The Bird King

G. Willow Wilson is really a master at culture weaving. How many fantasy novels set in 1491 at the during the annexation of Muslim Granada into Catholic Spain featuring an Eastern European protagonists in a platonically romantic relationship with a gay Muslim protagonist and also a Djinn do you know? History and fantasy are woven together in a truly inspiring tale about self-worth, freedom, and love. If you enjoyed Alif the Unseen, there is a very important crossover character, but otherwise this contains the same emotional tones in an entirely different setting. I was lucky enough to see Wilson's book launch at the Boulder Book Store, and would also add she is a charming and fascinating human.

This is a fantasy adventure set in Spain in 1491 as the Treaty of Granada was being negotiated and signed. Fatima, a concubine, and Hassan, a mapmaker, escape from the household of the sultan before they are able to be handed over to a delegation from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Hassan has the ability to make magical maps that alter real buildings and landscapes, and they are helped on their way by a jinn whom they had previously thought was just the palace dog.

The 12th century Persian tale “The Conference of the Birds” is a strong theme in this story, where the main characters feel leaderless, lost, and hopeless, and they go searching for a safe place and someone to guide them. Fatima had seen a partial copy of the tale in the sultan's palace, and since she could not find out how the original story ended, she and Hassan entertain each other by making up different endings, or telling new stories about the different birds that might have appeared in the tale. When they have to escape from the palace, Fatima decides that they should find the island where the King of the Birds is supposed to live.

Fatima is a plucky heroine, and Hassan is her brave sidekick and best friend with a mysterious power and a major vulnerability. Their adventures are sometimes quite scary and a little bit gruesome. There isn't much explanation of how the supernatural parts of the story work–you have to accept them and move on, in spite of any questions you might have, because the narrative doesn't linger. There is a small amount of romance (and not necessarily between the characters you might expect), but it is not a major feature of the story. I really enjoyed it, although I would have liked more explanation of what certain creatures were and where they came from/why they were significant. This is really a 3.5 star review.

I have not yet read G. Willow Wilson's first novel, Alif the Unseen, but I really want to now, because this one was beautiful. I really enjoyed this story, watching Fatima mature through her travels and change from the sheltered Sultan's concubine/possession to become - well - what she becomes.

The Bird King is the story of Fatima, concubine, and Hassan, mapmaker, on the run from the Inquisition. They were both members of the house of the last Sultan in Iberia. When the Spanish (and the Inquisition) came to negotiate his surrender, one of their conditions was they wanted Hassan, because of the magic he used in his maps. Hassan has been Fatima's only real friend; he's the only man that wanted nothing from her, because he's gay and unmoved by her beauty. His sexuality has been largely ignored by the court; his maps were too important to the war effort, so it was tolerated and just not spoken of. When Fatima discovers the Sultan intends to turn Hassan over, she runs away with him. She has some unexpected help in her journey, which, along with Hassan's mapmaking, makes this a kind of magical realist historical fantasy novel. It's not really alternate history, because nobody's actions change how history plays out on a large scale.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.