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Deathless

Catherynne M. Valente

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Mar 20, 2015 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: jennifers-challenge

This was a conundrum for me. The first part was magical. I loved watching the sisters and the various suitors. Then reality set in with the rise of the Soviet Union. Its not a pretty thing. And then we meet out last suitor and are off the journey. While, I enjoyed the magical place and story I got rather bored somewhere in the middle...I am not sure what happened. I enjoyed what a person might find horrific, was is actually life, a fountain of blood, buildings made of flesh, fur, bones. It made ...more

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Sep 20, 2021 BJ rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Deathless is a strange and wondrous book. Like few novels I have ever read, it draws on not just the characters and settings and themes of European fairytales, but also on their logic and language. Large parts of the book actually read like a novel-length fairy tale, rather than a novel inspired by or based on fairytales, and that is a rare thing indeed. The prose is consistently beautiful, and lends the book an irresistible forward momentum.

That said, there are moments when the voice falters in ...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Allen rated it really liked it

You simply must read this, if for nothing else than to enjoy some well-turned phrases and lyrical writing. Once you move on, you will find it a painting of words in which the longer you stare at the pages the more complex the story of Koschei the Deathless and Marya Morevna becomes, and you fall in. It's part biography, part history, part warning about the unforeseen circumstances of both decisions and war, part love story, part fairy tale ... Marya the young finds magic in her surroundings, see ...more

1 like · Like · see review