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A review by emtees
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was an amazing end to this trilogy. Definitely my favorite of the three books.
In The Girl in the Tower, Vasilisa Petrovna saved Moscow and its Grand Prince, Dmitrii Ivanovich, from the Tartar invasion and the scheming of the sorcerer Kasyan Lutovich. But in the process, she was revealed to be a witch and she almost got the city burned to the ground. Thanks to her recklessness and mistakes, her old enemy, the mad priest Konstantin, is able to rouse the people of Moscow against her, and to escape being burned to death, Vasya is forced to flee to the lands of Midnight, a sort of world-between-worlds. There, she finds out the truth about her family’s mysterious heritage and learns that, by rejecting the offers of both Morozko the Winter King and his brother, Medved the Bear, she has set herself up as a third power in their eternal war. Whoever she sides with will have a huge advantage, but some of the chyerti, the Russian folk spirts, believe that Vasya should forge her own third path, not just for herself but for them. Meanwhile, back in Moscow, Vasya’s disgraced brother, the warrior monk Sasha, is fighting to protect the Rus from the growing Tartar threat. It is a war that will eventually require the help of all Russians: Christian and pagan, human and chyerti.
This book went in all kinds of directions that I wasn’t expecting. It had all the strengths of the previous books in the series - interesting magic, good use of Russian folklore and history, a main character who is complicated and makes lots of mistakes but is easy to root for, unconventional romance alongside a lot of important non-romantic relationships - but it took the series up a step with the twists and the themes it was exploring. I was a little confused when I got halfway through and it seemed the main plotline had been resolved, but instead, Arden introduced new threats and a lot more moral ambiguity. Vasya’s destiny was not what she thought it was; instead it was something a lot messier and more painful, but also better for both her and her people, Russian and chyerti. Her relationship with Morozko in this book was really strong and interesting; I took a while to care about them in the earlier books in the series but this time I was definitely rooting for them. And I continue to really love her sibling bonds with Sasha and Olga. The book also introduced a couple new characters; my favorite was Ded Grib, the mushroom chyerti, who may be small and of limited skill but is really proud of being Vasya’s first follower.
This book was the most emotional of the three. There were some painful deaths (Sasha! Solovey, even though he came back! And I cannot believe the book actually made me feel for Konstantin ), a lot of emotional challenges for Vasya, and strong character growth. Vasya’s story has always been about trying to find her way between the obligations she feels towards her family and country and her desire for a life free of the restrictions imposed by both. In this book she finds her way to a compromise that works for her, but not without cost. It sounds weird to say about a fictional character, but I was proud of her.
The book ends with an author’s note that explains the aspects of Russian history that Arden used in the series, which enhanced my appreciation for the series.For example, that Sasha and Chelubey were based on real people who did die in single combat against each other, explaining why Sasha had to break my heart by dying in this book. And I had no idea that the compromise between Christian and pagan religion that Vasya works out in the story wasn't just a fanciful idea, but the actual way religion worked in Russia for most of it's history. That's neat.
There were a few minor things in the book didn't work for me, mainly in the revelations about Vasya's family, which were paced oddly and didn't end up seeming as important as they were set up to be. But overall I loved this series and especially this very satisfying conclusion.
In The Girl in the Tower, Vasilisa Petrovna saved Moscow and its Grand Prince, Dmitrii Ivanovich, from the Tartar invasion and the scheming of the sorcerer Kasyan Lutovich. But in the process, she was revealed to be a witch and she almost got the city burned to the ground. Thanks to her recklessness and mistakes, her old enemy, the mad priest Konstantin, is able to rouse the people of Moscow against her, and to escape being burned to death, Vasya is forced to flee to the lands of Midnight, a sort of world-between-worlds. There, she finds out the truth about her family’s mysterious heritage and learns that, by rejecting the offers of both Morozko the Winter King and his brother, Medved the Bear, she has set herself up as a third power in their eternal war. Whoever she sides with will have a huge advantage, but some of the chyerti, the Russian folk spirts, believe that Vasya should forge her own third path, not just for herself but for them. Meanwhile, back in Moscow, Vasya’s disgraced brother, the warrior monk Sasha, is fighting to protect the Rus from the growing Tartar threat. It is a war that will eventually require the help of all Russians: Christian and pagan, human and chyerti.
This book went in all kinds of directions that I wasn’t expecting. It had all the strengths of the previous books in the series - interesting magic, good use of Russian folklore and history, a main character who is complicated and makes lots of mistakes but is easy to root for, unconventional romance alongside a lot of important non-romantic relationships - but it took the series up a step with the twists and the themes it was exploring. I was a little confused when I got halfway through and it seemed the main plotline had been resolved, but instead, Arden introduced new threats and a lot more moral ambiguity. Vasya’s destiny was not what she thought it was; instead it was something a lot messier and more painful, but also better for both her and her people, Russian and chyerti. Her relationship with Morozko in this book was really strong and interesting; I took a while to care about them in the earlier books in the series but this time I was definitely rooting for them. And I continue to really love her sibling bonds with Sasha and Olga. The book also introduced a couple new characters; my favorite was Ded Grib, the mushroom chyerti, who may be small and of limited skill but is really proud of being Vasya’s first follower.
This book was the most emotional of the three. There were some painful deaths (
The book ends with an author’s note that explains the aspects of Russian history that Arden used in the series, which enhanced my appreciation for the series.
There were a few minor things in the book didn't work for me, mainly in the revelations about Vasya's family, which were paced oddly and didn't end up seeming as important as they were set up to be. But overall I loved this series and especially this very satisfying conclusion.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death