Think Galactic- Uprooted

For the February meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed Naomi Novik's 2015 novel Uprooted. The Nebula-winning story is a kind of classic fantasy with much inspiration from Polish fairy tales, following a young witch as she learns about magic and tries to fight off an evil Wood that's creeping over her land.

We really quite liked it, and had a top-notch discussion. Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Chicago Nerds- Uprooted

For the last convocation of the illustrious Chicago Nerd Social Club, we discussed "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik.

"Uprooted" is a fantasy drawing on Slavic fairy-tales, but it's not a retelling of any particular story. It's told from the perspective of Agnieszka, a young woman who is selected from her village to be a sorcerer's apprentice, and who turns out to have great magical aptitude herself. The plot hinges on the battle between humans and The Wood, a supernaturally-charged and malevolent forest.

We were almost astonished at how near-universally high we rated this book, finding it very enjoyable and superbly written. Although we did have a few quibbles with some of the pacing/tone later on, and a few folks couldn't quite get into it, we mostly had nothing but praise for the writing--particularly the way it sidesteps a number of pitfalls that often spoil this kind of story.

Possible spoilers below: