★★★★
"They hate me because I do in the daylight what their own kings are ashamed to do in the dark."
The Bird King was both a fascinating historical tale and a bizarre (in the best possible way) fantasy.
Fatima is concubine to the last Sultan of the Iberian peninsula, and Hassan is the palace cartographer and her best friend. His map making skills are magical and create new doors and places.
When the Spanish arrive at the palace to negotiate an end to the war, they see Hassan's magical abilities as sorcery and a threat to their religion. The two friends attempt to escape the Inquisition together in a dangerous adventure.
I really enjoyed this story from start to finish, and didn't find it slow at all. The relationships between characters felt real and layered. There was love, but also jealousy and anger. I loved the supporting cast of characters that we met along the way, especially Stupid!
The elements of magic and fantasy felt quite jarring at first in what seemed to be a very historical novel, but I quickly adjusted my mindset and appreciated the strange, fantastical parts of the tale.
I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fantasy.
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