The Bear and The Nightingale: (Winternight Trilogy) (Winternight Trilogy, #1)

by Katherine Arden

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Beware the evil in the woods...

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church.

But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods. . .

Atmospheric and enchanting, with an engrossing adventure at its core, The Bear and the Nightingale is perfect for readers of Naomi Novik's Uprooted, Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.
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Now with over 100 5* reviews, readers are spellbound by this magical story:

'This book stayed with me, I didn't want it to end'

'A beautifully written story'

'An entrancing story, which swept me up from the very first chapter'

'Full of magic'
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Make sure you've read all the books in the acclaimed Winternight Trilogy

1. The Bear and the Nightingale
2. The Girl in the Tower
3. The Winter of the Witch

• ISBN10: 1785031058
• ISBN13: 9781785031052
• Publish Date: 5 October 2017 (first published 10 January 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Del Rey
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[Beth C.]

What would you do if you had a gift, a gift that enhances your life and that of those around you, but they don't know it? A gift that, if discovered, might even get you killed? Vasilisa, the last-born daughter of a land-holding family in the depths of Russia, knows this dilemma all too well. When evil blooms on the backs of a tarnished priest and a devout woman, Vasilisa will be the only one to stand between the flames and her people. Will she make that choice, knowing it could mean her death at the hands of those people she is trying so hard to save? Or will she save herself and watch them all burn?

First, before anything else, this book has been compared repeatedly to Naomi Novik's "Uprooted". And just...no. They are very different books. If you *liked* Novik's book, then you may like this one as well, particularly the fairy tale aspect that they share. However, they really are quite different in atmosphere, story, and characters.

As for that story and those characters - Arden did a wonderful job evoking the dark, cold, lonely winter, and the terror that could bloom when "something wicked this way comes". She really does have a lovely writing style that lent itself beautifully to this tale. As for the characters, Vasilisa of course would be my favorite, followed by the fairy creatures who really made me wish that we still believed in them - or those like them - in this day and age. They are complex, interesting, and - in some cases - quite fun. The whole story reminds me of a fairy tale based on fairy tales - something meant to be read or spoken aloud, during the cold of winter, around a fire - maybe even with something hot in a mug to sip on. Of course, as with many of the older fairy tales, good does not always win, and there is always a price to be paid. The question is, who pays that price, and who wins in the end?

I would definitely recommend this book. It is the kind of book you could read again and again and find details that you missed the first, second, and even third time.

[Metaphorosis Reviews]

2.5 stars - Metaphorosis Reviews

A young woman in the depths of the Russian forest faces temporal and supernatural challenges, especially with respect to household spirits that few others can see.

The cover of Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale caught my eye at NetGalley. A closer look suggested it wasn't my kind of book, but then I got several e-mails from the publisher suggesting I try it. They compared Arden to Robin Hobb, and Hobb herself blurbed the book, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Guess which of us was right.

The book draws on traditional Russian fairy tales, and that's its downfall in a nutshell. The stiff, mannered voice that seems quaint in a fairy tale is wearing at book length. Constructions like "in arguing, pleading, and speculation, the evening passed" lose their charm fairly quickly. By a few chapters in, I was already tired of the voice, and of the thin characters that might have worked in a short story.

Arden adds color by including occasional Russian phrases. Happily, I speak Russian, but even so I found the additions more irritating than interesting. As Arden herself admits in an afterword, she's inconsistent in her transcription and usage. I think most readers won't benefit from the distinctions between, e.g., devachka and devushka, and I simply didn't see a logic to the language.

The setting, deep in the Russian woods does feel credible, though the characters don't work as well. The story takes places in a prior century, but that doesn't entirely excuse some of the attitudes. "Long-limbed for a girl", "he kissed her until defiance turned to passion", etc. There's not a lot of this, but I found it unappealing, especially because the characters are so shallow. The story's turns to politics in the second section doesn't help, though it does recover somewhat at the end, with a return to relationships and magic.

I still like the cover, and it seems clear that Arden is a capable writer, but for this story, she's equally clearly chosen the wrong approach. I found the voice stiff, and the story relatively tedious. Even for Russophiles, I can't recommend it.