First, it has a beautiful cover that attracted my attention! The writing is beautiful, the characters interesting, and the book is a real page-turner! Thank you, Netgalley, for this ARC!

A wonder of historical fantasy that gives a glimpse into a lesser known (or at least misconceptualized) culture and area of the world, particularly in fantasy novels. The writing is beautiful and the settings are stunning. This is a true adventure that spans countries, cultures, and relationships. It's hard to write a review without going too in depth into plot and character, but if you enjoy historical fantasy like the Bear and the Nightingale or Sistersong, then you will love this.

Wanted to love this just from the cover alone but it was a bit too slow. Was an original historical fantasy in a time period and place I don’t remember really reading about before.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc I received in exchange for my review.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

But, alas, the whole thing--for me at least--collapses under the weight of thick description of thin ideas, and I leave the book without having been changed in any substantial way, which, I think, is tragic.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/78184-the-art-of-the-con-science-fiction-and-fantasy-2018-2019.html

I did not finish - I have tried reading this book on multiple occasions and just could not get into it.

This novel is set in the 1400's in Granada, Spain. We meet Fatima, a concubine in the royal court and her friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker. We learn early on that Hassan can draw maps of places and change reality. As this is the times of the Spanish Inquisition, Fatima and Hassan need to flee the court.

A slow story, the duo traverse Spain with help of a djinn and create a message of hope and tolerance.

This was such a lyrical and beautifully told tale. We follow Fatima, a concubine in the Sultan's harem during the final days of the Muslim court in Granada and her childhood friend, Hassan who has the ability to draw maps of places he has never seen and bring them into reality. When the Spanish Inquisition arrive, Hassan and Fatima flee to try and find the island home of the fabled Bird King. I loved the friendship between Fatima and Hassan and the way in which they looked out for one another. There was so much discussion around the power of religion and how it can be used to oppress others or how it can provide daily support for those oppressed. The lush landscape was gorgeously drawn and the characters had depth and authenticity that I really appreciated. Overall, this was a fascinating and compelling read and I would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

this is definitely a case of "it's not you, it's me". the book touches upon a very interesting topic, the writing is lush and pulled me in, but i am just not a fan of historical fiction. the extra fact that this was quite a slow book and what i expected to love the most - the fantasy aspects of it - felt pretty underveloped didn't contribute to my enjoyment.

Although i later read and loved this title - I mean, G Willow Wilson can do no wrong - I was unfortunately not in time to be of any use to the publishing team.

I was excited to read this book, having heard so many things about G. WIllow WIlson, and I'm glad it didn't disappoint me.

It's so exciting to see G. Willow Wilson break into mainstream novel writing. I've long loved her comics writing and it's incredible to see what she can do in the novel format!

Al-Andalus is a gilded vision imprinted into the minds of many Muslim children, myself included. It is a dream of glory days long past, the Golden Age of the Islamic Empire, a time of prosperity and tolerance. The Bird King begins not in the midst of this glory age, but at the door of its downfall: the year is 1491. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand have laid siege to Granada, the last remaining stronghold of the great empire of Muslim Spain, tenuously held by the sultan and his retinue.

Against the backdrop of this landscape we are introduced to the novel's protagonist and only POV character, Fatima, the sultan's Circassian concubine, who has lived in the harem all her life. Fatima, though endowed with all the comforts of a beloved mistress, is keenly aware that she is still nothing more than a slave, and she deeply resents this. She is an intriguingly complex heroine; stubborn and sheltered, furiously angry and furiously loving, honest and straightforward. She is desperate for freedom, even as the narrative continues to probe at this desire and interrogate its true worth; when Fatima eventually leaves the palace and its comforts, she reflects on her newfound freedom: "[Fatima] was free, and though freedom was neither happiness nor safety, though it was in fact a crueler and lonelier thing than she could have imagined, it was real, just as the ship was real, and like the ship, it was hers.

Fatima's only true friend in the palace is Hassan, the royal mapmaker, who has a strange ability: he can draw maps of places he's never seen and alter reality with his drawings. Their friendship, though frowned upon, is allowed to continue because Hassan is gay. In fact, Fatima states outright that Hassan's lack of interest in her body is one of the reasons she loves him so deeply; Fatima, who is beautiful enough to turn heads, has always despised that her sexual allure seems to have become her defining trait. Hassan, too, is an endearing character, somewhat hapless, relatively happy-go-lucky, and charming.

The deep spiritual love Fatima and Hassan have for one another is the blazing emotional core of The Bird King. As this review states, their love is almost tragic, and its depiction functions as a way for Wilson to interrogate the basic notion of love itself: "They love one another on a deep, spiritual level, but their sexualities are incompatible. To find true fulfillment, they have to learn to share one another more generously with others, which is no easy task for people who were taught that love is possession. Like freedom, love is a far more delicate and difficult proposition than it initially appears.

