The Bear and the Nightingale: A Novel (Winternight Trilogy Book 1)

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is very much a story in the Uprooted vein. At its simplest, we have a rebellious daughter with hidden talents who must align herself with mythological, dubious intentioned entities else lose the lives of her family, her people, and quite possibly her very way of life. At its simplest, that is the story Arden has crafted, but The Bear and the Nightingale is so much more than that simple synopsis. Set in a rich world full of tradition, politics, and magic, the author strikes the perfect balance between nuanced, vibrant characters with complex motives and personalities and a plot that continuously moves forward. Vasilisa Petrovna’s birth is marked by death when her mother dies giving her life. Her mother, Marina, who is possessed of special gifts, knows Vasilisa, or Vasya, will be her last child and that she will not survive the ordeal, but she gives birth to her daughter anyway because she knows the gifts Vasya will bring into the world will be even greater than her own. Vasya is raised a wild child. Not because of her father’s lack of tutelage but because she is a creature that will not be controlled. Often she slips into the woods on her own, walking the forest paths and meeting the mythological dwellers there that only she can see. On one such walk she comes upon a great tree and a one-eyed man sleeping at its base. The man is no man at all, but a demon who slumbers now but is slowly waking. Once he does wake, he promises “everlasting life” to any who follow him. His offer is not what it may seem, of course, and so Vasya finds herself in opposition to the waking demon. Vasya is a headstrong woman in a world where such initiative is not often desired nor praised unless such person is a man. But Konstantin, Vasya’s daughter, is an understanding man who knows his daughter’s fire comes from her mother. I liked Konstantin a lot. He is very much walking a line of his own between the traditional world he lives in and a more progressive one where he sees his daughter’s wild spirit free to do as she pleases. The times when he considers his Vasya toiling over a hot stove and seeing to her children and husband’s needs he is stricken with a heavy heart, for he knows the great potential Vasya possesses would be wasted on such a life. At the very end, Konstantin knows what he has to do to set his daughter free forever; his love for her is strong enough that he never hesitates. There are many other interesting characters: a priest whose story takes an unforeseen turn when he meets Vasya, a stepmother who embodies much of the atypical stepmother role so often seen in fairy tales, and an ensemble of brothers and sisters who are mostly supportive. Then there are the creatures whom only Vasya can see: vodianoy, vazila, upyrs aplenty, rusalka, and the brothers who are demons whom the real story revolves around. I’ll refrain from delving too much into any one of these, especially the brothers, for fear of giving something away, but suffice to say that the brothers are opposed to one another and Vasya finds herself caught in the middle. Of the world Arden has built for her novel all I can say is very well done. Set in the world of Rus’, it is very much a Russia that may have existed to some degree but many aspects only in folklore. Still, it is a beautiful depiction of a deep winter world where families huddle together around their oven to sleep and stay warm and where the coming snow cuts off entirely the rural community Vasya calls home from the rest of the world. The Bear and the Nightingale is historical fantasy fiction at its best. A vibrant world, rich characters, more than a hint of the supernatural, and an endearing main character who doesn’t have all the answers but isn’t afraid to find them makes this a must-read. Vasya’s story continues in The Girl in the Tower. It’s already on my reading list.

