Review: The Winter of the Witch

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 Stars and more if I could give them.

"Magic is forgetting the world was ever other than you willed it."

Readers of my blog are quite familiar with my great love for Russian folklore and my love of the Winternight trilogy. Katherine Arden has managed to take some of the most famous characters of classic Russian folktales and deepen them while stripping them of many of the tropes, particularly female gender constraints, that plague classic fairy, and folktales.

Vasya has never desired a conventional life for herself, and after the conclusion of The Girl in the Tower, finds even greater challenges lie ahead after she is labeled a witch and blamed for burning part of Moscow. Picking up immediately after the conclusion of that second book, The Winter of the Witch finds Arden continuing to deftly mix Russian folklore and the medieval history of Rus' in a way that reflects the delicate coexistence of faith and pagan culture in Russia. The tension between the Byzantine-influenced Orthodox Russian faith and paganism, between family and personal freedom, is perfectly captured in Vasya as she bridges the worlds of humans and chyerti.

"I was born to be in between— do you think I don't know it?"

This book opens with utter heartbreak but moves on, while never forgetting what has been lost, at a harrowing pace toward a resolution that is satisfying, and even at times exhilarating. Arden never lets her reader down- the complexity of relationships and the story she has interwoven with real Russian history are beautifully rendered.

A triumphant capstone to the trilogy.

For blog readers:

Arden's melding of Vasilisa (the now Wise) into Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden and companion of Ded Moroz/Morozko/Father Frost is a beautiful transition, as is her relationship to Baba Yaga. There is so much richness in the recasting of these roles, most of all in that Vasya retains her individuality and independence in a way that neither Vasalisa nor Snegurochka do in their classic tales, and without the harshness of Baba Yaga herself. Vasya is both iconoclast and an amalgam of all that was good in these three characters.

Come back and tell me about how you feel about the ending!

Snegurochka by Boris Zvorikin

If you haven't had time start the Winternight Trilogy, now's your chance to win a paperback copy of The Bear and the Nightingale, first book in Katherine Arden's trilogy and a snowflake pin (shown resting on the book near the bottom edge). Comment below to enter. You can sign up for the newsletter in the right sidebar or follow Marzie's Reads on Bloglovin' for an extra entry. This is such a great series!

This giveaway is open internationally, with a winner outside the US to receive the UK edition (a different cover) of the book from Book Depository. A winner will be drawn on Monday, January 14, 2019 at 9 am EST. Winner to be announced here and on Facebook.

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