The Girl In The Tower is the enchanting sequel to Katherine Arden’s wonderful book The Bear And The Nightingale.
Despite having this book on my kindle for several months now I deliberately decided to wait to read it until it was colder outside as I knew this would be a perfect winter read and I wasn’t wrong.
Vasilisa is probably one of my favourite characters from any book I have read, she is certainly the most interesting.
The book begins with Vasya riding her horse through an unnamed forest in search of a hidden house.
Meanwhile, in Moscow Olga is stood at the window of the tower she lives in waiting for her brother Aleksandr to return from his travels. Whilst she is waiting her one of her servants begins to talk of a ghost of a woman who haunts the tower.
The ghost is described as being white as a bone…mouth fallen in, eyes dark pits to swallow the world.
The other servants listen intently to her as does Olga’s eldest child Marya.
When the servant has finished Marya begs Olga to tell a tale of her own so Olga tells the story of a child fashioned out of snow and brought to life for a couple who longer for a child of their own. I loved this story because of the magical element to it and also because its not what you would expect.
When Aleksandr or ‘Sasha’ returns he brings with him tells of an organised group of bandits, burnt-out villages and girls stolen for slavery. Sasha brings these tales to his cousin Dmitri, the Grand Prince of Moscow. The two decide to go in search of the bandits after a great lord named Kasyan visits asking for help after bandits attacked his territory and stole some young girls then disappeared seemingly without a trace.
As boys these two had live together at Sasha’s monastery, the Trinity Lavra, before Dmitri reached his majority.
When Sasha returned from his journey he brings a monk he found lost in the forest. The monk brings Olga news of her father’s death and that it was her sister’s fault he died. He also tells Olga that he thinks Vasya must be dead too but that it was for the best as she was a witch. Olga is troubled by the news but decides not to pass this news on to Sasha before his departure.
The group hunting for the bandits can find no sign of them but they do come across a burnt-out village and some agitated villagers whose daughters are missing.
“Bodies lay strewn as they had died, black as the burnt houses, with pleading finger-bones and grinning skulls.”
The prince and his companions end up seeking shelter with some monks and are startled to see a lone rider carrying some young girls heading for the monastery. Sasha is further startled later when he realises the rider is his sister Vasya.
Both know that he cannot reveal her true identity so together they decide to introduce her as his brother. Under this identity she quickly finds favour with Dmitri by helping track down the bandits.
Once we learn the identity of the rider we also learn how Vasya came to be there.
The house Vasya was looking for in the beginning of the book was that of the frost-demon Morozko. He questions why she has ridden out into the dangerous woods once again and why in particular she came searching for him. Vasya tells him that she cannot stay at home as he siblings are mad with her and her neighbours believe her to be a witch. She fears being burnt as a witch or being sent to a convent.
She then goes on to explain why she has come to him, that she has decided to travel and that she needs the dowry he once offered her. He is startled that she has come to him for this and tells her so.
“No, she might have said. It is not that. Not entirely, I was afraid when I left home, and I wanted you. You know more than I, and you have been kind to me. But she could not bring herself to say it.”
He is reluctant to agree to her request and says she should return home and the people of her village will soon forget. He also warns her of the dangers of the road including the possibility that she might be raped. Vasya is undeterred though.
“There among your own kind, that is the world for you. I left you safely bestowed with your brother, the Bear asleep, the priest fled into the forest. Could you not have been satisfied with that?’ His question was almost plaintive.”
I love the relationship between Vasya and Morozko and the way it develops throughout the book. The reader gets to learn more about Morozko’s interest in her but is still left wanting at the end.
This book also marks a change in the way Vasya views him. She is still sceptical of his intentions towards her and questions the motives behind his kindness but at the same time she cannot help but depend on him.
She feels like he is the only one who understands her especially when he gives her some saddlebags filled with all the things she needs to survive on her own.
“Vasya stared down at these things with a delight she had never felt for the gold or gems of her dowry. These things were freedom…they belonged to someone else, someone more capable and strange.”
During the course of the book, we get to see Vasya’s character develop as she begins to get a sense of who she is outside of the confines of other people’s expectations.
We also begin to get a sense of why Morozko keeps coming to Vasya’s rescue.
“I am not blind continued the mare. Even to things that go on two feet. You made the jewel so that you would not fade. But now it is doing too much. It is making you alive. It is making you want what you cannot have, and feel what you ought not to understand, and you are beguiled and afraid. Better to leave her to her fate, but you cannot…Let her go, then, said the mare, quietly. Let her find her own fate. You cannot love and be immortal. Do not let it come to that. You are not a man.”
If you love myths and fairy tales then Katherine Arden is definitely an author you want to check out. I loved The Bear and the Nightingale, but I loved this even more. The Bear and the Nightingale was my favourite book of last year and I wouldn’t be surprised if The Girl In The Tower ends up being my favourite book of this year.

