Deathless in Into the Forest

Apr 04, 2018 jocelyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: gods-demons-spirits, folk-fairy-myth, althist-histfic, 5-stars, retelling-reimagining, owned-phys

The rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it will commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature--but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind. But of an end to their argument, we shall have none, not ever, until

The rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it will commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature--but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind. But of an end to their argument, we shall have none, not ever, until the end of all.

How does one even begin to review this masterpiece? Cat Valente has a way with words that is unlike anyone else I've ever seen. The only word that comes close to my experience reading her work is "transcendent." Her prose wraps around you in a way so all-encompassing, I sometimes forgot myself. The lives of Koschei and Marya, which are told here, are at once a fairy tale that is never devoid of reality, and a realistic story that is never without magic.

No one is now what they were before the war.

Perhaps we should begin by giving some sense of place. Primarily this occurs in early/mid 20th century Russia. Marya Morevna is born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and grows up like many other children of the time with a few exceptions: she sees the things most people don't pay attention to, notices the folds in which chyerti and the supernatural step into the real world. Because of this, her life was always to be a little different, and one day, Koschei the Deathless arrives at her doorstep to ask for her hand in marriage.

After love, no one is what they were before.

Koschei and Marya's love affair is one of the great pillars of this book, but it is by no means a romance. Koschei, unlike Marya, is not human. His values, beliefs, his very core is so un-human that to understand their relationship one has to divorce almost completely from themselves and what they know to be right. He and the other chyerti that Marya meets throughout her life teach her all about how strange and terrifying and dark and beautiful life can be.

When you are this hungry, you cannot even remember who you used to be... Who you might have been, if not for the hunger.

Of course, there is also the tension of the wars, which here are in two forms: Life against Death, and Germany against Russia. Valente draws wonderful parallels here that never feel contrived. The characters suffer, time and again, and the consequences are harsh.

"War is not for winning, Masha," sighed Koshei, reading the tracks of supply lines, of pincer strategies, over her shoulder. "It is for surviving."

In truth, I loved every aspect of this book. It is perfectly suited to my sensibilites in plot, style, characterization... There is something ageless and comforting about Deathless, yet I also found it completely exciting and fresh and new. I don't even know what kind of audience is best for this book, only that I am without a doubt one of them. I am so happy to have found Cat Valente's work and she has quickly risen to the top of my favorite authors list. ...more

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Aug 22, 2020 Ryan Johnson rated it really liked it

This is probably a five star book, and it is certainly not the books fault that I did not rate this five stars. No, that fault lies squarely with me, as I feel if I knew more of Russian mythology and Russian history, this book would open itself to me like a flower, its secretly glowing brightly. Indeed, there may come a time when I am more knowledgable of the Death of Korschei the Deathless and the many other tales of Russian mythology, but for now, what I can say, is this a rich, poignant, sorr ...more

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