Uprooted and Spinning Silver are a pair of standalone novels by Naomi Novik, though they share some similarities in that they both seem to be set in a medieval version of eastern Europe and were inspired by fairy tales, though I would say that the fairy tale inspiration is much stronger and clearer in Spinning Silver.
Uprooted is about Agnieszka, a 17-year-old girl who is chosen by a wizard named the Dragon to serve him for 10 years. He chooses a new girl every 10 years and typically chooses someone who seems to be the best in some way (e.g., the most beautiful). In exchange, he provides the valley they live in with protection from the evil Wood. Everyone expects him to choose Agnieszka’s best friend Kasia, but the Dragon chooses Agnieszka. It turns out he does this not because he wants to but because he has to – she has the gift of magic, which by law must be nurtured. He begins teaching her while being an absolute jerk about it.
This is really a story about friendship, though, and what we’re willing to do for the people we love. When Kasia is taken by the Wood, Agnieszka goes in to save her, which sets off the rest of the events of the novel. Agnieszka and Kasia are like sisters and love each other dearly, and much of what Agnieszka does is to save Kasia and later on to save the rest of the people in their valley and the kingdom as a whole.
Novik’s writing is so evocative, especially how she writes about the Wood. So much of what she describes is beautiful, though the Wood itself is evil, and this juxtaposition really stood out at times, especially in this passage: “Its boughs were laden with pale silver-green leaves and small golden fruits with a horrible stink.” I also thought the somewhat soft magic system was interesting. The Dragon and other wizards use magical language that feels rigid to Agnieszka, whereas her way of using magic is more intuitive and organic, and I loved how magicians could tweak the language for different results. Agnieszka didn’t like that a spell to change her clothes resulted in really fancy, uncomfortable clothing, and all she had to do was drop a syllable in the word or slur the word, which still resulted in a change of clothes, but to less fancy ones, and I just thought it was so cool.
I was somewhat ambivalent about the romance between Agnieszka and the Dragon. I suppose that could be considered a spoiler, but it’s pretty clearly broadcast. The Dragon is so verbally abusive, and at one point attacks Agnieszka physically. He does it because he thinks she’s a spy, but that doesn’t excuse it. However, this didn’t really detract from the book for me, especially since I think the novel as a whole really stuck the landing.
I felt that Spinning Silver got off to a much slower start, and while I did enjoy it quite a bit, Uprooted definitely takes the win for me, if we’re doing a direct comparison. Spinning Silver, which is inspired by the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, uses shifting first person narratives of 3 characters: Miryem, Irina, and Wanda, with occasional sections narrated by other characters. Miryem is the daughter of a passive Jewish moneylender and takes over collecting from the townspeople who are taking advantage of him; Irina is the daughter of a duke, who hopes to marry her to the tsar; and Wanda is a peasant in Miryem’s town who lives with her two brothers and abusive father, and she goes to work for Miryem’s family to help work off her father’s debt. The country they live in has been plagued by winters that last longer and longer due to the Staryk, a fae, icy, winter-dwelling people who highly value gold. Miryem catches the attention of the Staryk king when she boasts about (metaphorically) turning silver to gold, and he tasks her with literally turning Staryk silver into gold or risk death, but success means being taken to be his Queen, whether she wants to or not.
I don’t typically prefer shifting narratives, especially in the first person, although it serves the purpose of making you wonder who is going to survive. There was a point at which everything suddenly felt high stakes – when Miryem and Irina make a plan to deal with the Staryk king and the fire demon who possesses the tsar. In first person narration, typically you know the narrator will survive (although there are ways around this), but once they made that plan, I suddenly had to start worrying about survival odds. It didn’t make me like the writing style, but at least I understood it, and it does also make sense from a storytelling perspective because of the ways these characters lives separate and converge over the course of the novel.
None of these characters is a “chosen one”; they’re just women doing their best in difficult situations, which I appreciated. They try, and they have hope, and I love the way Miryem describes it some of what she does: “. . . waiting for high magic: magic that came only when you made some larger version of yourself with words and promises, and then stepped inside and somehow grew to fill it.”
I also appreciated the role of Judaism in the novel. Miryem isn’t just Jewish to tick a diversity box (which I wouldn’t expect anyway because Novik’s father is Jewish). Being Jewish matters. It’s an important part of Miryem’s identity, and it plays a role in the novel. As a content warning, this does meant that there is also period-appropriate anti-semitism, both overt and more subtle.
Overall I enjoyed both books, which showcase Novik’s ability to create immersive worlds and relatable characters. This is my first foray into Novik’s writing, and I’m looking forward to reading more of her work.