#CBR13 Book 40: "Rule of Wolves" by Leigh Bardugo

Page count: 598 pages

Audio book length: 17 hrs 44 mins

Rating: 4.5 stars

CBR13 Bingo: Fauna (dragon, wolf, falcon and fox on the cover)

In this second part of the King of Scars duology, the stakes are ridiculously high, pretty much as soon as we start off. The book starts pretty much immediately after the end of King of Scars, and if you're not caught up with all the books in the Grishaverse so far, this review will probably spoil things for you. Continue at your own risk.

Nikolai Lantsov has made some peace with the monster inside him, but one of his worst enemies just came back from the dead, the Shu empress wants him dead and is willing to sacrifice her own sister to ensure this goal, the Fjerdans are ready to declare war on him, and the woman he loves seems more out of reach than ever.

Zoya is mightily sick of war, and casualties, and losing loved ones to pointless conflicts. She will nevertheless fight until her last dying breath to defend Ravka, the Grisha, and her king. A king who will have to make a successful and strategic marriage alliance to help strengthen Ravka in the conflicts they are facing, both internal and external. She's also tormented by the return of someone she believed was dead and gone, and it's not helping her keep calm and rational, as appropriate for a general facing war on multiple fronts.

Nina is still wearing another woman's face and working with the daughter of her enemy to spy on the Fjerdans. She's trying to persuade the Fjerdan people that the Grisha are not the dangerous threats that the Witch-hunters paint them to be, and find out as many state secrets as possible to aid her king and general in the rapidly-approaching war. She's not at all happy when it seems like the best way to discover more of Fjerda's invasion plans involves her loyal friend Hanne Brum's prolonged flirtation with and possible betrothal to the spoiled and unstable Fjerdan crown prince. 

I'm trying not to reveal too much of the plot here, and these books really have a lot going on. I love Nikolai, Zoya, Nina, and the rest of the numerous cast of these books so much and should probably go back and give the Shadow and Bone trilogy another chance. Now that I know where the story ends up going, I may have more patience for the setup and Bardugo learning her writing craft, which she is now excellent at. There is so much happening in this duology, and if it ever makes it to the screen (who knows how much money Netflix is willing to fork out for YA fantasy?) it's going to make for spectacular entertainment. 

This book had me in parts laughing, crying, biting my nails (both figuratively and literally), and quietly sighing with relief. There are cameos from several of the gang from the Six of Crows duology, as well as more time spent with series favourites from Ravka. I've always been incredibly impressed with Bardugo's world-building, and now that the focus isn't on Alina and Mal (I just could not with those two drips) I pretty much adore everyone I'm reading about, while thoroughly loathing the villains.

Lauren Fortgang, who seems to be Bardugo's audiobook narrator of choice, continues to do an excellent job here, and while the audiobook is long, I kept finding new excuses to listen, even when I was at home. I don't know whether Bardugo has plans to continue writing in her wonderful Grishaverse, the ending of this book could suggest that, maybe, if we're lucky, there are more adventures to come at some point in the future. 

Judging a book by its cover: While the cover for King of Scars was all golden, this one is all silver. The beautiful woodcut effect is continued here, with the big tree in the centre of the cover probably being one of the trees holy to the Fjerdans (the metaphorical wolves of the title). There's also a number of carved animals, all representing various characters or nations in the story, very cleverly done. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR13 Book 3: "The Sisters of the Winter Wood" by Rena Rossner

Page count: 488 pages

Audio book length: 10 hrs 46 mins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Official book description:

In a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya have been raised on the honeyed scent of their Mami’s babka and the low rumble of their Tati’s prayers. But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell – despite their mother’s warning to be wary of strangers. And this is not the only danger lurking in the woods.

As dark forces close in on their village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret passed down through generations. Faced with a magical heritage they never knew existed, the sisters realize the old fairy tales are true…and could save them all.

While the main story of this young adult fantasy novel with heavy fairytale elements is fictional, it's based on true historical events and the towns and places referenced really did exist back in 1903. Rena Rossner's extended family all came from the area and villages in question, and in the afterword, she explains that the ones that didn't escape after the pogroms and persecutions started in 1903, the ones who were still there in 1942, didn't survive the Nazi Holocaust. She wanted to write a book honouring her family and heritage, and also really wanted to do a retelling of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market, because the story of the two sisters always appealed to her. As well as the influences from the Victorian poem about sisters tempted by seductive fruit sellers, Rossner also includes elements from Ukranian and Russian folklore with their bear-men and swan-maidens. 