It is this shared love that instigates the inciting incident: when a coterie of Spaniards arrive to negotiate with the sultan, they bring with them a lay sister called Luz, sent as an agent of the queen. When Luz discovers Hassan's ability, she is convinced that he is a sorcerer communing with the devil, and becomes determined to torture him until he confesses, prompting Fatima and Hassan to flee the palace with the help of Lady Aisha, the sultan's mother (and a fascinating character in her own right), and Vikram, a jinn beholden to Lady Aisha.

Thus begins Hassan and Fatima's journey to the legendary Qaf, where they hope to find the titular Bird King. Though I normally don't enjoy journey narratives, I found myself riveted by Hassan and Fatima traipsing across the Spanish countryside, desperate to get to the ocean. This is because these characters, and their dynamic, is absolutely delightful. Alongside them is Vikram, a jinn who is at times a dog and at times a man and at times neither of these things, who has a long-suffering, dry sense of humor, and whose presence livened the narrative considerably, even if he was occasionally utilized as a deus ex machina.

Other characters who color the narrative are Gwennec and Luz. Gwennec is a grumpy fisherman-turned-monk whom Hassan and Fatima stumble into, literally, and he finds himself caught along on their journey of escape. Luz is much more interesting; she is a fascinating depiction of a female villain. From the get-go, it is clear that her affability is a shroud for a crueler, keener nature; she is driven by a fanatical belief in her God and her church, and it drives her to cruelty. Her nature only grows worse when she is overtaken by a strange, eldritch evil that Hassan and Fatima accidentally set loose during their harried escape from the palace. It's true that the narrative is undecided on what exactly this eldritch evil is or what its goals are, but it becomes clear that this is not the point, as this being, and its attachment to Luz, serves only as a metaphor for the nature and function of evil itself.

After much back and forth, our ragtag team does indeed manage to find the legendary Qaf, and here is where the narrative began to grow murky, though no less enchanting. The Bird King is actually a retelling of an esoteric 12th-century poem by a Persian mystic, called The Conference of the Birds, which, in the book, is a poem known by Hassan and Fatima, though they do not know how it ends. It is, to the best of my understanding, a metaphor for humans seeking God, and is, I believe, part of a larger tradition of Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, that has always fascinated me but that I am unfamiliar with (mainly because my tiny Muslim corner of the world believes Sufism to be heretical). The poem deals in large part with aspects of the metaphysical, the sorts of things difficult to wrap one's brain around. In the latter part of the novel, The Bird King attempts to tackle these metaphysical conundrums, and everything makes much more sense when you refer back to The Conference of the Birds. Devoid of that context, the narrative becomes a bit muddled and difficult to follow (at least for me, who is totally unfamiliar with the philosophy of metaphysics), but there is a sense of something grander at play, a feel of awe that eclipses the reader with its potential.

The Bird King is a novel that is greater than the sum of its parts. Read entirely straight, it is simply a moving, often hilarious romp featuring endearingly complex and sometimes comical characters, a tale of deep friendship and a desperation for freedom, with a dash of magical realism. But if you care to look past that, you see a novel begs to be dissected and compared against the inspiration it is meant to be retelling, a novel that wants to interrogate the nature of faith and divinity, of love and freedom, of the human condition and humanity's relationship to God. It feels like a book that is beyond anything that I could ever hope to fully understand, and I loved it.

I loved it not just because I loved the characters, or Hassan and Fatima's deep love for one another, or because I found it funny and fun, though all those reasons are valid too. But mainly I loved it because I connected to it on such a deep emotional level that I can barely even articulate it. I so rarely read books that pull heavily from Islamic history and tradition, and perhaps this is part of why so many reviewers found the narrative slow and distant, because so many aspects of it are unfamiliar to Western readers. For me, The Bird King felt like coming home.

I really liked this. The author beautifully evokes the fading world of al-Andalus, with memorable characters in good friends Fatima and Hassan, and the unusual villain Luz (and the rest!), good pacing, and just the right touch of the supernatural. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book.

The whole thing actually reminds me very much of Katherine Arden's Winternight books, as unlikely as that may sound given that Arden's books take place in Russia. The writing style, the fantastical elements, the protofeminist messaging -- To me, it's almost like Arden's story and Wilson's story could be taking place simultaneously, in different parts of the same imagined world.

This was almost a 5-star read for me, but for the last bit. Of a sudden, the tight plotting came undone in favor of some wibbly-wobbly stuff after one of the central mysteries of the story had been more or less resolved. It felt less like the author was intentionally meditating on What Comes Next after a quest is over, and more like she just flat out didn't know how to end her book in a fully satisfying way. But maybe that's just me, considering that this can all also be taken to say that there's no real end to spiritual/religious conflict, when all the different "sides" are essentially fighting for the same thing -- here sort of represented by the island of Qaf -- through different means.

I've read that this book has some character overlap with Wilson's previous novel, Alif the Unseen. I definitely want to read that, and more of Wilson's work. I was overall really impressed by The Bird King!

