brought up on Polish fairytales. [4] [5] [6] The protagonist's name references a story, Agnieszka Skrawek Nieba (Agnieszka Piece of Sky) by the Polish children's author and translator Natalia Gałczyńska [ pl]; Novik specially liked the story as a child. [7] Baba Jaga is a common bogeyman in Slavic folklore, including in the Polish stories that Novik used to hear at bedtime. [4] [8] [9] The "birthday song about living a hundred years", to whose melody Agnieszka chants the spell which cures the Dragon of corruption, is the Polish birthday song Sto lat, meaning literally "[May you live] one hundred years". [10] The lyrics of another song quoted in the book, "about the spark on the hearth, telling its long stories", are a translation of a part of the Polish bedtime song Bajka iskierki [ pl] (or, Z popielnika na Wojtusia) by Janina Porazińska [ pl]. [11] At the final feast, Agnieszka tastes zhurek, a phonetic spelling of an Eastern European sour rye soup known in Poland as żur or żurek. [12] Critical reception [ edit ]In 2016, Novik published "Spinning Silver", a short story retelling the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, in the fantasy anthology The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales. [1] [20] Two years later, she expanded the story into her second standalone novel, Spinning Silver, [1] which won the 2019 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, the 2019 Alex Award, and the 2019 Audie Award for Fantasy. [21] [22] [23] Most likely it hasn't, and that gasping yokel below frightened himself fleeing a shadow," the Dragon said, but the gasping yokel hadn't looked at all a fool to me, or a coward, and I thought even the Dragon didn't quite believe his own words. " No, not the red one, idiot girl, that's fire-heart; a chimaera would drink it up by the gallon if it had the chance, and become next kin to a real dragon, then. The red-violet, two farther on." They both looked red-violet to me, but I hastily swapped potions and gave him the one he wanted. "All right," he said, closing the case. "Don't read any of the books, don't touch anything in this room, don't touch anything in any room if you can help it, and try if you can not to reduce the place to rubble before I return."