I really love the feel and atmosphere of these sort of fairy tale inspired fantasies with strong settings. It's fun when there's a hint of romance but I'm not looking for a full out romance novel. Any suggestions? While I love a good series I'm really looking for a one off right now :-)
I'm going to go into some detail below about this book--not plot spoilers, but detail about the way the story evolves as it goes. I think one of the best things about the book is the way the story unfolds and changes and surprises you with the kind of story it is. If you want to experience that fresh, and haven't read the book yet, and are just looking for a review to tell you if you should read it, here you go:
Do you like fantasy novels? If the answer is yes, you should read this book.
Even if the first part of the book doesn't immediately grab you, keep going. If you like fantasy novels, there will be something in this book for you. You might have heard about this book containing one of your fantasy pet peeves.
It probably does.
Read it anyway. The hype is real. This book is great. Everyone who likes fantasy novels should read it.
OK, now that that's out of the way, why do I specifically say that this book has everything a fantasy novel should have? That's not just hyperbolic praise. I mean it specifically. This book is an amazing patchwork of elements and styles. Novik has used forty-odd years of fantasy as a sort of scrap bin, clipping out little pieces and sewing them together in to a beautiful quilt. It doesn't feel disjointed, though. Somehow it just works.
The book starts with a very classic fairy tale baseline. In the beginning, it calls somewhat to mind the sort of pragmatic fairy tale parody of a Dealing with Dragons, complete with idiot princes and a pragmatic heroine. But rather than be mostly funny, the early portion has more of the tension and terror (and some of the sexual edge) of an Angela Carter story. And then we begin to learn that the nearby Woods is not scary in just a Little Red Riding hood kind of way. It's one of the profoundest horrors I've encountered in any fantasy story.
But the book is not satisfied with being a dark and lively fairy tale. By the end it will evoke Feist's Magician in its magic, it will borrow from the ending of Sword of Shannara for a powerful and painful spell, it will have a knightly adventure, a difficult encounter with court society, a Game of Thrones-ean struggle for succession in the shadow of a looming evil, and it will have a wizardly seige. I'm fairly certain that this book will be an absolute staple of /r/fantasy recommendation threads because not only is it great, it has something for every craving. Rare is the book that you can recommend to both the person who
... keep reading on reddit ➡I honestly didn't think I would enjoy Uprooted very much and just now decided to read it after hearing about it for months. It turned out to be pretty fantastic and now I'm wondering about Novik's other novels.
The only things I can remember are:
- A female protagonist who goes on a journey somewhere
- I think something happened to her father and that is why she was going.
- A scene at the start where the girl is preparing to go off on her quest. She is in the kitchen putting together food with her mother (I think), I vaguely remember her wrapping some bread in a cloth.
- She meets a male character (or goes with one) and a dragon somewhere along the way. I remember a campfire scene where they are sitting around chatting.
- There was a musical component. I want to say she (or someone) played the flute/piccolo or similar instrument. And I think the music had a magical effect of some kind.
- I remember a scene in a castle with the dragon. It was either trapped or rescuing someone.
- I think the novel (paperback) had a yellow cover, with the campfire scene depicted on the front. Its possible this was an Australian cover, as I am in Australia and read it here. The US/UK cover may be different.
- It is at least 20 years old. I read it around 1986-1995
- I'm pretty sure it was an adult novel, but it may have been YA.
- It starts very similar to Uprooted by Namoi Novik but is NOT that book. I read it way before Uprooted was published.
I am a big fan of these two books and I've been looking into stories with a similar vibe, but I haven't been able to find something that interests me. The main things I really liked were
- The writing style
- setting/fantasy inspired by Eastern European folklore
- The romance
I also read Deerskin by Robin McKinley and enjoyed it, even though it wasn't that similar. I tried reading Wildwood Dancing because the premise seemed interesting, but I couldn't get past the writing style. I don't usually like YA, and I'm not interested in reading Novik's other book, A Deadly Education.
If any of you could recommend me similar books I'd be very grateful!
I feel like I’m at that point. I’ve never been against the idea of finally leaving my state, but I wanted an actual excuse like a job or relationship, not the angsty “I have to leave bc anywhere is better than here”. But I really do feel at the end of my rope here, that moving far away can only give me the opportunity for the life I actually want. I’m 25, there’s nothing stopping me, but I can’t justify it off stupid emotions like that
These two photos I just took, blocks apart. One showing construction cutting the sidewalk off, forcing people into the street, & another of an uprooted sidewalk which would definitely make it difficult for an elderly person with a walker to tread. Why do I never see the passion against these here, only disabled people without a house?
