Book Review - Uprooted by Naomi Novick
Jan. 3rd, 2016 07:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatEh...I finally finshed Uprooted by Naomi Novick - which is a risky book to review here, due to the fact that it came highly recommended by various people on my flist. I had mixed feelings about it.
Found it to be a very frustrating read, for reasons best described below.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Have you ever started reading a book that you were really enjoying and thought was going one way, when all of a sudden it takes a turn by way of Alberque, and is not what you wanted or were hoping for at all? Then, in the last fifty or so pages, becomes sort of what you wanted all over again? But here's the thing, you still feel shafted. Betrayed. Too little too late, dang it. I'm still not sure if the author is to blame for misleading me, or I'm to blame for wanting something different? Perhaps neither, or both?
This, alas, is the problem with coming to a story with high expectations. Note to self - don't read the reviews first, or read only the negative reviews. ;-)
Before going much further, into spoilers and such: it's a fairy tale - and the writer adopts the voice and technique of the fairy tale.
(Whether this is a good thing or not depends on how much you like reading the old fashioned Brother's Grimm fairy tales. The clean crisp, rambling, at times plotty style of fairy tales. With scant character development, the emphasis on the moral or theme or conflict at the center. In fairy tales, the antagonist or thing that is cursed or must be resolved is the most developed character in it. Unless of course it's Hans Christian Andersons' stories, which tend to have a bit more character development.) At any rate, I applaud the writer for attempting to write in the manner of a fairy tale, even if I don't particularly like that style of writing.
It's also told in a rambling first person point of view - via the seventeen year old Agnieszka (pronounced aˈɡɲɛʂka. Which is difficult to pronounce and remember how to spell, unless you happen to be Polish or Eastern European, like the author. It's a Polish name and the story takes place in Poland and is a retelling of a Polish fairy tale.) Agnieska (nicknamed Neiska) is a wet-behind the ears, silly young woman who would basically be happiest in a hut in the middle the woods gathering berries, playing in the mud and picking fruit. She doesn't appear to have much of a sense of humor, and takes herself and everyone way too seriously - granted the circumstances sort of lend itself to that. Witty, she's not. And whines quite a bit about her inadequacies and her current situation. She's insecure, doesn't believe in herself, and sort of stumbles from one catastrophe to the next, many of which she's exacerbated by her own reckless actions. (Basically, your typical fairy tale heroine bumbling aimlessly about in the nasty wood or that horror story on late night tv. I kept wanting to shake or smack her upside the head. Look where you are going, you idiot! Which to be fair is my experience with most horror and fairy tale heroines...they are insanely frustrating.)
And...as previously stated, the story starts out to be about one thing, then half-way through becomes something else entirely. The first half is rather interesting, it's about a Wizard (known only as the Dragon) who takes young women every ten years from nearby villages to his tower. Then after the ten years are up -- they move on with their lives. He doesn't touch them sexually. He just trains them, and they act as companions or housekeepers/helpers. Agnieszka it turns out has power - so the Wizard takes her on as an apprentice, not a companion or helper. Except his brand of magic is different than hers, and over time, he begins to realize that in order to train her effectively, he has to learn her brand of magic or compromise in a way to let her do her brand, with his supplementing it. Agnieszka, against his advice, goes off into the forest to save her best friend, Kaisa, from the Wood, and brings the corrupted and changed Kaisa back with her. Together, using both their styles of magic, they save her friend. This section was compelling up to a point. I would have liked to have a bit more character development and more showing, less telling, but that's just me. And, it appeared that the writer really was going to develop the characters further...we'd get more of why Agnieszka and Kaisa were such close friends, and who the Dragon was, why he did what he did, and his background.
But no. The story went in a completely different direction. Instead, we end up bumbling around in the Capital, more supporting characters are introduced, no one is really developed, more people die in horrible ways mostly due to Agneskia's stupidity, a huge lengthy and seemingly endless bunch of battles are fought and this goes on for about 200 pages again due to Agneskia's insecurity and inability to see...most of which I skimmed, and finally, we get back to the story that was interesting to me. By which time, it becomes clear that the only character that is going to get more development is The Wood or Wood Queen. The Dragon sort of falls by the wayside and becomes a supporting character or means to an end, as does, for that matter Kaisa, whose relationship with Agneskia, I was lead to believe was the central focus of the story. (It's not. )
The central focus of the story is Agneskia's relationship with the Wood and how she deals with it. Which is actually a nice trick from a fairy tale and/or metaphorical point of view, but not what I was expecting or wanted from the story. (Although at this point the only character that I was halfway emotionally invested in was the Wood.) After all most if not all fairy tales are about the dangerous wood and how the heroes survive it. So making the Wood a definitive character and having that be the most developed character and relationship with the protagonist/narrator is from a purely objective and intellectual point of view, very cool, but from a subjective and emotional point of view, incredibly irritating and not at all what I wanted or was in the mood for. So, alas, I felt betrayed by the writer and story, even though, I knew it was cool from a purely intellectual perspective.