This review was originally posted on the Goldilox and the Three Weres blog. I'm going to be honest here. The first half of this book is slow and full of worldbuilding. That doesn't mean it wasn't gloriously good but it took me a bit to get into it. I will say that I knew I was going to love the story as soon as I finished chapter three. The writing is gorgeous and atmospheric and reminded me of Robin McKinley's works which is one of the biggest compliments I can give a book. I loved that the story is full of Russian fairy tales! I was familiar with a few of them but not all of them. Reading this book, you can see that the author did her research and it made the story that much more amazing! The story's main focus and character is Vasya, the youngest child of the minor nobleman, Pyotr Vladimirovich. She is a strange child who likes to spend all her days in the woods and is always getting into all sorts of mischief. This book isn't just the story of a girl with strange abilities, it's also about the rise of Christianity in Rus and how it starts pushing out the country's pagan beliefs. There are many households in Vasya's village who both pray to God and make offerings to the household spirits until a priest comes and tells them there is only God and no such thing as spirits. Soon after that the village starts to suffer terrible winters that don't let up. Vasya starts to realize that the fairy tales her nurse told her growing up may not be simply fairy tales. When darkness descends on the village, Vasya may be the only one with the power to stop it. This book is magical and Vasya is an unlikely heroine in the vein of Agnieszka in Naomi Novik's Uprooted and Aerin from Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and I fell in love with her almost immediately! That love just got bigger as the book progressed and we watched her grow into a young woman. I'm pretty sure I can't quantify how much I ended up loving her by the end of the book. She's like the heroines of my childhood reading and it made my reading experience even more lovely! I loved that Vasya continues to make offerings to the household spirits and befriends them even though it goes against her Stepmother's views of them being demons. The overall storyline of the book is very subtle and the story feels more like historical fiction than fantasy in places. But there comes a point about halfway through the book where things start to pick up and the subtle plot that had been laid in the first part comes to light and the conflict becomes noticeable. IT WAS SO WELL DONE! I'm amazed at how everything came together. This is one of those books that I'll be able to reread over and over again and pick up new details every time. Also, the number of Russian fairy tales referenced in this book was amazing and I'm pretty sure I missed a bunch. I need more books that revolve around Russian folklore in my life! Not only did I fall in love with the story and the atmosphere of this book, but I fell in love with so many of the characters besides Vasya. I want more of them! The book ends on a slight cliffhanger that will make you want for the next book in this series ASAP. This book is definitely going to be one of my favorites of the year which makes Katherine Arden a debut author you don't want to miss! She has gained a place on my auto-buy list after just one book if that tells you how much I loved this story.

I love the way Arden describes everything. And the mystery she keeps between the worlds of the "seeing" and of the blind... Love it, can't wait to start the second book!

I haven't read any other reviews, so I may be repeating what others have already said. What I liked: You can tell that the author did put a fair amount of time into researching the period. I loved the details about the food, medieval Russian iconography, the social aspects of the countryside vs the city, and so on (don't worry, it's not dry at all, just details sprinkled in for flavour). I also enjoyed the way she played with Slavic mythology, and the characterization was generally very well-done - every character had a distinct personality and different and realistic motivations. I enjoyed the fairy-tale aspects, the introduction to the various folkloric entities, and the way the mythological world interacted with the mundane. What I didn't like so much: While there were many tropes present in this story that I greatly enjoyed, the main character, Vasya, came across as a bit of a Mary Sue. It's hard to explain why I feel this way, because the usual traits - for example, everyone loving her regardless of her actions - aren't present. People do dislike Vasya, and sometimes for very good reason. I think it may have been the narrative, and not Vasya herself, that makes me feel this way. She is described often as very fey, strangely alluring, and so on (and she has no idea, of course), in a way that I consciously noticed and pulled me out of the story as I was reading. (There is an important character for whom Vasya is a figure of temptation, and there is symbology and psychology present there to explain his intense feelings, and I actually enjoyed that aspect - it isn't the part that bothers me.) I get that she might be beautiful, and creepy men will absolutely sexualize a teenage girl who is not at all trying to seduce them, but the way the narrative is written implies that Vasya's appeal is factual and not subjective. If it is due to her particular connection to the otherworld, like an aura she projects that gives her this strange appeal despite herself, I hope it is explained in the other books so that I can understand why everyone is apparently being affected by something like a fey glamour. Keep in mind that the above is just a personal pet peeve, but something to look out for if you happen to share it. The book is still a lot of fun, especially if you're interested in stories based on fairy tales, Russian and Slavic folklore, or even the interaction of medieval Christianity with pagan traditions. It reminded me of Naomi Novic's 'Uprooted', which I also enjoyed, but the characters are different enough that it didn't feel repetitive.

