The Bear and the Nightingale

A lyrical story that seamlessly weaves together history and fiction, religion and folklore, Christian faith and pagan practices to create an epic fantasy adventure. One reviewer compared her to Neil Gaiman and I would certainly agree that it is an apt comparison. Set in the northernmost regions of what is now modern Russia and placed in the turbulen 14th century, Arden writes with such beautiful imagery that one longs to experience life in this world where winter is the dominant season and experience the fierce beauty of it. At the same time the plot is exquisitely intricate and the characters complex and engaging to make this story compelling. Vasya Petronova can 'see' where others cannot and this makes her either a savior, a witch or show more a demon. Those who call her witch unknowingly help the evil that lurks in the forest, the sleeping bear that will devour the world, and it is Vasya's sight and her courage that can save them. But everything has a price and love requires sacrifice and courage is knowing the price and being willing to pay it. Vasya has courage, but in the end it may not be enough. Do yourself a favor and read this book! show less

A beautifully enchanting tale woven together like the plait of a wild maiden, dotted with delicate snowdrops and sapphires. I was so entranced with this novel; it’s mythology, the culture, the time period, all my favorites rolled into one epic story. You can walk through this story like you would the forest landscape, smell the dark bread and honey, feel the warmth of the horse’s flank at your side. The magic so convincing when mixed with early Christianity, the lore is believable, you want it to be true. This is Katherine’s Arden debut novel and I pray that it’s not her last. I never wanted the story to end, I wanted to remain lost in its snowy vastness, stay warmed by the oven fires. If you are a lover of medieval history and show more conjured fantasies, you will absolutely get lost in this book. show less

1. Finally! Some Slavic stuff that isn't (mostly) wikipedia drivel!
2. Everyone downrating this book because it doesn't portray Christians in the positive light you Always Think Christians Should Be Portrayed In ... just ... take a breath. Please don't be ignorant. Christians weren't always the heroes, and it's unfair to expect them to be heroes in every single piece of media on Earth. Especially in books SET in periods when Christians completely destroy other religions.

Like in this book, set in a time where Slavic Pagans with one half of their heart worship the old gods and pray to the spirits of the house and forest, and with the other half are Orthodox Christians. Because ""Christianity won"", history often sides with Christianity. show more This book takes the Pagan side, which is why people get angry. Read with an open mind, ; the bad guy is actually a pagan god anyway, so .... . But if you're sensitive to this, best skip this one.

Book content warnings
period-accurate misogyny & sexism

A very, Very, VERY loose retelling of the Slavic/Russian fairy tale, "Vasilisa the Beautiful", this book is very well written, especially for a YA novel. I love the storytelling, old-world style it has, and that fits nicely with the subject!

Ugly Vasilisa's mother dies shortly after she's born. And as she grows, her father, Pyotr, discovers he needs another woman around (""to do some women's work!""). He goes to Moscow on business--and it IS intriguing when the book delves into some good ol' Russian politics--and he brings back a husband for one daughter and a wife for himself. But this wife is like Vasilisa; she can see spirits and demons, like the domovoi who helps protect the house, and the vazila, protector of horses. The difference between stepdaughter and stepmother, though, is that Vasilisa has never found anything threatening about these little spirits, and Anna, the new wife, screams and wails at each one (she was raised Christian).

When a famous monk is sent to protect the house from these demons, this family might lose the protection it needs the coming winter ... because this is the winter an actual Slavic demon has prepared to attack the forest surrounding the house. And all it needs, is someone who can See him.

So interesting setup, but I'm not sure I like the direction the author took the source material in ... There was so much someone could do with Vasilisa the Beautiful ... and instead of writing about Baba Yaga (and come on. it's BABA YAGA!! WRITE ABOUT BABA YAGA) ... she was cut to add a sort-of-romance with Death?? No. Give me Baba Yaga or give me ... wait, no (bad joke, sorry!).

I think this could more be a novel inspired by Vasilisa the Beautiful ... but maybe more so Russian folklore in general (I'm REALLY finicky because I love Slavic/Polish paganism. And while I'm not any expert in Russian folklore specifically, I CAN say this was Very Well researched compared to soooo many other Slavic YA books on the market right now. I won't name names.).

As I said before, the writing is really fitting for a retelling (and the cover, wow!). The beginning and the end are stunning as well, but the middle drags. Unfortunately, it's also by far the largest chunk of the book. For a while I'm not really sure what's happening plot-wise; it's just a bunch of PoV's thrown together, and a lot of the same things keep happening without much moving forward. But stay with it till the end, and you see that lovely ending.

I'll read on ... because maybe, just maybe ... there'll be Baba Yaga ... show less

Gorgeous and lyrical. Arden reimagines the Russian fairy tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful but melds it with traditional stories of the fey folk. Instead of a doll, Vasilisa has brownies, and nymphs, and dryads, and others. I loved this melding of different folk tales, and it added depth to Vasya's story, that she have the sight and able to see the magical creatures, and that this is placed into context of the Christianity causing the old ways to die.

As is true of Russian literature, this is not a light book. There is an air of oppressive darkness throughout, which is in line with the harsh winters and the danger of death through cold or starvation -- even before the addition of a mythical Bear-demon who creates undead vampire wraiths.

I show more read this book slowly, though it is not very long. The plot is not quick and I did not want to rush it. Arden takes the time to set the stage and it is a slow build -- so slow, in fact, that when the book's denouement arrived, it was over too quickly. I wanted more; I wanted to spend more time with these characters and to see what happens next to Vasya.