When Liba and Laya are left alone in their little cabin in the woods outside the village of Dubossary (which is now near the borders of Moldova and Ukraine) after their father and mother are called away, hearing that their father's father, a legendary rabbi is on his death bed. While the young women are in their late teens, they have lived a sheltered life and are not used to independence. A Jewish couple from the village are supposed to be looking in on them occasionally, but they appear to have up and left town very suddenly, without leaving word. 

Laya, the youngest of the two sisters, especially chafes at all of their parents' restrictions, and is very easily tempted by the handsome fruitseller brothers, the Hovlins, who have just arrived in town. She seems like she cannot get enough of their luscious fruit or the company of one of the young men. She sneaks out every night to meet with him. Liba, on the other hand, feels herself getting the creeps every time she goes near the fruitsellers. Their obviously anti-Semitic views don't endear them to her either. She tries to warn her sister away, but her words have little sway with her besotted younger sister. 

Before their parents left them, they imparted long-held family secrets to the girls. Liba has the power to shift into a bear, like her father, and they come from a long line of Hasidic rabbis who gained the ability to shapeshift into bears in a time of great danger. Meanwhile, her mother, who converted into Judaism, is from an ancient family of swan-shifters. Her mother confesses that Laya has a different father from Liba, and that's why she's a swan-shifter. Apparently, at some point, their mother's swan clan may come looking for Laya, and her parents task her with keeping her sister safe. Liba, unfortunately, notices her body trying to transform into a bear at any time she gets upset, and also struggles with her growing feelings for the butcher's son, Dovid. While he is also Jewish, not an unbeliever like the wicked Hovlin boys, Liba isn't optimistic that their father will find him a suitable husband for her, especially once the secrets about the bear-shifting are revealed. Who would want a woman who turns into a giant bear?

While Jews and Christians have lived peacefully and harmoniously side by side in the village for decades, there are unhappy mutterings and whispers the longer the Hovlins stay in town and ply their wares. A young woman goes missing and is found in the orchard of a Jewish family, drained of blood. Later a young man is found, also drained of blood. There are rumours that they were killed by Jews and the blood used for sinister things in their religious ceremonies. Liba is appalled, and also more and more worried about her sister, who eats nothing but fruit and seems obsessed with her slightly sinister non-Jewish suitor. There are also stories about big bears in the woods (could they have killed the drained victims?).

Using shapeshifting as a metaphor for puberty isn't exactly anything new, I remember it being a very obvious comparison drawn by the horror movie Ginger Snaps. Feeling like you're not entirely in control of your body, having strange and uncontrollable urges, being worried that you're going to do something stupid - this is all part of being a teenager (I work surrounded by them all day and am so grateful I'm decades past my own teen years). Of course, Liba and Laya have different cravings and urges, yet seem to spend almost more time worrying about the other than they do themselves (although Liba naturally fears turning into a big bear and mauling everyone she holds dear). 

There was a lot to like about this book, but it was also a bit slow. For reasons that I'm sure were meant to show the differences between the sisters and their general states of mind and approaches to the world, Liba's chapters are written in prose, while Laya's chapters are all in a strange kind of verse. Sadly, it seems a bit as if Ms. Rossner occasionally just added line breaks every so often to make it seem more 'poetic', while the overall effect is more that the pages and pages of verse in her chapters quickly get difficult to read. 

The mix of fiction highlighting actual historical events, like the persecution and eradication of Jews in turn of the century Eastern Europe with fantastical fairy tale inspired characters and fates was an interesting one. So many books, even historical fantasy ones, are written from a Christianity-centric viewpoint. It was both interesting and unusual to read one so well researched and steeped in Jewish culture and traditions. This was the author's debut, and I see she has another fairy tale inspired book out later this year, so I suspect I will be giving her another chance. 