There's a lot of Good here, despite some of what I stated above and well below. The whole Wood metaphor is rather cool, and some of the magic and the references to Baba Jaga, which in this tale is a force for good, are also interesting. (Baba Jaga is often referenced as evil or a Hansel/Gretal style which, actually she might very well be the source of that legend.) I also found the setup and how she twists it, rather interesting. The Dragon, it turns out, thought he was helping the village by uprooting the women from the Wood and sending them out into the world after ten years. He didn't realize that he was perceived as holding them captive and sexually abusing them - which he doesn't really do, or as a scary Wizard. Also the Wood, initially set up as terrorizing and horrible, much like the Dragon, is misunderstood, and a victim, who out of a desire to protect, and rage, and misery, has hurt others and itself more than it intended. The real villains in the story are people or rather men (men do not come out very well in this story) - who solve their problems with violence and greed. And the writer does a decent job of depicting that with various metaphors.
Unfortunately, the plot meanders a bit due in part to the rambling style of the narration and too many long battle scenes that don't go anywhere. Also one too many characters that aren't developed -- a problem with a lot genre writers is they like to introduce tons of characters, but don't feel the need to develop any of them. (Note - it's hard to care about a character who isn't developed.) I've noticed this problem in recent action movies as well. Less is more. Also, the writer doesn't appear to trust her story --- she hammers you over the head with the metaphors. I think the story could have been a lot shorter than it is, it drags quite a bit in the second half. (I kept wondering if it was ever going to end.)
While I liked the use of Eastern European fairy tales and myths, I actually preferred Illona Andrews take on the same mythos in her Kate Daniels novels, mainly because Andrews books are more character driven than thematically driven. Personally, I am not a fan of thematically or plot driven novels - I prefer character driven. Mainly because if the characters do not emotionally engage me, it's hard for me to care what happens in the book and, it can often feel like the writer is sermonizing. (If I want to hear a sermon or read one, I'll seek out a minister or a philosopher, not a fiction writer.) I like books that raise questions or subtly hint at things, not tell me the answers. Too much telling in this story, which admittedly is the fairy tale trope - fairy tales do tend to be a bit like parables or fables, in that they tell a moralistic story, with the characters serving the moral.
So, if you like fairy tales, and thematically driven, plotty stories, in a clean writing style - where the main relationship is between the heroine and the metaphorical Wood, you'll love this. If you prefer character driven stories, with a bit of wit, and the main relationship is between the hero/heroine, or heroine/friends...then most likely not.
Found it to be a very frustrating read, for reasons best described below.
Uprooted by Naomi NovikMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Have you ever started reading a book that you were really enjoying and thought was going one way, when all of a sudden it takes a turn by way of Alberque, and is not what you wanted or were hoping for at all? Then, in the last fifty or so pages, becomes sort of what you wanted all over again? But here's the thing, you still feel shafted. Betrayed. Too little too late, dang it. I'm still not sure if the author is to blame for misleading me, or I'm to blame for wanting something different? Perhaps neither, or both?
This, alas, is the problem with coming to a story with high expectations. Note to self - don't read the reviews first, or read only the negative reviews. ;-)
Before going much further, into spoilers and such: it's a fairy tale - and the writer adopts the voice and technique of the fairy tale.
(Whether this is a good thing or not depends on how much you like reading the old fashioned Brother's Grimm fairy tales. The clean crisp, rambling, at times plotty style of fairy tales. With scant character development, the emphasis on the moral or theme or conflict at the center. In fairy tales, the antagonist or thing that is cursed or must be resolved is the most developed character in it. Unless of course it's Hans Christian Andersons' stories, which tend to have a bit more character development.) At any rate, I applaud the writer for attempting to write in the manner of a fairy tale, even if I don't particularly like that style of writing.
It's also told in a rambling first person point of view - via the seventeen year old Agnieszka (pronounced aˈɡɲɛʂka. Which is difficult to pronounce and remember how to spell, unless you happen to be Polish or Eastern European, like the author. It's a Polish name and the story takes place in Poland and is a retelling of a Polish fairy tale.) Agnieska (nicknamed Neiska) is a wet-behind the ears, silly young woman who would basically be happiest in a hut in the middle the woods gathering berries, playing in the mud and picking fruit. She doesn't appear to have much of a sense of humor, and takes herself and everyone way too seriously - granted the circumstances sort of lend itself to that. Witty, she's not. And whines quite a bit about her inadequacies and her current situation. She's insecure, doesn't believe in herself, and sort of stumbles from one catastrophe to the next, many of which she's exacerbated by her own reckless actions. (Basically, your typical fairy tale heroine bumbling aimlessly about in the nasty wood or that horror story on late night tv. I kept wanting to shake or smack her upside the head. Look where you are going, you idiot! Which to be fair is my experience with most horror and fairy tale heroines...they are insanely frustrating.)