The Bird King is a thought-provoking, intricately crafted blend of fantasy and history, following 17 year-old Circassian concubine Fatima as she and her best friend, the Iberian court cartographer Hassan, flee the clutches of a zealous brigade of Catholic priests and soldiers attempting to overthrow the empire under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's name. I'd put off reading this for a long time because it was so slow at the beginning, but I'm glad I finally picked it up again.

Things I Liked:
1. The writing is sublime. There are so many gorgeous passages, with sublime dialogue. Absolutely lyrical, and certainly the best feature.
2. The mythology and history of 15th-century Europe. The era of the Spanish Inquisition, the Emirate of Granada, the holy wars and rampant superstition, the fall of empires. It's lovely to see this history represented in contemporary writing, and very informative. The appearance and ambiguity of jinns was also really added to the blend of mythomagic.
3. The pursuit of the legendary island Qaf and Attar's The Conference of Birds. Though it lagged and disappeared at times, I thought it was such a cool motif. Very poetic and fitting to the atmosphere.
4. The underlying messages. Such as the idea of religious freedom and acceptance, or that Qaf and Antillia and Avalon are all ultimately the same thing. Nice touch.

Things I Didn't Like as Much:
1. The pacing. The first third is really slow. It speeds up a little, but overall the pace of the story is awkward and jumpy at times.
2. The villains. I thought the concept of Luz was interesting, but I really wanted to see more about the dynamic between Luz and Fatima and the other characters, and more of Marquez and others. Instead the villains seemed paper-thin, not so much an immediate threat as some vaguely insidious force. Luz, for instance, was promising, but honestly she didn't do too much for me. I wanted to see more in her than just "nice but secretly evil." If she IS lovable but malicious, I need more content that really makes me love and hate her, you know? And Marquez? Just there for a second, just to be killed off. You get it.
3. Speaking of which, the characters... They were interesting at first, especially Hassan and Vikram. I honestly wasn't a huge fan of Fatima, and the fact that the book was only from her POV was at times frustrating because of that. I wish there was more expansion on her (and the others') character arcs and budding relationships. I wanted to see more of the dynamics between different characters, to feel the love. But honestly, that was bogged down beneath description and other slow-burny things.
4. The plot. Aside from the pacing, the story itself was also awkward at times. After they started running, it was just one near-death-inconvenience after another, always saved conveniently by a new character or some deus ex machina - deus ex creature, more like. Even the near-death experiences were really quickly and easily fixed by some outside intervention. The repetition without extra spice gets a little tedious. In the end, it felt quite aimless and not-so-epic as it was intended to be.

Be that as it may, The Bird King is still worth a read, and its message is universal. It is an allegory for tolerance, for seeking peace. It is worth persevering for. 3½ stars: a wonderful story, with equally wondrous messages and writing, but with lots of potential wasted.

This book has so much promise and whatever I read was absolutely gorgeous. But, at the same time the pace was such that it made it very difficult for me to read and I ended up DNfing it because it was too slow and I ran out of patience.

I fell in love with synopsis, but the story was a lot of different from it. Because of that and slower pacing was really hard for me to enjoy this story, until I decided to DNF it. Sadly, this book wasn't meant for me, but I hope that other poeple will like it. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for sending me this review copy.

I found the book to be interesting and thought inspiring. The writing was gorgeous and I really enjoyed being able to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

This book is just gorgeous. The writing is so good, the world is beautifully developed, and the characters are all well developed. This book takes place in 15th century Spain. Fatima is a concubine to the sultan of Grenada. The Inquisition is picking up, and the Moor control over the area is starting to fade. Fatima is friends with Hassan the royal map maker. Hassan, however, is not a normal map maker, he can create maps for places he's never seen. He creates maps to rooms that don't exist in the palace for Fatima. They also spend days telling each other stories of the Bird King. One day the Inquisition arrives, chaos ensues and Fatima and Hassan flee for safety. Their journey is long and hard, they both learn a lot about each other and themselves along the way.

Fatima and Hassan's friendship is just so precious and I loved every single minute of it. Hassan is adorable, sweet, and almost innocent. This balances nicely with Fatima who is very outspoken and stubborn. I just loved how much they loved each other. Along for the journey is Vikram, a jinn who ensures their safety. Vikram might be one of my favorite parts of this book. His banter and long suffering attitude with Fatima is just great. It adds nice levity in more tense parts. I definitely laughed out loud a couple times. Along the journey Fatima and Hassan end up stealing a ship (that they can't sail) which is occupied by Gwennec. Gwennec is a monk and also sailor. He is a great character as well. The sarcasm, and just overall done-ness with Hassan and Fatima was so enjoyable. They develop a really funny, interesting family dynamic that I absolutely loved. I really think there was such a great blend of historical aspects blended with more magical elements. This was such a beautiful story about self discovery, love, and inner strength. The characters were just so great, I honestly loved every second of reading this book.