The Bear and the Nightingale is captivating and atmospheric YA fantasy that follows Vasilisa Petrovna (Vasya) who grew up in a village near the northern frozen forests of Russia listening to fairytales at the warmth of the oven. She had a special gift of sight and could talk to spirits. I’m used to reading action-packed and fast-paced fantasy. I love the thrill of adventure and action. So it took me a little longer to get used to The Bear and the Nightingale as this definitely reads like a literary medium-paced fantasy with little action. Writing is beautiful, imaginative, and fairytale-like, told in the third person narrative. The plot has a dark and cold vibe with heavy themes and layers of misogyny, physical abuse, proselytization, marital rape, forced marriage, sexual assault, and loss and grief. There are many characters introduced in the first part but Pyotr’s family and the priest play a major role in the story. Vasya is of course my most favorite character. She is free-spirited, courageous, brave, resilient, and curious soul. She was so lively in the forest, among spirits and horses but I hated to see how she became reserved like a caged bird in her own house. She is kind and compassionate even to people who hate her. I admired her for going through so much in her life- hearing cruel words from villagers, bearing the beating from Anna, and being accused of everything bad happening in the village- and yet she tried to help people and her family who wanted to get rid of her.. She even went to save Anna in the end. There was a moment of doubt but she took in her sight, the magic, and meeting the Winter King pretty well. I like how well she could see right and wrong and yet could preserve her innocence. I hated Konstantin. It was clear from the beginning there was something wrong with the man. He sure was charming and had a way with people. Sometimes it felt he too had witch power for the way he hypnotized people. I just couldn’t understand how much proof a man needs to see how misguided his belief was and how he fell for deception. I wish Vasya hadn’t saved him. It would have made things better for everyone. Morozko, the Winter Demon (King)/Death is mysterious. He is cold but never cruel. People feared him but in reality, he imbued respect more than fear. We get to know only a part of him but I’m sure there will be more to him in the next books. The world is the best part of The Bear and the Nightingale. The setting of fourteenth-century Russia when Ivan I was Prince of Moscow is filled with history, myths, and folklore. While the first part focuses on way of living, customs, and politics, the second part is filled with religion, religious belief, and differences between old and new religion and how the harmony between the two was dealt with fear of God and religious prosecution. The third part is all about magic and fairytales turning into reality for Vasya. This is my most favorite part. Legend of the Winter King, Dunya’s stories in the beginning, and legend of Morozko and his brother the Bear was interesting. I also enjoyed reading about different house spirits, water spirits, and forest spirits. The description of Morozko’s house was absolutely gorgeous. I enjoyed the tension and thrill of the battle and how it turned against the Bear. There aren’t many twist and turns but I enjoyed the end twist. The Bear and the Nightingale forms the base of the series. There is lots of build up and we get to know all the characters but the development will be in the next books of the series. There are still many things to know about. We don’t get any clear idea of how Vasya’s magic works or how her grandmother had the magic and why she came to Moscow in first place or how Morozko knew about Vasya or knew she is the one he needs to defeat the Bear. Is the magic a generational thing and if so why Anna had sight and if it’s not are there other witches out there? I’m sure reading second book pretty soon so that I have all the answers. Overall, The Bear and the Nightingale is beautiful, imaginative, and atmospheric historical YA fantasy with amazing world.

