Don't start G. Willow Wilson's new fantasy novel The Bird King (#817) unless you have time to put everything else aside for this wonderful story. Set in the final days of the last Muslim ruler of the Alhambra, we meet Fatima, concubine to the Sultan and her friend Hassan, cartographer to the court.
The palace has been under siege for a long period, but the women of the harem have been spared the worst. When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella send a small party to negotiate the terms of surrender, the Baronesa Luz is there to represent both the Queen and the Inquisition. Before Fatima learns of her secret mission, she has introduced Luz to her friend Hassan who can draw accurate maps of places he has never been and functioning doors in rooms where they don't exist. Luz is determined to take Hassan for the Inquisition as a sorcerer, a certain death sentence and makes it a condition of the Sultan's surrender.
Together Fatima and Hassan escape the palace with the aid of a jinn compelled by loyalty to the Sultan's mother. Their destination? The mythical isle of Qaf, home of the Bird King. Along the way, death, danger and an uncanny pursuit.
The characters here are wonderfully drawn, and Fatima and Hassan are tested all along the way as they encounter others whose beliefs are different, but whose moral compasses are aligned. It's a captivating adventure not to be missed.
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