When I wrote the Temeraire series I was attempting a very realist feel and aimed for historical accuracy so that the fantastical elements (the dragons) would feel organic. The capital city (Kralia) is based on Krakow, and some characters are loosely inspired by Polish kings. I drew on the founding legends of Poland for the setting of Uprooted. Were there particular historical events that helped inspire the book?

PSB: Uprooted’s setting is based in part on medieval Poland. In some ways it’s a synthesis of the two. Many of those are in Uprooted, as well as several English language fairy tales. My mother read Polish fairy tales to me as a child. PSB: Uprooted is so richly rooted in the sorts of fantasy novels and fairy tales I loved as a child, but with such a fresh spin! Were you thinking consciously about these story forebears as you were writing? I like to be finding things out as I’m writing. There are many writers who plan a book before writing-but I find if I do that, I lose my mojo. Very frequently as a writer I find I get to the end of a work and that’s when I figure out what it’s been about the whole way.

An ending should transform what came before it and give a sense of closure and satisfaction.įor myself these days, I do really feel like I want to have the ending of a project finished before I publish it. I feel very strongly about the importance of endings. NN: What I liked about writing Uprooted was that I was going toward the end. PSB: How was writing Uprooted (a standalone novel) different from writing a long series like Temeraire? If I have an idea that doesn’t feel like it’s flowing and my first readers aren’t responding to, I generally put it aside. NN: I try not to have expectations about how a book is going to perform, though obviously I always hope that a book is going to find a passionate audience! These days I usually have a good sense of how a book is going as I’m writing. PSB: Uprooted made a huge splash in 2015 – it had great reviews and was named to a ton of “best of” lists, not to mention the fact that it won our inaugural PSB Book of the Year competition! Were you expecting anything like this response? (Which means it’s 20% for the rest of 2016.) Bookseller Rebecca, who originally nominated Uprooted for the award, spoke with Naomi Novik over the phone. Uprooted by Naomi Novik (just out in paperback!) is the 2015 Adult Porter Square Book of the Year.

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