Judging a book by its cover: This cover is absolutely gorgeous and so very intricate and detailed. I absolutely love how it looks like an old woodcut that's been varnished or polished to highlight certain parts of the wood. Pretty much everything that turns out to be important in the story is hinted at in the cover illustration, so it's well worth giving some time. The author specifically thanked the cover artist in the acknowledgments and I can see why.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR12 Book 49: "The Last Wish" by Andrzej Sapkowski

Page count: 360 pages

Audio book length: 10 hrs 27 mins

Rating: 3.5 stars

#CBR12 Bingo: Repeat (since I've already covered the Adaptation square)

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher. This means he roams about the countryside, travelling from place to place, killing monsters for profit. To become a Witcher, he was taken from his family as a child, and long training, magic and special potions make him a strong, fast and highly efficient killer. Based on the stories in this collection, it seems that once, there were a lot more Witchers, now they are rare and unusual, and Geralt is often feared and reviled by the villagers who hire him to help them. 

Geralt seems to have very few friends, with the exception of the bard Dandelion. He also seems to rest up at a convent, confiding his adventures to the Mother Superior every so often (this seemed to be the framing narrative of the stories).

I have very little knowledge of or experience with the popular series of games that were adapted from this. Nor have I yet started the Netflix series, despite the fine figure of Henry 'OMGHISGL' Cavill starring as Geralt. So I cannot tell you how accurate an adaptation of the source material the show is. I've heard good things, and while I found the frame narrative of this short story collection a bit confusing, I liked the way the author took various elements of folklore and established fairy tales and gave them his own twist. The original Polish books were written in the 1990s, and I wish the portrayal of women was a bit more nuanced. I've heard that the female characters of the TV show are quite varied, interesting and complex - so that's probably a good update.  

I listened to this in audio, and because it consisted of a series of short stories, it took me a few months to get through it. The narrator is generally fine, but I didn't much care for the way he does Geralt's voice, which becomes a bit of a problem when Geralt is the main character of the stories. I found the stories interesting enough that I'll probably get round to reading the rest in the future, but I'm not feeling any immediate need. 

Judging a book by its cover: Obviously, for something that has been out for as many years as this book, published in a number of countries and languages, there are also many different covers. After the Netflix series was produced, there are also several different tie-in covers available. On mine, Geralt is in the middle of fighting some legendary beastie, possibly a dragon. It looks dynamic and exciting. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR11 Book 63: "Spinning Silver" by Naomi Novik

Page count: 480 pages
Audio book length: 17 hrs 56 mins
Rating: 4 stars

#CBR11 Bingo: Listicle (on a bunch of best of 2018 lists, including NPR, Bustle and Bookbub).

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of Jewish moneylenders, but her father is a dreadful one, who doesn't have the heart to actually claim back the debts that the villagers owe, even when his daughter is starving and the long, cold winters are making his wife sicker and sicker. Miryem refuses to see her mother die due to her father's weakness, hardens her heart and takes over her father's duties. Unlike him, she refuses to listen to excuses and starts forcing people to pay back some of what they owe. If they can't contribute coin, she'll take goods.

Wanda is the daughter and eldest child of a violent, drunken farmer who borrowed money from the moneylender when his wife was sick, but drank most of the money away, so she died. Now he abuses Wanda and her two brothers, who barely have enough to survive on, since what the tax collectors don't take away, their father spends on drink. When Miryem comes calling to collect on the debt, she decides Wanda will come work in her parents house as a servant, a maid of all work, and will gradually pay off the debt that way. Neither Mireym, nor Wanda's father realise how happy Wanda is about this change in her circumstances. Wanda is away from her father's violent presence for much of the day, she gets more to eat (even if she sometimes has to steal bread meant for the chickens), her father can't marry her off to anyone (as then no one will be paying off the debt) and gradually, she steps in as an assistant to Miryem, and slowly learns the intricacies of the numbers in her ledger.

Because Miryem is ruthlessly efficient, she manages to start reclaiming her mother's dowry. A savvy businesswoman, she sells everything her family can't directly use, making a profit, so that soon her family has gone from abject poverty to modest wealth again. Her grandfather is immensely proud of her, and lends her silver for more loans, which she is able to return to him as gold. Getting a reputation as someone who can start with silver and end up with gold is dangerous, though. Miryem finds herself challenged by the Staryk, the cold creatures who haunt the woods and terrorise people in the winter. The first time he brings her a small pouch of six silver coins to be returned as gold. If Miryem succeeds, she will be rewarded, if she fails, she will be turned to ice. Miryem takes the coins to a young jeweller in the city where her grandfather lives. He turns the magic silver into a ring, which they sell to the local duke, and not only do they manage to get the six gold coins the Staryk demands, but they both make a profit.

