The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy, #1) in /r/Fantasy Discussion Group

Nov 14, 2017 Carrie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, demons, vampire, winter, russia, folktales, folklore

I think I loved this even more the second time around.

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Nov 09, 2016 Sherwood Smith added it

Shelves: fantasy

There are several borrowings by Western authors of the Russian fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful," particularly involving Koschei, or the mysterious man who represents Death, but this one stood out from the pack for me. Arden's novel contains elements of other Russian fairy tales, most notably "The Frog Princess."

I have trouble getting pulled into any fantasy whether the setting is fairy tale or historical in setting, when the fairy tale or historical names seem randomly sprinkled over what is There are several borrowings by Western authors of the Russian fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful," particularly involving Koschei, or the mysterious man who represents Death, but this one stood out from the pack for me. Arden's novel contains elements of other Russian fairy tales, most notably "The Frog Princess."

I have trouble getting pulled into any fantasy whether the setting is fairy tale or historical in setting, when the fairy tale or historical names seem randomly sprinkled over what is basically another story about a modern American girl with a modern outlook, dressed in costume, as she gains power and agency. There is definitely a feminist subtext here, too, in this tale of Vasya, a wild colt of a girl (she is often referred to as such, especially when men desire her, when she isn't likened to a wild falcon) whose mother died at her birth after claiming that this daughter was for her. But Arden weaves her tale into a rich world, giving the sparkle of life to the stock figures.

All the fairy tale elements are there--the antagonistic stepmother, the three brothers, the beautiful stepsister, but Arden tales the time to give each a distinctive personality, with motivations of their own. Even the stepmother at least begins with an interesting dilemma which makes her nominally sympathetic, in that she didn't want to marry at all, and that she has second-sight unlike those around her. She thinks she is alone in seeing demons.

Arden chose to set her tale in a specific period of history, when Russians were still sending tribute to the Tatars, and Moscow was mostly a wooden city half-smothered in the soot of constant fires. She evokes the harsh northern seasons, and how life adapted, while weaving in the magical folk figures who seem to be dying off as the people's faith turns to Christianity.

We are given two compellingly handsome men of great power, the first, Morozoko, being the Koschei or Death figure--who has appeared in several recent fantasies, ageless and yet beguiled by our teenage heroine. Arden even gives a nod to the trope.

The second is a beautiful icon-painting priest with charisma and conviction, who is sent to the north to remove his influence from Moscow. I'm glad to say that Arden mostly avoids the usual treatment of these historical figures (those eeevil Xtian priests versus the noble and environmentally supportive pagans)--mostly. (view spoiler)

There is nothing new or insightful here: a girl who doesn't fit in discovers her own agency, while the new ways replace the old, but it still made absorbing reading. I appreciated how Vasya, at least at first, did her best to find the old peaceful balance between old ways and new, and the magical razzle-dazzle built to an absorbing climax, even if confusing at times. (view spoiler).

Mostly, though, I loved the care with which Arden builds her characters as well as furnishes details of life at that time--the smells, the sights, the foods, the language and what the different nicknames tell us not only about the character being addressed, but the one speaking.

By using a specific time, place, and a few actual Russian historical real people, and crafting their world so vividly, Arden gives us the resonance of the real, painted with a magical palimpsest.

Copy provided by NetGalley
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Feb 19, 2017 Jeff Raymond marked it as unfinished-reads

Shelves: to-read-fantasy-and-horror, unfinished-2017

I cannot express enough how excited I was about this book. Sounded like it was right up my alley, has a lot of buzz...

Just didn't work.

It has an ethereal quality to it where I get the Night Circus comparisons, but it turns out that a Russian wilderness setting doesn't 100% do it for me, and it's a bit of a slower burn than I anticipated. Was it bad? No, the first 100 pages or so were pretty well done. It's just not for me right now. ...more

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Oct 10, 2016 Deborah Brannon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fairy-tales, fairy-tales, netgalley

Review forthcoming closer to release.

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Jul 20, 2017 Alethea added it

DNF. No fault of the book, which was actually quite lovely, but the villain grated on my nerves enough that I was putting off listening to the rest...for months...

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