I read TheShitWizard’s review and immediately bought this book, read it, and loved it. I am all about some adult-level fairy tales. This is right up my alley. Vasya is a wild child, the fifth in her family, in Northern Russia. She inherited her mother’s and grandmother’s second sight – the ability to see and interact with the invisible guardians, or chyerti. A battle is brewing, though, between the Bear and the Frost-Demon. Konstantin, a compelling and pious priest arrives in the village and introduces […]
Winter in Russia, and a monster in the dark.
This was not quite what I was expecting. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, because people have compared them endlessly, but aside from taking inspiration from Russian folklore, the two books don’t have very much in common. Uprooted is a fairytale, albeit one that is lengthened and deepened. The Bear and the Nightingale is a historical fantasy that is historical fiction first, fantasy second. This book takes place in medieval Russia, then called Rus’. The daughter of […]
The Perfect Cozy Fairy Tale with a Dash of Religion, Politics and Russian History
I loved this book so much! In many ways, it was a straightforward tale, with many elements familiar with traditional fairy tales but Arden created such sympathetic character and played with history and religion so well to create something that went deeper while feeling completely true to folk tales and fairy tales. Arden does not waste time in foreshadowing the themes that will drive the story. The novel begins on a cold, hard winter night with four children gathered around the fire to listen to […]
In which my lack of knowledge of Russia may have been a problem
I’m not sure I liked this as well as I could have. Some things feel unfulfilled. I know this is part of a series, and I plan to get my hands on book 2, but some of the characters and the world seems incomplete. I liked that this novel relied in more detail on the folklore traditions it was working with than Uprooted (which I loved), and you get to meet some of the creatures like the domovoi and the rusalka. I wish there was […]
Enchanting, atmospheric (and timely) read
This week, the UK has been hit by massive* snowstorms that disrupted travel pretty much everywhere, as well as practically-arctic winds that have dropped temperatures to shockingly low*. Also this week, I was supposed to fly across the country for my PhD viva. Well–that didn’t happen. So I read The Bear and the Nightingale instead. And it was just the most perfect book to read during this kind of weather! The book takes place in a barely-fictional Russia in the Middle Ages. The fantasy elements come […]
‘In the stories, they only come for the wild maiden.’
Much like last year, my first 5 star book of the year came to me courtesy of my brother, who’s turning out to be quite the amazing book giver. The Bear and the Nightingale ticked so many boxes for me – well realised characters and setting, great world-building, oodles of imagination and conjuring the sorts of feelings you get from the better, darker fairytales – I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to be reading it all of the time (and did pretty much […]