Author: Katherine Arden

Will Russia Survive? – The Winter of the Witch {Review}

Posted October 21, 2020 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Will Russia Survive? – The Winter of the Witch {Review}The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
Series: Winternight #3
Publisher: Del Rey (2019)
eBook (384 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
Also in this series: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower
Reading Challenges: Read 2020

Synopsis

Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.

Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.

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Russian Historical Fantasy! – The Girl in the Tower {Review}

Posted September 18, 2020 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Russian Historical Fantasy! – The Girl in the Tower {Review}The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Series: Winternight #2
Publisher: Del Rey (2017)
eBook (363 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Also by this author: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Winter of the Witch
Also in this series: The Bear and the Nightingale, The Winter of the Witch
Reading Challenges: Read 2020

Synopsis

The magical adventure begun in The Bear and the Nightingale continues as brave Vasya, now a young woman, is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.

Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

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Russia Folklore Retelling – The Bear and the Nightingale {Review}

Posted March 8, 2017 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments

Russia Folklore Retelling – The Bear and the Nightingale {Review}The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Series: Winternight #1
Publisher: Del Rey (2017)
eARC (322 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Also by this author: The Girl in the Tower, The Winter of the Witch
Also in this series: The Girl in the Tower, The Winter of the Witch
Reading Challenges: 2016 Retelling Challenge, 2016 Royal Challenge, Read 2016

Synopsis

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.
After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.
And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

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