Rusalka

A ghost story set in the Russian forests that gets a bit bogged down in the middle!

Sasha is a young lad growing up in an ordinary village. He's the stablelad for one of the inns, working for his aunt and uncle after his family were all killed in a house fire. When one of the town's roudies oversteps the mark and ends up hiding in Sasha's stables, he is sufficiently lonely not to turn Petyor into the watch. Instead they flee town together. Only once they are on the run does Sasha realise that Petyor's high spirits are not just an act he puts on for friends, but that he genuinally doesn't believe in all the supernatural creatures that Sasha knows influence everyday life. Fairly quickly they reach a deep and dead - even though it's early show more spring - woodland. Starving, cold and tired they seek the shelter they can find, which turns out to be a wizard's house. Somebody whom Petoyr still doesn't believe in. Here they meet the Rusalka of the title - the ghost of a drowned woman, still strongly atuned to life.

Cherryh's fantasy writings all contain the same form of magic - the ability to wish for things, if you think about them strongly. Given the number of wizards present, and the varying abilities in controlling their thoughts and personal strength in wishing, it becomes very difficult to follow why certain characters act in the way they do - are they being capricious, stupid, bloody minded, exceptionally clever, or motivated by either a friendly or unfriendly wizard? Especially in the middle of the book where the characters spend a lot of time walking through woods, it becomes somewhat confusing.

Other than that though the russian mythology works very well, and the generally gloomy atmosphere of deep woods is well invoked. This isn't CJC's best work, but its still a lot better than most fantasy you'll find around today, with thought provoking characters, tangeled motiviations and a well constructed world.
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After re-read.
Not much to add to the above. Unliek some of her works this one fails to fully capture the attention, I'd read a bit and thne put it aside for something else - which would unthinkable with Foreigner or Cyteen. However once you get to it the ending is superb, and if you can allow yourself to immerse in the depths of the forest the atmopshere is enjoyably gloomy.

Also notable that there is frequent switiching of viewpoint between Sasha and Petyor, with little warning, which causes a few disconnects until you've worked out that you've changed voice again. show less

This is an impressive piece of fantasy featuring an amazing array of supernatural beings out of Russian folklore – not just the one featured in the title. It's set in Russia at a time when there was a Tsar in Kiev and people got around on horses. It's also full to the brim with a most intriguing kind of magic. Imagine if you had a power that could make your wishes come true, but not necessarily in the way you intended. Cherryh gives us a very thorough, thoughtful, and quite alarming insight into the dilemma of "be careful what you wish for." The narration jumps back and forth between the points of view of two central characters, Sasha and Pyetr, one of whom has the power and one of whom doesn't. It isn't always clear which one is show more having the more harrowing time. I thought the writing was excellent in general, with the one caveat that I had to pause rather too frequently to figure out who "he" referred to. Usually the confusion was between Sasha and Pyetr, and just a little more use of their names would have solved the problem for me. When I put the book down for the last time I felt satisfied, although there were aspects of the history of the old man and the rusalka that were never explained as fully as I would have liked. Cherryh emphasizes and draws out the horror of the characters' predicament and maintains a maddening uncertainty regarding what is going on and whether the old man is the villain of the story that is only resolved at the very end. That resolution seemed to me a little too quick and clean by comparison, leaving a kind of emotional imbalance between the bulk of the story and its ending. The story had plenty of tension to spare and I felt I could have been fed a few more crumbs of security along the way without any risk of getting bored. show less

Be careful what you wish for...

Just ask Sasha Misurov. At five years old, he wished that his father would not beat him anymore. Soon thereafter, a fire burned down his house, claiming both his parents’ lives, and damning him in the eyes of the community of Vojvoda as a dangerous jinx- because nothing in Pre-Christian Russia ever happens by chance. That such a good-hearted innocent kid could be regarded as a danger is almost laughable, until you realize that his wish did indeed come true.

Not that Pyetr Kochevikov believes in such nonsense. Or that Pyetr had had a better relationship with his father, either. Born in the gutter to a notorious thief who kept trying to lose him, Pyetr had to rely on his wits and an uncanny ability to show more figure the odds in order to rise up to the social stratum he now enjoyed, befriended by youth of the nobility and, increasingly, wives of the nobility too.

But when one such wife needs to cover her own tracks regarding a suddenly and mysteriously dead husband, Pyetr goes from being her illicit lover to being the scapegoat. Charged with murder by sorcery, teenagers Pyetr and the practically complete stranger but supposed accomplice Sasha flee the city; Pyetr suffering from a horrid sword wound, and Sasha wishing they would make it safely to help.

The tail end of winter is no time to be running around Russia without so much as a coat, much less if you are bleeding to death and being chased by the tsar’s law. Taking a shortcut through a long-dead forest is probably not a good idea either. They don’t have much choice, however, and Sasha’s wishing pays off as they finally come across a cabin on the river, and the only thing that can help the dying Pyetr at this point: a sorcerer. A sorcerer with an even worse relationship with his father, and, oh yes, who was not such a good father himself.

(One does wonder about CJC’s relationship with her father, even though most likely she just took a theme and ran with it.)

This sorcerer has spent the last hundred years trying to reconcile his failed relationship with his daughter, who was drowned trying to run away, and who became Rusalka: a vengeful spirit who desperately wants to avoid death, and who does so by draining the life out of those around her.

And of course it follows that Pyetr, who thinks there is a rational explanation for everything, and Sasha, who imposes no such qualifications on reality, grow increasingly more and more entangled in a struggle neither of them understand, in a place where nothing and nobody is what it seems, where no one can trust anyone else, and where someone must die for a wish to come true.