Questo libro si è rivelato una scoperta inaspettata. L’ho iniziato a scatola chiusa, non sapendo esattamente cosa mi sarei trovata davanti. Non immaginavo certo di trovarmi a leggere uno dei migliori fantasy che abbia letto in un bel po’ di tempo. C’è qualcosa di magico in questo libro – in questa saga. Leggendo questo libro ho provato la sensazione di trovarmi di fronte a una fiaba, una di quelle perfette da leggere in inverno, davanti al camino, magari sorseggiando una tazza di cioccolata calda o di thè bollente. È evocativa, piena di mistica suggestione: un momento prima ero a casa, sul mio divano, e quello dopo ero nel mezzo della tundra russa, tra spiriti della casa e dei boschi, cavalli in grado di farsi capire e l’incanto selvaggio e indomito della Russia medievale. Un piccolo difetto di questo libro, che in realtà può anche non esserlo. Il libro parte molto lentamente, ci mette molto a ingranare, ma quando lo fa non si riesce più a staccarsi dalle sue pagine. I primi capitoli sono molto lenti, in parte per costruire il contesto, in parte perché di fatto vengono raccontati gli eventi che gettano le premesse al succo della storia: la morte della madre di Vasya, il secondo matrimonio di Pyotr, la crescita di Vasya. Una volta superata la prima metà del libro, si entra nel vivo della vicenda, i personaggi si delineano sempre meglio e la storia si fa sempre più avvincente. Mi ci sono voluti giorni e giorni per arrivare a quella metà, ma una volta raggiunta ho divorato il resto in 48 ore. Penso che sia proprio una caratteristica dell’autrice, questa lentezza a ingranare, perché l’ho ritrovata anche nel secondo volume, La ragazza nella torre. Nonostante questo, è un libro consigliatissimo: l’ambientazione è affascinante e pittoresca, i personaggi ben costruiti e variegati e la storia è intrigante, con alcuni momenti che sono riusciti a commuovermi. Quindi non posso fare altro che promuovere questo libro con un giudizio positivo. Consigliatissimo a tutti, soprattutto gli amanti della Russia, dei romanzi con ambientazioni storiche e del fantasy: questo libro unisce le tre cose e le combina in modo sapiente, lasciandovi a metà tra realtà e fantasia, un connubio perfetto che personalmente a me è piaciuto tantissimo. Nonostante si tratti di uno YA, lo stile in inglese non è dei più semplici. Le frasi sono ricche di subordinate; i periodi non sono troppo lunghi, ma di sicuro non sono nemmeno corti. C’è una giusta misura, scelte linguistiche di livello medio-alto, ma frasi che non mettono troppo a dura prova il lettore straniero. Il mio livello di inglese è C1, quindi me la cavo abbastanza bene, ma penso che anche un lettore con conoscenze inferiori se la caverebbe bene con questo libro. a volte la terminologia può essere un po’ più ostica, a causa di alcune scelte linguisitiche un po’ più arcaiche o termini poco usati nelle conversazioni quotidiane, ma in generale io ho trovato il testo assolutamente accessibile al lettore medio. Io di solito difficilmente provo empatia e mi appassiono ai personaggi femminili, ma Vasya, la protagonista, l’ho trovata davvero ben costruita. È un personaggio di rara sensibilità, ma allo stesso tempo tenace, forte. Viene definite spesso brutta, eppure ha qualcosa, un fascino speciale, che la rende molto più bella di tutte le altre. Per tutto il libro i personaggi che interagiscono con lei si rendono conto che ha qualcosa, un certo non so che, che attira gli sguardi di tutti. Sembra inspiegabile dal momento che non è una grande bellezza, eppure ha qualcosa che la rende indimenticabile. Ciò che veramente colpisce di Vasya è il connubio di fragilità e forza. Ha tanti momenti in cui è impaurita, momenti in cui si abbandona alle lacrime, in cui mostra apertamente il suo cuore, buono e grande. Eppure ha anche una forza indomabile, il coraggio di chi cade e si rialza, anche ferita, anche spezzata. Le succedono cose orribili durante tutta la storia, eppure Vasya trova il modo di risollevarsi sempre e combattere la battaglia successiva. È coraggiosa e forte. Ciò che più mi è piaciuto di questo personaggio è il suo rifiuto di accontentarsi di ciò che la società decide per lei. in quanto donna, dovrebbe sposarsi o andare in convento. In entrambi i casi, vivere una vita in silenzio, da rinchiusa. Lei rifiuta questo destino fin dal primo libro, quando scappa di fronte alla notizia che dovrebbe andare in convento dopo