#CBR11 Book 5: "The Winter of the Witch" by Katherine Arden

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars

Spoiler warning! This is the third and final volume in the trilogy, and the action starts immediately after the second book. This is not the place to start. If you are not caught up, drop everything and start from the beginning with The Bear and the Nightingale. 

Vasilisa "Vasya" Petrovna managed to defeat one enemy, but at a great cost. Releasing the legendary firebird has caused much of Moscow to catch fire and the citizens, spurred on by the vengeful and jealous Father Konstantin are looking for a scapegoat. Vasya is dragged from the safety of her sister's home by an angry mob and accused of witchcraft. Suffering a great personal loss in the process, she is determined to protect those she loves from further harm, and goes along with the crazed crowd.

Yet it is not Vasya's fate to die in a fire on the outskirts of Moscow. In a desperate attempt to keep his beloved safe, the frost demon Morozko has made a deal with his demonic brother Medved and freed the giant bear, dooming himself in the process, all in order to keep Vasya from burning. However, no helpless damsel, Vasya finds unexpected reserves of her own and rescues herself, fleeing into the realm of the supernatural to heal up, figure out how to undo Morozko's bargain, save the people of Moscow from Father Konstantin's toxic influence and make sure no more harm come to her family. As if that were not enough for one young woman to carry on her shoulders, a war is looming and Vasya may be the only one who can stop it.

Our Vasya has come a long way from her rural upbringing in the Russian forest. Truly a worthy example of "what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger", Vasya is turning into a force to be reckoned with. She has learned a lot about herself and her heritage, and escaping Father Konstantin and the furious mob determined to end her leads her further down the path of her family history. Previously just accused of witchcraft because of her ability to see and communicate with the many hearth and nature spirits around, Vasya's several trials and tribulations appear to have actually made it possible for her to tap into magic. Now she just has to make sure it doesn't drive her utterly mad, which the demon bear Medved seems to be gleefully hoping for.

Not realising just how resourceful an individual Vasya actually is, he formed a foolish bargain with his formerly imprisoned brother to ensure her survival. It led to the chaos-hungry demonic entity being free to cause further mischief, primarily by causing plague to spread through Moscow and zombie-like vampires to roam the streets, only held back by the seemingly super powered Father Konstantin. Once Vasya heals up, she needs to locate the now imprisoned frost demon she has come to love, before figuring out how to stop Medved and Father Konstantin.

Her entire life, Vasya has seen how the modern world and especially the spread of Christianity seems to be threatening the adherence to the old ways, and the spirits and supernatural entities who have helped her throughout her life are fading away. With the Mongol army threatening to conquer Russia once and for all, High Prince Dimitri needs to unite his people against the external threat. He needs all the help he can get, and Vasya, along with the unusual allies she has acquired, can lend invaluable aid.

While I thought it had a slow start, I was amazed at how much the story of The Bear and the Nightingale stayed with me. The Girl in the Tower was an amazing second volume, expanding on the world building, history and folklore. My expectations for The Winter of the Witch were very high, but amazingly, this book managed to exceed them. I'm very far behind on my reviews, and finished this book more than a month and a half ago, yet the story has stayed with me, and I keep thinking about little details on and off, still marvelling at how well all the story strands were tied up and the trilogy was concluded.

The series is an amazing way to learn more about medieval Russian political and social history, mythology and folklore. as well as be thoroughly entertained. Vasya is such a complex and fascinating protagonist, and I love how Katherine Arden resists the temptation to populate her novels with one-sided character tropes. There are complex reasons for the antagonists acting the way they do, there is never simply good or evil, but a fascinating array of motivations. Vasya's stepmother, Father Konstantin, Medved - none of them are wholly irredeemable. The supporting cast are all excellent, which raises the stakes when the action becomes tense, as you don't want anything bad to happen to them either. Without saying too much, this book had me in tears very early on, after a gut punch of an event, showing just how much Arden makes you care for the various human and non-human characters in the story. I loved discovering more about Vasya's family history and seeing her reach her full potential, in full feminist glory, was so satisfying.

While this was one of the very first books I read this year, I'm going to be very surprised if it doesn't end up on my 'Best of' list of 2019. If you haven't read Arden's books yet, do yourself a favour and check them out - the trilogy is completed, so you can have so much satisfying story without any pesky waiting for the next book.