I was so excited to receive an ARC of The Girl in the Tower from the lovely Ebury Publishing and Penguin UK. The Bear and the Nightingale was one of my favourite books of 2017 so I was eager to continue reading about Vasya and her family. This book opens in Moscow with Sasha and Olga who we last saw at the beginning of the first book. It was great to read more about these characters and to discover how their lives had unfolded since leaving home. Vasya's reunion with them was painfully realistic and felt emotionally true. Katherine Arden writes wonderful sibling relationships that are nuanced and full of emotional depth. It's easy to identify with each sibling and understand their frustrations underpinned by love.

Part two picks up where the first book ended, with Vasya leaving home and planning to travel. She first visits Morozko's house to stay for a while, and I loved the growing relationship between Vasya and Morozko. The mysterious bond they share threads throughout the book, overwhelming both of them at times. I'm eager to see what happens to them in the final book released next year. Solovey was definitely one of my favourite characters and I adore everything about him, plus his bond with Vasya is beautiful. A new character introduced in this book is the mysterious Kasyan Lutovich, and I was desperate to discover more about him and his motivations.

It seems like The Winter of the Witch promises to explore the secret of Vasya's magical heritage and reveal more about her grandmother and great-grandmother. I also need to know what happens with Morozko after the ending of The Girl in the Tower. I didn't think this could live up to my love for the first book but it turned out to be just as hauntingly beautiful and memorable. The imagery and language were wonderfully lyrical, and the storyline was pure magic. The final book in the trilogy is definitely my most-anticipated 2018 release.

The sequel to the amazing The Bear and the NIghtingale book, The Girl in the Tower doesn't disappoint the reader. I found the book to be really fast-paced with a lot of things happening in it. Vasya's character has grown a lot over the two books and I loved the way her character shaped. Morozko was another character I was glad to get more to see of. The best part of the book was the importance to horses. I so loved Solovey. He is my most beloved character of the book!

“The girl in the tower” is the second book in the Winternight Trilogy and I loved it. The main character is Vasilya, a girl from a little village near the forest. In the first installment of this series she fought for herself and for her family, and now she’s running away from her world, looking for a travel and a better life. She doesn’t want to be married or become a nurse. She wants herself free, and she runs with her stallion, Solovey. She wants to go south, but then something happens. She follows her brother, Sasha, to Moscow. And bad things start.
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Now, I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll talk about characters and ideas in general.
I loved the setting. Medieval Russia is so interesting and I enjoyed every single reference of mythology and folklore. I missed the “demons” so much, waiting for this book to be read. Katherine Arden did a great job, describing the city of Moscow, the palace and the churches. The attention of the reader is focused on the political process and historical facts of this world, when the first book of the series talked about magic and superstition. There are the same themes in this novel, but our horizons are bigger. We travel with Vasilya and we enter the city and the power’s places.
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Family has and important rule, and it makes things happen. I loved the Vasilya’s relationship with Marya. Our protagonist loves her family, and she fights for it. One of the most interesting thing of this book is that it talks a lot about different kind of love. But love itself isn’t the main theme. Magic and hope can be described as important parts of the story. Magic is something that everyone wants to experience and hope makes people lives. So, Vasilya arrives at the end of this story, with her strength and her family, with her hope and her love.
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The characters are well described and it’s very interesting to see how they are so different form each other, they are not one dimensional. The “bad guys” are hidden inside normal persons and we don’t know who they are until the very end.
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The writing style is so good. This book starts with a tale, and it’s all written as a fairytale, a legend. I don’t know how, but I was fascinated reading this book. The second half of the story makes me feel so sad and so angry and I can’t wait for the next one in the series. The writing is so charming. I felt the snow and the fire and the wind and the pines’ scents. Give me other books like this and I’ll be forever happy.

• I received a free digital copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much. •

As a lover of Russian Folklore The Bear and the Nightingale was one of my favourite reads of 2017 so I was thrilled to receive the sequel and eager to rejoin Vasya and her family for the consequences of the first story. And there are consequences after the final confrontation with the Bear and Vasya's visit to the Winter King.
The world focus shifts slightly as Vasya's territory widens, while the first book occurred almost entirely within the confines of the forest we now see more of Morozko's world and more of Muscovy. Once again Arden's world-building is marvellous as she recreates the sights and sounds of medieval Moscow with the same detail as the wild forest. From the Grand Prince's palace to the women's Terem she creates such a textured setting full of history and dirt and life and magic that every page is a joy to read.