The second time, the Staryk lord comes, he demands sixty silver coins transformed and claims it is the second of three tests. Miryem is bold enough to ask what her reward will be if she actually succeeds, and is shocked to discover that should that come to pass, the Staryk lord making the demands will take her as his wife. She doesn't really want that (he's terrifying), but neither does she want to die. She goes back to the jeweller, who makes a beautiful necklace, which he also presents to the duke. The duke, who has never really thought he'd be able to make an especially good match for his plain daughter Irina, discovers that with the Staryk silver ring and necklace, she may not be beautiful, but she's striking and mesmerising in a way he can clearly capitalise on. He demands a silver crown from the jeweller, and since the third time the Staryk lord arrives, he wants 600 silver coins turned to gold, Miryem has no problem providing enough metal. As soon as she has presented the gold the Staryk lord (who turns out to be the king of his people), she is whisked away to his kingdom, and her family in the human world are left with only vague memories of her.

The jeweller makes a crown fit for a queen which the duke gifts to Irina, and when the tsar comes to visit, it is decided that he will take Irina as his bride. Sadly, Irina discovers that the reason the tsar was so ready and willing to agree to marry a minor duke's unremarkable daughter has nothing to do with her magical silver jewelry, but rather her distant Staryk ancestry. The tsar is possessed by a demon, who craves the Staryk cold within her. He intends to murder Irina and eat her life force. Luckily for Irina, she discovers that wearing her silver, she can slip through mirrors into the cold, snow covered Staryk kingdom, hiding away from the demon when he comes every night. In the daytime, her husband is human, and she puts up a very credible show of them being wildly infatuated, while trying desperately to figure out a way she can tempt the demon with something else, so she, or those she loves, don't become victims of the demon instead.

Irina is not the only one who ends up with an undesirable husband. Miryem is taken to the centre of the Staryk lands, and it turns out that while she could metaphorically turn silver into gold in the 'sunlit lands' because she was a clever negotiator and drove a good bargain, in the Staryk kingdom, she can literally turn silver into gold with a touch. This makes her an important asset to the Staryk king, who clearly resents the fact that she succeeded with his three impossible tasks in the first place, and ended up as his wife. They barely interact, except every evening, when Miryem gets to ask him three questions.

As the story progresses, Irina, Miryem and Wanda's stories become even more intertwined than in the beginning. Miryem needs to stop the Staryk king from covering the human world in pretty much eternal winter, and try to find a way to get back to her parents. Wanda and her brothers end up orphaned after a truly horrible accident and need to find a way to survive. Irina needs to figure out how to save her spoiled, indifferent husband and the kingdom she now feels responsible for from the ravages of the demon.

This is the follow-up to Novik's Uprooted, which while it felt like it should be, wasn't actually a retelling of any fairy tale. In Spinning Silver, however, Novik takes on the fairy tale of Rumplestiltskin, but mainly by using many different elements of the old tale in a completely new way in this novel. It's not straw being turned into gold, but silver. In the story, the desperate young woman forced by the king to spin the straw, pays the little imp first with a necklace and then with a ring, and finally, she's forced to bargain her firstborn child to succeed in her impossible tasks. The Staryk silver that Miryem is asked to transform as her initial tests, are turned into a ring, a necklace and a stately crown. She is later set an even bigger, seemingly impossible task, involving her new-found magical powers, but succeeds through her own cleverness. There are marriages (to an otherworldly king and a tsar) because of magical interference, and I was surprised and delighted that there was even callbacks to the promise of a firstborn child as the story progressed. The danger of revealing your true name to someone, and how it can grant others terrible power over you is a factor, as it is in so many faerie stories. There are also some elements of the Hades and Persephone myth (always a good one) in the second half of the book.