And...as previously stated, the story starts out to be about one thing, then half-way through becomes something else entirely. The first half is rather interesting, it's about a Wizard (known only as the Dragon) who takes young women every ten years from nearby villages to his tower. Then after the ten years are up -- they move on with their lives. He doesn't touch them sexually. He just trains them, and they act as companions or housekeepers/helpers. Agnieszka it turns out has power - so the Wizard takes her on as an apprentice, not a companion or helper. Except his brand of magic is different than hers, and over time, he begins to realize that in order to train her effectively, he has to learn her brand of magic or compromise in a way to let her do her brand, with his supplementing it. Agnieszka, against his advice, goes off into the forest to save her best friend, Kaisa, from the Wood, and brings the corrupted and changed Kaisa back with her. Together, using both their styles of magic, they save her friend. This section was compelling up to a point. I would have liked to have a bit more character development and more showing, less telling, but that's just me. And, it appeared that the writer really was going to develop the characters further...we'd get more of why Agnieszka and Kaisa were such close friends, and who the Dragon was, why he did what he did, and his background.
But no. The story went in a completely different direction. Instead, we end up bumbling around in the Capital, more supporting characters are introduced, no one is really developed, more people die in horrible ways mostly due to Agneskia's stupidity, a huge lengthy and seemingly endless bunch of battles are fought and this goes on for about 200 pages again due to Agneskia's insecurity and inability to see...most of which I skimmed, and finally, we get back to the story that was interesting to me. By which time, it becomes clear that the only character that is going to get more development is The Wood or Wood Queen. The Dragon sort of falls by the wayside and becomes a supporting character or means to an end, as does, for that matter Kaisa, whose relationship with Agneskia, I was lead to believe was the central focus of the story. (It's not. )
The central focus of the story is Agneskia's relationship with the Wood and how she deals with it. Which is actually a nice trick from a fairy tale and/or metaphorical point of view, but not what I was expecting or wanted from the story. (Although at this point the only character that I was halfway emotionally invested in was the Wood.) After all most if not all fairy tales are about the dangerous wood and how the heroes survive it. So making the Wood a definitive character and having that be the most developed character and relationship with the protagonist/narrator is from a purely objective and intellectual point of view, very cool, but from a subjective and emotional point of view, incredibly irritating and not at all what I wanted or was in the mood for. So, alas, I felt betrayed by the writer and story, even though, I knew it was cool from a purely intellectual perspective.
There's a lot of Good here, despite some of what I stated above and well below. The whole Wood metaphor is rather cool, and some of the magic and the references to Baba Jaga, which in this tale is a force for good, are also interesting. (Baba Jaga is often referenced as evil or a Hansel/Gretal style which, actually she might very well be the source of that legend.) I also found the setup and how she twists it, rather interesting. The Dragon, it turns out, thought he was helping the village by uprooting the women from the Wood and sending them out into the world after ten years. He didn't realize that he was perceived as holding them captive and sexually abusing them - which he doesn't really do, or as a scary Wizard. Also the Wood, initially set up as terrorizing and horrible, much like the Dragon, is misunderstood, and a victim, who out of a desire to protect, and rage, and misery, has hurt others and itself more than it intended. The real villains in the story are people or rather men (men do not come out very well in this story) - who solve their problems with violence and greed. And the writer does a decent job of depicting that with various metaphors.
Unfortunately, the plot meanders a bit due in part to the rambling style of the narration and too many long battle scenes that don't go anywhere. Also one too many characters that aren't developed -- a problem with a lot genre writers is they like to introduce tons of characters, but don't feel the need to develop any of them. (Note - it's hard to care about a character who isn't developed.) I've noticed this problem in recent action movies as well. Less is more. Also, the writer doesn't appear to trust her story --- she hammers you over the head with the metaphors. I think the story could have been a lot shorter than it is, it drags quite a bit in the second half. (I kept wondering if it was ever going to end.)
While I liked the use of Eastern European fairy tales and myths, I actually preferred Illona Andrews take on the same mythos in her Kate Daniels novels, mainly because Andrews books are more character driven than thematically driven. Personally, I am not a fan of thematically or plot driven novels - I prefer character driven. Mainly because if the characters do not emotionally engage me, it's hard for me to care what happens in the book and, it can often feel like the writer is sermonizing. (If I want to hear a sermon or read one, I'll seek out a minister or a philosopher, not a fiction writer.) I like books that raise questions or subtly hint at things, not tell me the answers. Too much telling in this story, which admittedly is the fairy tale trope - fairy tales do tend to be a bit like parables or fables, in that they tell a moralistic story, with the characters serving the moral.
So, if you like fairy tales, and thematically driven, plotty stories, in a clean writing style - where the main relationship is between the heroine and the metaphorical Wood, you'll love this. If you prefer character driven stories, with a bit of wit, and the main relationship is between the hero/heroine, or heroine/friends...then most likely not.