Judging a book by its cover: Having recently studied all three covers for the series quite carefully (the cover art is so gorgeous), I can't help but notice that the tone changes from dark to light over the course of the books. As our heroine, Vasya, grows and matures and properly comes into her own, the covers become brighter and lighter. The cover for The Bear and the Nightingale shows the darkened woods in the middle of winter. The Girl in the Tower shows the outskirts of Moscow at dusk, with the sky in reds and oranges from the setting sun. This depicts Vasilisa Petrovna alone, yet unafraid, facing an army, with the firebird lighting up the sky ahead of her. I can't imagine these choices aren't deliberate. With each book, despite all the harrowing and horrible things that happen to Vasya along the way, her future gets brighter and more open.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 3: "The Girl in the Tower" by Katherine Arden

Page count: 395 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars

Spoiler warning! This is book 2 in a trilogy, and the story pretty much follows on directly from the ending of the previous book. This book, while very good, doesn't really stand on its own, you would do much better to start at the beginning, with The Bear and the Nightingale. 

There are roving gangs of bandits travelling the countryside around Moscow, pillaging and burning the villages and abducting young girls. Prince Dimitri sends his cousin, brother Alexandr, affectionately known to his family as Sasha, to investigate. Sasha has been out travelling the land, and brings an injured and exhausted priest he found on his travels to his sister Olga's household for tending. Neither of them know about Father Konstantin's connection to their family, and are therefore shocked when the priest tells them of the strange events surrounding their father's death and their sister Vasya's disappearance and likely demise.

As Sasha believes his sister to be dead, he's certainly not expecting to find her riding hell for leather, pursued by bandits, disguised as a boy, with three young girls clinging to her for dear life. Reunited at the monastery where Sasha and Dimitri spent part of, where the men are resupplying while out searching for traces of the bandits, Sasha is forced to lie to his cousin about Vasya's identity, presenting her as his younger brother Vasily. As they return to Moscow, Olga has no choice but to support Vasya's deception either, as their sister has chosen to flout all the conventions of society. In a world where women either marry and get locked up in terems, or go to convents (and get locked up there), Vasya's refusal to conform to the gender norms is unacceptable and eventually gets her (and her family) into more trouble.

It will come as no surprise to any reader that our brave and non-conforming heroine's deceptions are eventually revealed (in a very public and rather breathtaking scene). As well as the jealous malice of Father Konstantin, she's up against a new antagonist in this book. The man behind the raids on the villages is eventually revealed, and he has an unexpected connection to Vasya's family and ambitions that could cause problems for Prince Dimitri, Sasha, Olya, as well as Vasya herself.

Vasya's sister Olga was a supporting character for a while in the first book, but then disappeared out of the story as she was married off to a Prince in Moscow. Here we get to see much more of her life, as the head of a noble household in Moscow. We also get to spend a lot more time with Sasha, Vasya's beloved older brother, now a famous warrior monk and the right hand adviser of his cousin, Prince Dimitri of Moscow. Obviously Sasha is massively uncomfortable having to lie to his cousin and best friend about Vasya, but his younger sister's behaviour is so at odds with everything expected and accepted of women in that time that he doesn't really have a choice. Women don't dress up as boys and run away from home. Women don't infiltrate bandit camps and rescue kidnapped girls. Women don't pretend to be folk heroes, go to parties and accept challenges for public horse races.

In a lot of cases, the second book in a trilogy is a bridging book, with not much actually happening. That is absolutely not the case here. Interestingly, while Vasya is mostly the focus of the first book (certainly after the first half that tells of her backstory), it's clear that her family are just as important to the overall series, especially Sasha, Olya and Olga's little daughter Marya, who like her aunt can see the nature spirits, although their presence is much more muted in the city than in the woods of Vasya's old home. We also discover more about Vasya's ancestry, and find out what happened to her grandmother, as well as why Morozko, the winter king, is so drawn to her.

While he's not a big part of the story, as in the first one, Morozko's presence is felt and the scenes between him and Vasya are probably the best in the book. I was initially displeased to see Father Konstantin reappearing in the story, but trust that Ms. Arden knows what she's doing.

I love how Arden makes us both sympathise with Vasya, who not unreasonably doesn't want to become a wife and mother, a nun or just die, but rather forge her own path and become an adventurer and a warrior, yet we also feel for her sister and brother and worry about the consequences of her rash actions. Part of what makes me love these books so much is the vivid descriptions of the setting. When Vasya is riding alone through the forest, you feel the cold settling in your bones. You can almost see and feel the bustle of the closed off women's quarters of the terem and the raucous, smelly gatherings of the Prince's palace. As a historian, who specialised in European medieval history, getting all these details about Russian society and folklore, as well as the gripping and exciting main story is great.