I found it interesting, that while female friendship is so central to the story in Uprooted, this book, which can be said to have three different female protagonists have all three struggling alone, without much support from others of their sex at all. Miryem loves her mother, but has no female friends. Wanda lost her mother to childbirth, and while she is given a job by Miryem, they never become close - it is entirely an employer/employee relationship. Irina also lost a mother to childbirth, and is only really close to the nurse who raised her, Magreta. The three women's stories weave into each other more tightly as the story progresses, but even towards the end, they each seem to stand alone, just helping each other a bit to achieve the same end goals.

While I liked this book a lot, and think it's probably structured better than Uprooted, overall (there were no sections that felt like they dragged unnecessarily, like I remember from the previous book), there was one thing that was annoying, and rather distracting, throughout the book.  The point of view changes suddenly from one character to the other, without any warning for the reader. It can take a while to realise who you are reading about when you get to a new section. I listened to the book in audio, but because all of these women have vaguely Eastern European accents, there wasn't a lot of differentiation there either. This book, which in total has six different points of view (Miryem, Wanda, Irina, Wanda's younger brother, Irina's nurse Magreta and, only once, the tsar), may have been better served by multiple narrators, so it would be clear when the voices changed which character's section you were moving into.

I also thought that the ending was a bit rushed, and would not have complained if there was a bit more romance throughout the story. Being married off to a supercilious winter king who seems to loathe you for your humanity because of a strange magical bargain seems like the ultimate enemies to lovers story, doesn't it? I never got beyond the first of Novik's Temeraire books, despite my general fondness for dragons. Now, I hope Novik keeps writing fairy tellings or her own original folklore interpretations for many years to come.

Judging a book by its cover: The cover design is in the same style as Uprooted, but with much cooler colours (since so much of this is set in winter) and because silver plays such an important part in the story. The central image is clearly Miryem, using her magical powers to turn silver into gold. There's also one of the Staryk pouches of coins, the haughty face of the Staryk king and a rain of gold coins, all central elements of the book.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 45: "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin

Page count: 260 pages
Rating: 4 stars

#CBR11 Bingo: Far and Away (book set in fantasy version of historical China)

Official book description:
In the valley of Fruitless mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer. 

This is an utterly lovely middle grade fantasy book, inspired by a lot of the Chinese folklore tales that Grace Lin herself read while growing up. The main story is about young Minli who leaves the only home she's ever known to try to find a way to ensure a better, richer life for her hard working and desperately poor parents. There are also countless stories within the story, that all link up in clever ways as the main story progresses. Minli's father tells her stories, people and creatures she encounter along her journey tell her stories - there are so many various tales that make up the whole of this delightful book.

As well as follow Minli on her quest to find the Old Man on the Moon, we see how her worried parents fare and think about her while she's gone. While Minli goes on a long and occasionally hazardous journey by herself, her mother is forced to go on an emotional journey of sorts, to figure out what role she may have played in her daughter's sudden disappearance (initially she wholeheartedly blames her husband and his "filling the girl's head with silliness and dreams"). It's not often we see those left behind while our hero or heroine goes off on their quest narrative, and as a parent myself now, I appreciated seeing how the parents kept trying to cope at home.

Minli has a difficult and often dangerous trip ahead of her, and meets many individuals along the way. There are dragons, mischievous monkeys, kind villagers, scrappy orphans, a king, a vengeful tiger spirit, just to name a few. As with Western fairy tales, being kind, polite, helpful and courteous will usually lead to good things for our protagonist, and one of the things I just really love about folklore are the similarities, for all that a lot of the finer details are different.

I very much enjoyed this book and as far as I can tell, Grace Lin has written a number of other books, both for young and middle grade readers. I can't wait to check out more of her stuff.

Judging a book by its cover: Grace Lin isn't just a very talented middle grade author, she's also an illustrator who makes the beautiful pictures that accompanies her writing throughout the story. On the cover of the book, we see our heroine, Minli, riding on the back of her loyal dragon friend. I also love the intricate top and bottom border of the cover, with a number of other little details from the story.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR11 Book 21: "King of Scars" by Leigh Bardugo

Page count: 527 pages
Audio book length: 16 hrs 13 mins
Rating: 4 stars

Spoiler warning! While this is the start of a new series, it does follow on directly from Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy and her Six of Crows duology. While you will understand the plot fine if you haven't read the previous books, you WILL be spoiled for events in both series. Spoilers may also appear in this review. Proceed at your own risk.