This is Arden's debut book and I'm very impressed. I look forward to seeing what else she writes.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley. show less

Set in a bitterly cold winter in a small medieval village in Russia, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is full of Russian fairytales and folktales. The villagers have been making offerings to the household spirits for generations and are wary of what dwells in the dense forests.

However the arrival of a new priest from Moscow changes the household completely as magic is essentially outlawed and the Christian Priest Konstantin is intent on purging devils and witches from the town.

The villagers are forced to choose between their Christian beliefs and salvation or their mystic traditions of old and certain damnation.

Unfortunately for our protagonist Vasya, Konstantin is frighteningly effective:

"His voice was like thunder, yet show more he placed each syllable like Dunya setting stitches. Under his touch, the words came alive. His voice was deep as rivers in spring. He spoke to them of life and death, of God and of sin. He spoke of things they did not know, of devils and torments and temptation. He called it up before their eyes so that they saw themselves submitting to the judgment of God, and saw themselves damned and flung down.

As he chanted, Konstantin pulled the crowd to him until they echoed his words in a daze of fascinated terror. He drove them on and on with the supple lash of his voice until their answering voices broke and they listened like children frightened during a thunderstorm. Just as they were on the verge of panic - or rapture - his voice gentled." Page 149

Vasya knows the harm that will come if the old traditions aren't upheld and risks her life to save her family despite their distrust of her abilities. Vasya's connection with horses was one of my favourite elements of the book, and reminded me of Poison Study by Maria V Snyder.

According to her father Pyotr, Vasya is destined for either marriage or a convent and she vehemently wants neither. Convinced the villagers are in trouble, Vasya will do anything for agency over her life:

"I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man's servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow in the forest than live a hundred years of the life appointed me. Please." Page 367

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is a coming of age story and a tribute to storytelling and fairytale. I really enjoy a novel that blends historical fiction in a tale inspired by folkore so if you enjoy books by Kate Forsyth or Naomi Novik, you'll love this.

It's difficult to believe this is the author's debut with descriptions like this one:

"The winter half of the house boasted huge ovens and small, high windows. A perpetual smoke trickled from its chimneys, and at the first hard freeze, Pyotr fitted its window-frames with slabs of ice, to block the cold but let in the light. Now firelight from his wife's room threw a flickering bar of gold onto the snow." Page 13

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is the first in the Winternight trilogy, and I look forward to reading The Girl In The Tower next. show less

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year. Vasilia isn’t bothered much by the amount of time she has to spend indoors, because she gets to listen to her nurse’s fairy tales while huddled around the fire with her family.

After Vailisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Vasilia’s new stepmother forbids the family from honoring the household spirits - all the family follows, except for Vasilia, who can see the spirits, knows they must continue. But because the others have stopped, crops begin to fail, evil creatures come closer and closer to their house and village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother is determined to groom the rebelliousness out of Vasilisa in order show more to marry her off or ship her off for a life in a convent.

I did mostly listen to this in audiobook because I wanted to make sure I could pronounce the Russian names correctly - I was not the first two chapters of the book - but the narrations of Katheleen Gati were amazing and really put me into the storyline of Katherine Arden.

Arden did a fantastic job of taking us on a journey into this magical, historical world of Russian folklore, mythology, and fairytales. She does amazing at teleporting you into the cold, bitter frost of their winters. It’s also so very much a page turner that keeps you hooked from the very beginning - a little slow, but still a page turner. I’m pretty excited to continue on with the series.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to those who love a good historical fiction mixed with mythology and folklore. This is also a good book to read curled up under a thick blanket with a warm drink in hand too. show less

“Tell the story of Frost, Dunyashka. Tell us of the frost-demon, the winter-king Karachun.”

This book has quite a cult following, but for me it did not live up to the hype. The opening chapter gripped, but I struggled thereafter. The story is beautifully written and often poetic, but it is slow. Real slow. In fact, we don’t get to the main drama of the story, the battle between good and evil, until some 300+ pages in. For the majority of the book, we follow Vasya as she eats, sleeps and hangs out with the horses. When we finally reached the battle to which Vasya had been heading since birth, it is rushed and over with extremely quickly. There was a huge build-up with little gratification.

Character wise, in modern day senses Vasya show more would be a feminist, and whilst it’s great that the protagonist has such a strong sense of who she is and what she will/will not stand for, in reality this does not tie in with a young girl in medieval times. There is little to no internal struggle or self-doubt, making it difficult for her to be relatable. She would wander off doing her own thing, even when she had chores that were vital in helping to keep the family sheltered and sufficiently fed through a long treacherous winter. It was literally a time of life or death for some, and yet she had little concern for this. The many other characters often appeared as bystanders with little insight into their feelings. Take Vasya’s siblings for example. Sasha and Olga initially appear important to the story and then leave, strangely fading into history, barely thought of again. We never learn of Irina’s true feelings about the confrontations between Vasya and Irina’s mother (Vasya’s step-mother). The only character that stood out to me as being real and true was Vasya’s father Pyotr Vladimirovich. He is clearly torn between his duties as master of the village, as a worthy father to all of his children, as a husband to a devout and difficult woman, and for his love for the fierce and different Vasya. He ultimately sacrifices his life without fear to save Vasya and her siblings.

I found this story to be whimsical and poetically written. The setting is realistic and captivating and the author is clearly talented in this respect. If this were a standalone book, it could have been shorter whilst still including the much needed character development. Yet this is the first in a three-book series, and I feel that there was a lot of unnecessary padding in order to create a link to the next in the series. Whilst this book was not terrible, it did not live up to my expectations. I would recommend this as an enjoyable, lyrical read, but would not enthusiastically do so. As for the next two books in the series, I’d possibly read them if gifted/borrowed, but I do not intend to buy them. show less