Deathless

by Catherynne M Valente

A handsome young man arrives in St Petersburg at the house of Marya Morevna. He is Koschei, the Tsar of Life, and he is Marya's fate. For years she follows him in love and in war, and bears the scars. But eventually Marya returns to her birthplace - only to discover a starveling city, haunted by death. Deathless is a fierce story of life and death, love and power, old memories, deep myth and dark magic, set against the history of Russia in the twentieth century. It is, quite simply, unforgettable.

• ISBN10: 147210868X
• ISBN13: 9781472108685
• Publish Date: 20 June 2013 (first published 29 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Corsair
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[ross91]

DNF at 65%

This book was not for me.
The writing is beautiful, but I couldn’t care less about the plot or the characters.
I don’t usually pick up books about folklore or historical events or with magical creatures in them, so I knew I was probably not going to like Deathless, but the stellar reviews and recommendations convinced me to at least try.
Well, it didn’t end well.

[empressbrooke]

Valente's writing is beautiful, as always, but unfortunately, I just was not in the mood for a dark Russian fairytale. I still finished it though, because each of Valente's books feels like an art project that deserves my attention.

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.
HOW CAN I DESCRIBE THIS?
I AM SO SORRY, BUT I CAN'T. DAMN YOU CATHERYNNE VALENTE.

[nightingalereads]

2.75 - 3 stars

Hard for me to rate. Reading Deathless was a lot like admiring a beautiful piece of artwork that you appreciate, but don't quite connect with. It was fascinating. I do think a lot of the references in this story went over my head, but I enjoyed the beautiful writing, and how the author weaved together Russian folklore with actual history. Since I'm fairly unfamiliar with the original tales of Koschei the Deathless, I can't say how closely her version of the story follows them. But overall, though I was never fully immersed in the story, I did appreciate the uniqueness of the author's storytelling and writing style.