The Bird King
core novel 2019 The Bird King
Record
| First published | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.72 (10,356 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 403 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780802129031 |
Synopsis
The Bird King, published by G. Willow Wilson in 2019, is set in 1491 during the final days of the Emirate of Granada, the last Muslim kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula. Fatima is a concubine in the palace of Granada's last sultan, her days shaped by court routine and the looming threat of Christian conquest, while her closest friend Hassan is a palace mapmaker whose maps carry an extraordinary, seemingly magical gift beyond ordinary cartography. When Hassan's ability draws dangerous attention as the kingdom's collapse accelerates, the two flee the crumbling court together, setting out on a journey shaped as much by myth and legend as by the historical turmoil closing in around them, uncertain of what protection, if any, either the real world or the old stories can offer them now.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Bird King
- Series: The Bird King (novel) core; position 1 of 1 in the series' recorded order
- Author: G. Willow Wilson
Awards (verified)
- Mythopoeic Award (Adult Literature), 2020: finalist; Confirmed directly via mythsoc.org's own 2020 awards page; did not win -- Theodora Goss's Snow White Learns Witchcraft won.
Notes
- From the series record (The Bird King (novel)): A fantasy novel following a concubine and a mapmaker who can draw doors into reality, fleeing the fall of Granada's last Muslim sultanate with a jinn companion. Standalone; registered as a single-work universe (LOTR-analogy convention).
Sources
← The Bird King dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.