The Bear and the Nightingale ended up being one of my favourite reads of 2017. I waited to read this until I knew the third book was already out, as I was pretty sure I would want to dive into the next book right away after finishing this one, and I was not wrong. These are such great fantasy books, with a fascinating cast of characters. Now that the trilogy is completed, there is no excuse not to start the series.

Judging a book by its cover: The cover on this book is so incredibly lovely, and the image fits nicely with the story within, without spoiling anything. I don't know who the cover artist is, but they've knocked it out of the park.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR9 Book 12: "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden

Page count: 336 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer! I recieved an ARC copy of this through NetGalley. That has in no way influenced my review.

Pyotr Vladimirovich is a boyar, the lord of northerly and remote Lesnaya Zemlya in medieval Russia. A part of the world where the winters are long and harsh and isolate the populace, it's no wonder that the cold, dark nights are spent telling fairy stories, like those of Morozko or Lord Karachun, the Frost demon himself - who sometimes rewards those who are brave and pure of heart with treasures beyond their wildest dreams, while he punishes the greedy and claims their lives. Pyotr has three sons and a daughter, when his beloved wife, Marina, believed by some to be a witch's daughter, announces that she is having another child, a second daughter, who will inherit her grandmother's gifts. Both Pyotr and Dunya, Marina's old nurse (and now that of her children) are worried and don't think Marina is strong enough to carry another child to term, but she does, and dies shortly after.

Vasilisa Petrovna, commonly known as Vasya, grows up to be an unruly and impetuous child. When she is six, she gets lost in the woods she normally knows as well as the back of her hand, and under an unfamiliar oak tree, she finds a sinister, one-eyed man sleeping. She wakes him by accident, and discovers that half his face is badly scarred. The man tries to get her to come to him, but just as she is about to step closer to him, she is interrupted by the arrival of younger man on a beautiful white horse. He has piercing blue eyes and wears a long fur cloak. He puts the older man, Medved, to sleep with a word and tries to talk to Vasya, but she is scared and runs away and is eventually found by search parties in the woods. As she grows older, she more or less forgets about the whole incident.

The episode makes it clear to Pyotr and his family that Vasya needs a new mother and that Dunya and Olga (Vasya's older sister) are not enough to raise her into a properly well-behaved young lady. Pyotr needs to marry again and travels with his two oldest sons to Moscow to find a new wife, and hopefully a prospective bridegroom for Olga, as well. The current grand prince there is Ivan, Marina's half-brother, so Pyotr has hopes of a decent match both for himself and his daughter. While he is there, his middle son, Sasha, meets a holy man and states his desire to join a monastery, not exactly something the northern lord looks favourably upon.

They are also approached by a handsome, dark-haired stranger while in the marketplace. A cranky, hungover Kolya (the eldest brother) challenges the man, but is easily bested by the deadly man, who nevertheless promises to spare the young hot-head's life, if Pyotr will only bring a gift back for his youngest daughter. The stranger gives him a beautiful blue jewel on a delicate chain, making Pyotr swear that Vasya will keep it close always, as it will protect her. If he doesn't give her the necklace, the stranger promises to come for Kolya, taking his life.

While in Moscow, Grand Prince Ivan promises Pyotr a very favourable marriage between his nephew and Olga, and also offers his eldest daughter from his first marriage to Pyotr as a young bride. Pyotr is wondering what in the world is wrong with the woman, to make her father want her exiled in the northern wastes, but can't really refuse such a handsome offer. As it turns out, Anna Ivanovna is a recluse, who believes herself to be mad. She sees demons everywhere, except in church, and therefore wants to join a convent. She's not at all happy when her father announces that she is to wed a much older boyar and move to the north.

When Pyotr returns, he gives the strange necklace to Dunya the nurse, for safe-keeping. She doesn't think a wild young girl like Vasya should wear something so fine, but is haunted by vivid dreams after she hides it away. A dark stranger visits her and threatens both her and the family. Dunya promises that she will give the girl the necklace when she gets older, and the stranger eventually agrees, leaving the old woman's dreams in peace.

Anna Ivanovna is completely miserable in the north, seeing even more demons than before. She doesn't realise that the creatures she sees as demonic are the same ones her stepdaughter Vasilisa considers her secret friends. They are the various nature spirits who protect the house, yard, stables, fields and homes in the village. Some of the ones of the streams and forests are more malevolent than others, but all care for young Vasya and she makes sure they are given appropriate gifts of food and drink to be kept happy.