Indeed, a Rusalka is itself just a wish, a rather innocent wish, with very bad consequences: a wish to live.

Don’t worry; that’s just the set-up for the story, with no real spoilers. It’s just the beginning. I didn’t give away any of the rest, involving raising the dead, battles with river demons, a desperate attempt to escape, a climactic showdown between master and apprentice, and snake-handed elephants. :p

a few quotes:

”... aunt Ilenka came flying out of the kitchen waving her spoon and calling on the Sun, the tsar, and all his magistrates.” (pg. 1)

“He’s over all kinder than sane folk know how to be.” (pg. 39)

“Once at hours like this, Pyetr told himself, he had been lazing about in a soft, warm bed no magician was goig to chase him out of.” (pg. 252)

That being said, it’s really not so much of a ghost story as, er, a traditional ghost story. It just happens to have ghosts etc as characters. :D Case in point, the cover blurb:

A grim but warmly human story of courage, sacrifice, and desperate love between a tormented spirit and a mortal man.

And no, it’s not that kind of love. That’s over in the romance department, I’m sure. Look for the vampire on the cover. show less

Cherryh incorporates creatures from Russian folklore into her fantasy tale. Pyetr is forced to leave town after he's caught with someone's wife and young Sasha is forced to join him after it's found Sasha had been hiding Pyetr. Thus begins the wandering, meandering quest in which Pyetr is skeptical of Sasha's magical abilities even after his very life is saved by them. This attitude continues as the two make the acquaintance and become house-guests of a cantankerous old wizard who is interested in using Sasha's magic in his attempt to resurrect his daughter, but openly contemptuous of Pyetr.
None of these characters were terribly sympathetic, though Pyetr seems to grow as a person throughout the course of the story. The first part of show more the book was pretty slow-going during the walking and almost dying in the forest parts, but picked up a bit once the wizard was introduced. However, the eventual climax of the tale was almost incomprehensible, particularly as the reader struggled with whom to sympathize as no one's motives seemed particularly pure. I was excited to read something taking place in this geographical area, as I don't have much familiarity with the region, but unfortunately I'm not interested enough in this author's writing to continue the series. show less

In tsarist Russia, a kitchen boy and a playboy are forced on the run. Wounded and with few resources, they escape into the surrounding woods--and there encounter spirits and demons of all varieties. The relationship between the two men is really sweet and contentious; they each like each other a great deal but are troubled by aspects of their relationship. It's pleasantly, subtextually slashy. Unfortunately, the story is bogged down by endless scenes of them feeling confused. I know they're over their heads in this situation, but couldn't they know *something*?

Rusalka is a fantasy set in pre-Christian Russia. Cherryh creates plenty of atmosphere as her characters Pyetr and Sasha flee trouble in Vojvoda during the darkness of winter and find themselves at the mercy of a powerful wizard in a dead forest. Pyetr, who was mortally wounded as he fled, has ironically been healed and returned to life by a magic he denies exists ... a skeptic. Sasha believes in magic and lives at its mercy until he discovers that he is a wizard and must learn how to direct the powerful forces that flow through him.

Despite their differences, Pyetr and Sasha are devoted to each other. Street-wise Pyetr is determined to protect the younger and naive Sasha from those who would take advantage of his innocence, and Sasha show more refuses to leave Pyetr alone and unprotected from the powerful magic that he vehemently denies. Pyetr relies on his wits to shield him from misfortune. Sasha is determined to avoid trouble by learning to carefully control his powerful thoughts. Together they learn that neither wits nor careful manipulation will protect them from the uncertainties of life and that there is nothing more powerful than a good and loyal friend.

Pyetr and Sasha will need to rely on each other if they are to survive the ordeal that awaits them. They encounter various magical spirits that inhabit this dark forest while constrained by the will of Uulamets, the wizard. These spirits are quite fickle and most times very dangerous. Along with these not-so-benevolent spirits, the forest is haunted by the ghost of a young murdered woman. She is a rusalka and she is the daughter of Uulamets. The rusalka doesn't want to be dead and so must drain the life from anything or anyone in order to maintain existence until her father can bring her back to life.

Cherryh uses Slavic folklore, with its heavy emphasis on magical power, to tell the story of a different kind of power ... the power of friendship. This is the strength of Rusalka. Cherryh's ability to create an atmospheric novel is one of her strong points as a writer. She can also generate an intensity that leaves you gasping and dreaming strange dreams at night. That said, I was disappointed with this novel. The struggle of wills revealed through the dialogue between characters was meant to build and create that intensity I just mentioned, but instead I found the conversations repetitive and tedious. I couldn't wait for the characters to stop their constant bickering and for Cherryh to just get on with some action instead. I generally like Cherryh's books a lot, so I'm a bit baffled by my ambivalence toward this novel. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for this one, so I'm glad that this was not my first experience with Cherryh.

Rating:
4 out of 5 for story and atmosphere
2 out of 5 for the dialogue
3 out of 5 overall show less

It's nice to read some fantasy that is based on a different folkloric tradition. Here Cherryh has taken the Rusalka of Slavic myth and created a tale of "be careful what you wish for". Young Sasha is the stableboy in his aunt's Inn, taken in after a fire killed his parents; the slightly older Pyetr is a rogue, causing trouble with the local noblemen's sons (and wives). Together they have to flee the town against rumours of wizardry. Ending up in a dead forest they discover that magic is real and more dangerous than the sceptic Pyetr ever imagined.

I must admit that I didn't find this the kind of fantasy that just sweeps you away and makes you think. There is a lot of repetition of ideas and concepts in the dialogue, so I was left hoping show more that something different would happen. By the end though I was pleased to have read this with its themes of friendship and consequences. show less