We also learn more of characters we glimpsed or lost contact with in the first book, Dmitrii who is now Grand Prince of Muscovy and Vasya's older brother Sasha, now a monk and warrior of some renown and a key adviser to his cousin, and Olga now a Princess in her own right. In Moscow there is a threat of war as the power of the Khan's wavers but Sasha worries about the banditry that has laid several villages to waste. Meanwhile Vasya leaves Morozko, desperate to see the world and escape the choice between marriage and the convent. With her horse Solovey she battles the dangers of the Russian winter, the threat of strangers and the realisation that she is vulnerable in the wide world where her determination to be free and independent lays her open to suspicion and persecution. As a hero she is perfect, strong but flawed and while it would be easy to characterise her as a "modern" woman Arden skillfully weaves her into the reality of the medieval world using the rich seam of Russian folklore so that she never seems out-of-place. And always there is the Winter King and the Chyert, the spirits of an older, mythic' Rus, fading in the sounds of cathedral bells and Christianity.

There is so much to love in this book. Each character has depth and voice that makes them irresistible, the plot is clever and thrilling, the writing superb and the foundation of that wonderful, rich world makes it difficult to let go. It's fortunate for us all that there is another book to come. I can't wait.

When I got to review this book I didn't realize it was the second book in a series, so I snatched the first one to get a better sense of the story and characters. Thing is, the first book was a very nicely created book with magic and magic beings and with a great lyricism but just not for me. I prefer books which move at a different pace than that one, so it was no surprise the same things were found on the second book.
Honestly I can't give it a rating as I can sense it is a wonderful book, convining the real story with snippets of magic and wondrous beings, and you can see all the effort it took the author to create this world; but is just something I wouldn't usually read for the reasons I have already stated.

[Note: I am giving it a two stars review on NetGalley as to be able to send the review, but as I've said I don't think I can honestly rate it, as it is a book I didn't enjoy but can see it has quite the potential]

Some of the magical snow has melted………

For almost three quarters of my journey through Katherine Arden’s second novel in her Winternight series, The Girl In The Tower, I must confess to disappointment.

But this may well be down to the fact that I am not its target audience. This one is very definitely YA – and therein lies my disappointment – there is much more action, and much less, interesting (to my mind) of the strange folk tale myth and historical background which gave me so much pleasure in The Bear and The Nightingale, the first volume.

What I had adored about that, as a very definitely adult reader, is that it did not seem to be one obviously geared to appeal solely to YAs I read quite widely, and take great pleasure in reading children’s and young adult books which are not only suitable for their target audience, but have things to say to adult readers (Philip Pullman, Marcus Sedgwick particular current favourites)

It had been the family relationships, the psychology of the protagonists, and the setting of the first book which really intrigued. The growth and development of the young girl, Vasya, and the tension between the religious and spiritual conflicts between the world of the charismatic, fundamentalist priest, and the wilder, older, pull represented by the most alluring, seductive character, the Winter King

Unfortunately, moving to Court, and with a wider cast of characters, the Winter King is far more ‘background’ The appeal of the book is probably coming more from the increasingly stepped up action in battles and derring do, which always begins to lose my interest. Vasya is now a young woman, and it becomes prudent to disguise herself as a young man, as she is, assuredly a creature of action, not one who is going to follow the option of marriage and motherhood. Which is all very fine, but sometimes, to this reader, she just seems like yet another feisty action hero(ine)

I was on the verge of abandoning it several times but kept on, and towards the last quarter it began to have more of the ‘old myth, older story’ elements, the strangeness, which I had loved so much in the first book

I would recommend it for its younger, target, audience

3 ½ rounded up to 4

I received this as a digital review copy from the publishers, via NetGalley

The Bear and the Nightingale is one of my top reads for 2017 and I was super excited when I was invited to review the sequel! And then my heart broke when the NetGalley page said that my email wasn't included. But luckily, I managed to contact the person who invited me to review and get the ecopy!

The Girl in the Tower picks up where The Bear and the Nightingale leaves off. Vasya has managed to subdue the Bear, but the villagers still think that she's a witch. Desperate not to be sent to a convent or married off, Vasya runs away with her horse, Solovey. Disguising herself as a boy, she runs into her beloved brother Sasha and ends up in the middle of fight between the Grand Prince of Moscow and the bandits burning down the city.