From Goodreads, because I finished the audiobook two months ago (sigh):
Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

Nikolai Lantsov is the young and struggling King of Ravka, a country still reeling from the effects of its brutal civil war. It's clear that Ravka will need powerful allies to help rebuild the country and to protect it from possible invasion by other neighbouring countries, and the best way to do that would be for Nikolai to marry. However, kept secret from everyone but Nikolai's most trusted advisors is the fact that since the end of the war, he's been possessed by a darkness, that is now more and more often manifesting as a fierce and savage creature. It's only a matter of time before the creature kills someone when it takes over and roams the countryside. Nikolai is determined to get rid of the possession and searches Ravka for a cure, accompanied only by his magically gifted general, the cynical Zoya Nazyalensky and a young monk who believes the Darkling is now a saint, whose miracles are appearing all over Ravka.

In another plot strand, we follow Nina Zenik, mourning the death of her beloved Mathias, on a deep cover mission for the king, trying to locate and rescue Grisha in the hostile Fjerda. She literally needs to lay her beloved to rest, while serving her king and homeland, and come to terms with the new abilities she appears to be developing.

Unlike a lot of people on the internet, I was never a huge fan of the Grisha trilogy. It was perfectly fine, but I never liked Alina much and found a lot of the plot difficult to engage with. The Darkling was an interesting villain, though, and Nikolai was clearly an outstanding supporting character, pretty much stealing every scene he was in. I know Zoya was also a supporting character in the books, but remember less of her role. I don't think it's necessary to recall the books in great detail, you get what you need from the characterisation here. Nina, of course, was introduced in the wonderful Six of Crows, an excellent heist narrative that I loved so much (and felt so different in tone that I almost wondered if someone else had written it). There are mentions of characters from that series in Nina's recollections - and those books are incredibly worth your time - I heartily recommend the audio books, which are great and narrated by a varied and very talented cast. Lauren Fortgang, who narrates this book, was one of the people involved, and here she narrates a large cast of characters of both genders, with a variety of different accents just so well.

The plot takes a while to get going in this book, mainly because there's quite some time spent just letting the reader get familiar with who the characters are and what challenges they are facing. The chapters alternate between Nikolai, Zoya and Nina's POVs. Most of the time, Nikolai and Zoya are together, but it's still interesting to see the story from their different perspectives. Nina, obviously, is in a completely different location, doing her own thing. When the stage is set, so to speak, and the story really does start to kick off, the book covers quite a lot of scope, while also setting up a lot of interesting drama for the next book. According to Bardugo, this is planned as another duology, so she needs to tie everything up in the next book. I will be very interested in seeing how she manages it.

I'm not sure when the next book in the series will be out, but after the cliffhanger this one ended on, I will be impatiently counting the days until I get to read the end of the story.

Judging a book by it's cover: Made to look like a gilded woodcut, I have come to like the cover more the longer I look at it. There are just so many intricate little details included, hinting at beats of the story without spoiling anything for an unsuspecting reader. The two-headed eagle is Ravka's national emblem, and the slashes across the centre of the shield could suggest either Nikolai's physical or emotional scars.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#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. 

CBR2 Book 84: "The Folklore of Discworld" by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson

Publisher: Corgi
Page count: 512 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 11th, 2010
Date finished: September 24th, 2010

The Folklore of Discworld is a reference book, co-written by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson. Terry Pratchett talks about all the various aspects of folklore in his famous Discworld, while Jacqueline Simpson gives background on the folklore of our human world. Much of the folklore is mirrored or gently twisted in the Discworld. There is fascinating information on fairies, witches, trolls, dwarves, heroes, gods, magic and all sorts of things. It also features a number of very nice black and white illustrations by regular Pratchett artist Paul Kidby, which help enhance the reading experience.

The book pretty much does what it says on the tin. I would not recommend it as an introduction to general folklore if you have not read any Discworld books, as absolutely all the folklore discussed is covered from both our world and Discworld perspectives. But if you are a fan of Pratchett's Discworld, it's a great read. Contrary to what some may belive, it's clearly not just a pointless spin-off made solely to make more cash from Pratchett's already ridiculously popular universe. This is a substantial book, with a lot of cool both fantasy and real world information. It made me curious abut several aspects of our world's folklore, and it further inspired me to re-read most of his witches books while I also dipped in and out of this one.