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A review by amethystarchild
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
4.0
The Bear and the Nightingale
I just love the feeling I get when I read a story based on Russian folklore. There's an ancient and powerful magic to those stories, that’s unique to only them.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden takes place in an interesting time period. Russia during the Middle Ages, a time period when Christianity and Paganism struggled to co-exist and the roles of men and women were strict upon what their lot in life should be. Vasya, the protagonist, is an unusual girl who comes face to face with these historical challenges. She has a second-sight that allows her to see the unseen magical creatures that populate and guard her village from evil, wards that are now threatened by the fear created by the fanatical young priest Konstantin. With the help of the Frost King Morozko, Vasya must protect her family from the dark shadows that now roam the dark winter nights.
This was an enjoyable read, lovely prose, with many parts reminiscent of fairytale structure and language. I enjoyed exploring the era and traditions of the setting and how the characters functioned and grew. Vasya’s family is full of complex and interesting characters, her stepmother Anna, and the priest Konstantin are antagonists, but also quite sympathetic. The book has a very slow build because it follows Vasya as she’s growing up, and maturing into a hero, which is fine but I did feel a bit gypped that we didn’t get to see more of her once she’s reached that maturity. The Frost King Morozko was very intriguing, but he didn’t get much page time. Give me more of the death god, please! Haha. Overall, it was an intriguing read, and it had me searching for a copy of the second book in the series so I could find out where the story will take Vasya next!
If you like dark fantasy settings, complex characters, and one-eyed bears, I recommend this book. <3 <3 <3 <3
I just love the feeling I get when I read a story based on Russian folklore. There's an ancient and powerful magic to those stories, that’s unique to only them.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden takes place in an interesting time period. Russia during the Middle Ages, a time period when Christianity and Paganism struggled to co-exist and the roles of men and women were strict upon what their lot in life should be. Vasya, the protagonist, is an unusual girl who comes face to face with these historical challenges. She has a second-sight that allows her to see the unseen magical creatures that populate and guard her village from evil, wards that are now threatened by the fear created by the fanatical young priest Konstantin. With the help of the Frost King Morozko, Vasya must protect her family from the dark shadows that now roam the dark winter nights.
This was an enjoyable read, lovely prose, with many parts reminiscent of fairytale structure and language. I enjoyed exploring the era and traditions of the setting and how the characters functioned and grew. Vasya’s family is full of complex and interesting characters, her stepmother Anna, and the priest Konstantin are antagonists, but also quite sympathetic. The book has a very slow build because it follows Vasya as she’s growing up, and maturing into a hero, which is fine but I did feel a bit gypped that we didn’t get to see more of her once she’s reached that maturity. The Frost King Morozko was very intriguing, but he didn’t get much page time. Give me more of the death god, please! Haha. Overall, it was an intriguing read, and it had me searching for a copy of the second book in the series so I could find out where the story will take Vasya next!
If you like dark fantasy settings, complex characters, and one-eyed bears, I recommend this book. <3 <3 <3 <3