A lot of sequels fail to live up to the first book but The Girl in the Tower is just as fascinating and absorbing. Most of the key characters from the first book - Vasya, Solovey who is the best horse ever, and Morozko the frost demon - are here and minor characters like Sasha get their day in the sun. I love the fact that I recognised Sasha and the other characters because they were in the first book, so their appearance and expanded role felt natural.

Oh and by the way, Konstantin (the priest) appears too. He doesn't have as big a role as he did in The Bear and the Nightingale, but he is still as misguidedly evil and irredeemable as ever.

Another thing: I'm not a big fan of romance so I liked that there were no forced romances or love triangles in this. Vasya makes the choice to leave to avoid getting married and I'm glad the book doesn't sabotage that decision by having her fall in love. There is something between her and Morozko, but it's a doomed romance and I like that they didn't force it. Plus it sort of carried over from the previous book (though it wasn't as obvious so I didn't talk about it in my review) so I didn't find it weird.

If you loved (or even just liked - although I don't believe that's possible) The Bear and the Nightingale, you need to pick up The Girl in the Tower. The series continues to enchant and although you can read both as standalone novels, many elements of the first book were so naturally carried over and developed in the second in a way that made The Girl in the Tower even more of a delight to read.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. The gushing was voluntary.

We return to the entrancing and magical world of Vasya in medieval Russia. A grief stricken Vasya mourns the loss of Dunya and her father, wanders the icy forests, unable to return to her family home of Lesnaya Zemlya, branded a witch by the locals, threatened with marriage and the convent, choices that are anathema to her. She is naive to the ways of the world, men, political intrigue, ghosts, the fire bird, sorcerers, Moscow and more but she is hungry to see and know more than the small corner she has grown up in. She reaches for a new identity and role, despite being exhorted to make other choices by Morozko, the Winter King, the death and frost demon, her monk brother, Sasha, and her sister, Olya, pregnant with her third child. Olya has accepted her fate as a highborn woman, married to an important prince, closeted and restricted, confined to the tower with her two children, Marya and Daniil. The contrast between the two sisters could not be greater, with Vasya caught between two worlds, where she sees what others cannot, her grandmother, Tamara, was the same and another family member is to continue in this tradition.

Vasya walks amongst danger, her only recourse for support and help remain the spirits and guardians of the older pagan world, to whom she offers blood tributes, Solovey, her faithful and trusty horse and Morozko. A battle hardened Vasya emerges with a redefined relationship and understanding with the Winter King with the taste of pine on her lips growing ever stronger, in possession of a knife of ice, and her sapphire talisman. Morozko faces the age old quandry, for you cannot love and be immortal. Vasya wants to be a traveller, a feat she can only achieve in disguise as a boy, never a woman. She ventures into villages that are burned down by Tartar bandits and residents murdered, and abducted girls. Vasya joins her cousin, the Grand Prince of Moscow, Sasha and Kasyan Lutovich to find the bandits. An impenetrable shadow hangs over Moscow and the Khans want their contribution, the Grand Prince faces threats, political intrigue, a web of deceit and lies, and where the spirits and guardians hang by a merest of threads. Vasya is surrounded by forces determined on her downfall, both mortal and immortal.

This is a much darker tale, remaining faithful to Russian history, whilst drawing on the supernatural magic of its folklore. Arden is a gifted writer, creating a deeply compelling narrative simply drenched in atmosphere that blends the differing threads present in the novel beautifully. She makes the period come alive, the growing influence of Christianity, the strongly entrenched prejudices and attitudes to women, the battles for power and land, and the prominence of the dark fairytales that enchant, like that of the snow child. Vasya is tested to her deepest core, and emerges as woman who knows what she wants and an awareness of the depth of her emotional feelings. She has to negotiate the complexities of sibling relationships and the fantastical world, learning the hard way about the nature of the medieval world she is a part of. All in all, this has turned out to be a worthy sequel to The Bear and the Nightingale, a superlative read that I cannot recommend highly enough. Cannot wait for the final book. Many thanks to Random House Ebury for an ARC.

Katherine Arden burst onto the scene earlier this year with her brilliant debut The Bear and the Nightingale, which blended Russian fairy tales with a unique new heroine.
The Girl in the Tower is the second part of the Winternight trilogy and again returns readers to the Russian wilderness when a young Vasilisa, driven from her home town for being marked a witch, sets off on a road adventure that will take her across the heart of Russia.
It's a beautifully written tale that blends folklore, magic and history into a fresh and exciting fantasy setting. Arden has an almost lyrical way with words and creates a world you'll want to immerse yourself in again and again.
A wonderful follow up to an already excellent series.

