The book Uprooted by Naomi Novik is an enchanting tale with all the basic elements of a classical fairy tale with a very real and human twist to it. The story starts in the small town of Dvernik, which lives under the shadow of a tower inhabited by a wizard named the “Dragon”. The Dragon protects the valley from the evil corruption and spread of the Wood, which spreads through its roots and monsters that sometimes wander from the shadows of the trees to taint people with its evil. Though the Dragon helps the valley in their times of need, he is a cool and distant ruler, rarely interacting with the locals- except for the decennial event where the Dragon visits and takes a village girl to serve him in his tower. This year, it is Dvernik’s turn to give a girl to the Dragon, and everyone knows the obvious choice is Kasia- beautiful, intelligent, graceful. Her best friend Agnieszka, who is none of these things, mourns the eventual day that her best friend will be taken away from her forever- because the girls who come back from the Dragon’s tower never choose to stay in the valley. But when the Dragon arrives, he makes a very unexpected choice that will eventually spiral into an all-out war against the Wood for the sake of protecting the whole kingdom.

     This book is very different from how the first few chapters make it seem. When I began reading this book, I was expecting a classic story of underdog rises up, surpasses expectations and discovers great power, and eventually defeats a seemingly unconquerable evil in an epic battle. I was thinking a story like “Harry Potter” or “Eragon” stuffed into a single novel, and I was kind of excited about it. But the story soon took a surprising turn, with an event I was predicting to be the climax occurring within the first half of the book. As I continued reading, the story became more and more convoluted, turning into something more complex and abstract than I had expected. When again I thought the climax of the book had been reached, once again I was surprised with an unexpected twist and the story continued on. When I finally reached the true climax, it was equally as surprising in the way it played out and immensely satisfying. I admit that I enjoyed the majority of the first half better than the second half of the book, mainly because of many minor events involving the political complications of the court and its corruption within and an extensive siege on a castle following being on the run where, though there is action, the story seems to be standing still. There were often points where I wanted to move on already, to see progress, instead of being stuck on parts that I thought didn’t really add to the story. But the “fake out” climax towards the end and then the true climax more than make up for those dead spots. This book twists your expectations in a way that keeps you on your toes and wanting to read more even as you grow a little impatient along the way.

     I also liked the original take on the very cliche concepts of magic. Magic turned from something that has basic rules and is worked the same way for everyone, like arithmetic, into something more like singing (which is often used to describe using magic in the book) with everyone using their own techniques to make the magic work, and each magic having its own unique color and tone. To see how the characters in this book handle their magic gives insight into their personalities and to see how their different magics flow together parallels into their strengths and weaknesses working together in harmony to create something amazing. And the description of a villain with not just good vs. evil or right vs. wrong, but pure, twisted corruption as a villain- something not so easily picked out and killed. The blending of good people with flaws and those whose weaknesses are exposed by the corruption of the Wood gives a better, more realistic view of people with flaws and varied moral complexes to justify their actions, going beyond a simply bad character who desires power. Uprooted explores deeply into the relationships we have with other people and brings our greatest human fallacies to light.

     All in all, though at times you may grow a little impatient with the book and it may be a bit long, I strongly recommend reading Uprooted if you want a new, fresh perspective on cliche magical fairy tales.