When the old priest dies and the young, handsome and very ambitious Father Konstantin arrives from Moscow, Anna finally believes she has found a proper ally. Together the zealous and hysterical woman and the charismatic priest persuade the villagers to abandon their old superstitious practises. No more offerings to the various nature spirits are allowed, only church services and devotion. Only Vasya, who speaks to them (but has learned to hide it from everyone, especially her stepmother) sees the negative effects. She tries valiantly to sneak the spirits offering in secret, but they are clearly weakening.

Anna is a bitter, unhappy woman and cannot fail to notice what a striking and confident young woman her stepdaughter is becoming. Maybe not beautiful, but arresting nonetheless, and she sees how fascinated Konstantin the priest is with her, even though he's supposed to be a man of God. Anna convinces Pyotr that the girl needs to be either married off or sent to a convent, before Vasya's wild ways shame the family.

Dunya refuses to give her young charge the necklace, even as she grows older, worried about the origin of the amulet. She rightly suspects that the dark stranger is none other than Morozko, the Frost demon himself and that the talisman will bring Vasya under his influence. Only when she is dying does she persuade Vasya to take the necklace, but is it already too late?

Has the frantic and jealous Anna's efforts, along with the priest's, weakened the various defences of the village and forest too much? Has the abandonment of the old ways allowed dark forces to take control in the area? Crops are failing, the winters are longer and the summers far too warm. There are wild beasts roaming the woods and uncontrollable forest fires threaten. Can Vasya save her home and her family before the dead rise and destruction reigns?

If my plot summary is a bit TL, DR just trust me that this is a slow-burning, but very worthwhile exploration of Russian folklore, a fantasy set in 13th Century Russia (before the country was even called that). While Vasilisa is the true protagonist, for the first third or so, she barely even exists, as the book takes its time to tell the story of how her parents met, how her family live before she is born, and how her father grieves her mother's passing, having insisted on giving birth to this apparently gifted child. While Vasya is a brave, loyal and independent heroine, this is a world where women are completely subservient to men and she can't exactly be a blazing feminist icon in a time where women either got married and had children (until they died in childbirth, probably) or joined a convent, shutting themselves away to pray for their extended family, governed by religion.

Growing up motherless and unruly, Vasya is generally given much more freedom than most women, and though she chafes under the discipline from her new stepmother, she's still allowed to roam freely in the woods, like the free spirit she is. It's only when her father invites a young man from a neighbouring village as a suitable match for her that he sees how different his daughter is from other proper, demure young ladies. She shocks everyone with how outspoken she is, and once she humiliates the potential groom by being a far superior rider than him, there really is no other option for Vasya than a convent. Telling her family that nope, she can't join a holy sisterhood, because she has to save the village from evil, isn't really going to work. Luckily, Vasya has the help of her youngest brother Alyosha, who tries to help her as best he can.

While the book felt excruciatingly slow at first and I wasn't entirely sure if it deserved all the rave reviews I've seen for it online, once Vasya grows a bit older and takes centre stage, the story becomes a lot more engrossing. Because we get to see her back in Moscow, before she is unwillingly married off to the older Pyotr, Anna really isn't your traditional evil fairytale stepmother. She's clearly a woman who had completely different hopes and dreams and whose religious upbringing makes her stand in complete opposition to everything her stepdaughter believes and has learned to trust growing up.

The contrast between the old faith, the belief in various spirits of the home and hearth and the new, as comprised in Christianity, is interesting. Neither Anna, nor Konstantin are bad people, as such, but their wishes and beliefs allow an older, more ancient evil to creep back into the area, taking advantage of their zealotry to weaken the natural defences that was there.

The internet tells me that this is the first of three books featuring the plucky Vasya, and probably some of her siblings too. I especially enjoyed the last third of this book and the romantic possibilities that are alluded to. Always a huge fan of fairy tales, I am very much looking forward to reading more about Vasilisa and the dark stranger who had placed her under his protection. So if you like a good dark fairy tale, this is well worth checking out. Just be patient and stick with it through the first third. It is worth it in the end.

Judging a book by its cover: This book has two different covers, and I absolutely love one of them, while find myself baffled by the other (which I also don't like at all). I've chosen to comment on the one I do like, with a motif I think fits perfectly for the second half of the book, with the dark forest, night skies, winter woods, spooky mist and the lonely, but warm-looking cottage in the woods, with a lone female silhouette walking towards the warmth and the light. The image fits perfectly with the action of the last quarter of the book and has a suitable fairy-tale feel.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.