il fallito tentativo di maritarla. Vasya vuole di più, vuole vedere il mondo, ma credo che più di tutto lei voglia avere una voce, essere libera. Non è fatta per la vita piccola e silenziosa che il tempo riserva alle donne e questo lo capiscono tutti quelli che hanno a che fare con lei. Vasya è sicuramente la protagonista principale intorno alla quale ruota la narrazione, ma la sua storia si intreccia con le vicende di alcuni personaggi minori. Anna, in primis. La matrigna di Vasya è la classica matrigna, insopportabile, abietta, con un’innata predilezione per la figlia Irina di contro alla figliastra. Ma il motivo per cui Anna odia Vasya non ha niente a che fare con il fatto che è figlia di primo letto del marito Pyotr. Il suo odio è dovuto al fatto che, anche lei, come Vasya, vede gli spiriti che riempiono Lesnaya Zemlya e la casa. Solo che, a differenza di Vasya, Anna ne è terrorizzata e si rifugia nella preghiera. Non riesce ad accettare la natura selvatica e indomita della figliastra e a un certo punto svilupperà una gelosia morbosa nei suoi confronti a causa del prete, Konstantin. Konstantin è il prete che arriva da Mosca, che viene mandato per guidare la comunità del piccolo villaggio di Lesnaya Zemlya. Viene descritto come di bell’aspetto e incredibilmente persuasivo. Ha un gran talento per le parole, riesce a persuadere praticamente chiunque e usa questo suo talento per arringare gli abitanti del villaggio e spingerli ad adorare e temere Dio. Ed è grazie a lui e alle sue parole che gli abitanti si allontanano dal vecchio credo, indebolendo gli spiriti in cui credevano e che omaggiavano fino a poco prima. Fin da subito dimostra una particolare interesse per Vasya, interesse che ben presto diventa una vera e propria ossessione. Ciò che prova è odio, ma anche desiderio, rancore che nasce dalla passione che prova per lei, dal fatto che ne è inevitabilmente attratto. Per questo sentimento, per questa ossessione malsana, arriverà a compiere un gesto terribile pur di riavere Vasya. Nel complesso Konstantin è, insieme a Vasya, uno dei personaggi che ha più spazio e quindi risulta meglio costruito e approfondito rispetto a molti altri. È un personaggio che ha il suo fascino, ma non si pensi nemmeno per un momento che sia una bellezza positiva. È un personaggio malato, che ha chiaramente un’ossessione malsana, ma è talmente ben costruito che a un’analisi oggettiva risulta inevitabilmente un buon personaggio proprio per quei suoi difetti che non te lo fanno perdonare soggettivamente. Un altro dei personaggi che ha grande spazio è Morozko, una specie di Jack Frost delle leggende russe. Descritto come il re dell’inverno, ma anche come la Morte in persona, non a caso compare sempre per guidare i morti verso l’aldilà. È uno dei tanti spiriti che popolano la storia, uno dei tanti usciti dal folklore russo e sicuramente uno dei più importanti. La sua presenza percorre tutta la vita di Vasya e tutto il libro: lo vedrete comparire fin dalle prime pagine, dapprima come storia della buonanotte della balia, Dunya, fino al momento in cui comparirà in carne e ossa. Il suo rapporto con Vasya sboccia in questo primo libro e si svilupperà nei due successivi, un fil rouge che percorre l’intera trilogia. Una strana forma d’amore, perché più che così non si può dire dal momento che quale amore può essere possibile tra una creatura che non conosce il tempo, immortale e vecchio come il tempo e l’umanità stessa, e una ragazzina? Questi sono i personaggi principali, ma la storia è ricca di personaggi secondari, come il padre di Vasya, Pyotr; la madre, che morirà dando alla luce proprio Vasilisa; Dunya, la balia, che per Vasya sarà come una seconda madre; i fratelli Aliosha e Kolya, ma anche Sasha e la sorella Olga, tutti più grandi di Vasya stessa – spoiler: loro li conosceremo meglio nel secondo libro. Oltre a loro, una selva di creature magiche e spiriti pullulano le pagine di questo libro. Tutti attinti dal mondo del folklore russo, compaiono creature come i domovoy e gli upr, i vampiri delle storie russe, che riescono a rendere ancora più pittoresco il contesto in cui il libro è ambientato.

Amazing. Inspiring. The start of a whole new fairytale. I’m glad I finished reading it in private because I’d hate to cry as much as I did in public. I’m so looking forward to reading the next book, but for now I still need to emotionally stabilise from the first.