Hi, Im kinda stuck searching for some items I saw, I needed to slide under a wall, the ground had water and I couldnt jump to get the item. I need help locating it, I have been searching the map for 3 hours and cant find the location. Pls
Sorry this is kind of oddly specific, but re-reading Uprooted made me wonder what other books are out there with scary trees.
Hi guys,
I need a little advice.
Our next door neighbors, who are renters, recently had a few sections of the fence that we share replaced by their landlord’s handyman. Three sections had to be replaced. Two of the sections were on their side, and the section in between them was on our side.
The reason why the fence had to get replaced is because a tree from their side of the fence uprooted during a storm and broke it. The tree had uprooted our side of the fence. Prior to that, we had politely asked them several times and the renters before to cut the tree down or trim it. It had been hanging into our yard for quite some time and caused minor issues such as leaves falling into our yard and etc.
When the handyman came to fix the fence, he told us that we had to pay $300 because the owner of the house next to us only paid for two sections on their side to be replaced. The owner of the house never told us that we would have to pay for our portion of the fence. The fence had also been removed for the past week before it was fixed, so there was plenty of time to let us know that we would have to contribute to the expenses. We only found out that we would have to pay for the fence the same day that handyman came to fix it.
We gave the handyman a $300 check anyways since it wasn’t his fault that the owner hadn’t communicated with us prior to the fence getting fixed, but I was wondering if there was anything we could do to get our money back or possibly get reimbursement from the owner? I asked for the owner’s number from the handyman and sent her a message. I copy and pasted it into the next paragraph.
“Hi,
I currently live next door to the house with the fence being fixed. The handyman just told me that we are paying for a portion of the fence, however I am confused as to why I need to pay. The tree from your house had its roots grow on to our side and damage our portion of the fence.
Please let me know”
We are both 21 and have been dating for about a year and a few months now. We were long distance, but sex and the emotional connection was great. We did LD for about 10 months before we were both confident and given the opportunity to close the distance. I traveled 16 hours to where she was feeling like she was my soulmate and everything was gonna be perfect. Almost immediately it seemed like a switch flipped. We had sex the day I got there, once like a week later, and haven't done it again since. It's been months of not just the lack of sex, but almost everything seems to be gone too. We don't kiss anymore, we don't really cuddle anymore, no hugs, no handholding, she doesn't say how much she loves me or wants to go out and do things anymore. She says it's the depression on top of some medical conditions that afflicted her recently, and that she just doesn't have the energy to put into us, that she just isolates when she gets like this. She even said not too long ago that she isn't sure if she ever really liked sex in general, and that she may just not want to do it anymore. Maybe I'm just insecure, but she shows more emotion to her plants and animals then me currently. I'm not saying she can't show those emotions, its just I would like to be included as well, but I digress. I can't say I've been perfect as I've lashed out and gotten personally offended over stuff she can't control, but this has all taken a massive mental toll on me. I don't feel physically or emotionally desired anymore, I feel more isolated being this close to her then I did during the long distance. I have tried to be understanding, tried to remain upbeat and happy for her, tried to keep planning dates and activities for us, tried to encourage her to get help and that I would help however I could. But she refuses it all, she doesn't want to split costs on a therapist, doesn't want to do meds, doesn't want to talk about her feelings or my feelings whenever I bring them up. It just seems like she has resigned herself to this and I feel awful for her. As terrible as it is in my heart to feel like I'm leaving the one person I had a genuine connection with, I plan on leaving this Saturday. I can't keep feeling like this, especially if she doesn't want to get help. Im not sure how I will go about it though or how she will react, I guess I will find out soon.
So I’ve been growing an E. angustifolia that I got last summer from a farm - already established with a bunch of leaves and roots but still young. Well, my cat found his way to my plant (grown indoors) and pulled it out. Most of the leaves were ripped off (only 2 left) in the process but the roots remained intact with no visible damage. However, it’s been struggling since. Most forums I’ve read on talk about placing the plant in water to help the roots, however they’re not specified for Echinacea which is a drought plant. Is anyone familiar with drought plants and care, especially for this situation? I would greatly appreciate your help!
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