Normally, with the middle book in a trilogy, I don't expect much. Quite often, the book is a place filler to get to book 3 and the ultimate resolution, with book 2 being a filler of sorts. But there is no worrying with Arden's middle book, because if anything, this second book in the series is even better. The web around Vasya is getting tighter and tighter, the adventures more daring and the medieval Russia is depicted in wonderful detail. It's a wonderful mix of plot and character development, so engaging and I love how Arden is using Russian fairytale and folklore to tell a story of magic and a time long gone, even vanishing at the time when the story is set. In short: I cannot wait for book 3 to be published.

I loved The Girl in The Tower.

I’ve read the first book in the trilogy, The Bear and the Nightingale. You really need to have read this to fully appreciate The Girl in The Tower.

I loved the setting. The author does a great job of bringing medieval Russia to vibrant, brilliant life.

I loved the author’s style. This book was gorgeous, a sheer pleasure to read. I loved the way the story developed and how the characters go from strength to strength.

I look forward to reading the final book in the trilogy.

Von Trauer überwältigt flieht Vasja vom Hof ihres Vaters. Sie möchte ihre Zukunft selbst bestimmen, sehnt sich nach Abenteuern. Begleitet von ihrem treuen Hengst Solovey streift sie durch die Wälder, sucht nach einem erfüllenden Leben. Um nicht aufzufallen, verkleidet sie sich verbotenerweise als Mann. Als Vasja drei entführte Mädchen aus den Händen räuberischer Tartaren befreit und mit ihnen in ein Kloster flüchtet, ahnt sie nicht, dass ihrer Verkleidung eine harte Probe bevorsteht. Denn im Kloster trifft sie auf ihren älteren Bruder Sasha, der an der Seite des Großfürsten von Moskau nach eben jener Räuberbande fahndet, der Vasja die Mädchen entriss. Der Großfürst ist vom Mut des furchtlosen jungen „Mannes“ begeistert. Unbekümmert lädt er Vasja nach Moskau ein und bringt sie damit in eine gefährliche Zwickmühle: sie kann sich nicht als Frau offenbaren, die Einladung aber keinesfalls ablehnen. Wird ihre Täuschung enttarnt, riskiert sie nicht nur ihr Leben, sondern auch Sashas. In Moskau angekommen, verschlägt es Vasja schier die Sprache. Doch schon bald erkennt sie, dass sich hinter der prunkvollen Fassade eine Schlangengrube politischer Intrigen verbirgt. Und die größte Bedrohung ist übernatürlichen Ursprungs…

„The Bear and the Nightingale” hätte wunderbar als Einzelband funktioniert. Das Ende bietet genau die richtige Mischung aus offen und geschlossen, sodass Katherine Arden frei entscheiden konnte, ob sie die Geschichte weiterführt oder es den Leser_innen überlässt, zu spekulieren, was als nächstes geschieht. Ich glaube, was sie letztendlich dazu bewog, den Nachfolger „The Girl in the Tower“ zu schreiben und eine Trilogie zu forcieren, war ihre eigene Neugier. Sie wollte wissen, wie es mit ihrer Protagonistin Vasja weitergeht. Sie wollte die Limitationen ihres Universums erforschen, das einzigartig lebendig mit der slawischen Folklore verbunden ist. Im ersten Band konnte sie viele Sagengestalten nicht involvieren, weil der inhaltliche Rahmen dies nicht zuließ – ohne Fortsetzung hätte sie ganz darauf verzichten müssen. Das erschien ihr offenbar inakzeptabel, was mich als Leserin natürlich sehr freut. „The Girl in the Tower“ taucht noch tiefer in die russische Mythologie ein. Neben den entzückenden Hausgeistern stellt Katherine Arden bedeutende Märchenfiguren vor, die sich erst aufgrund der Öffnung des Horizonts ihrer Geschichte homogen in diese einfügen, ohne sie zu dominieren. Vasjas Welt ist gewachsen. Sie verließ den väterlichen Hof, wagt sich in die Weite des Landes hinaus, das eines Tages „Russland“ heißen wird und begibt sich auf die Suche nach ihrer Identität. War „The Bear and the Nightingale“ eine 16 Jahre umspannende, beherrschte Schilderung von Vasjas Kindheit und Jugend, zieht das Tempo in „The Girl in the Tower“ nun deutlich an. Arden packt eine ordentliche Schippe Action drauf und erhöht den Spannungsbogen mit rasanten Verfolgungsjagden, Kämpfen, Intrigen und Vasjas riskanter Tarnung als Mann. Trotz dessen wirkt die Handlung niemals gehetzt oder überhastet, weil die Autorin die inhärenten Konflikte ihrer Geschichte weiterhin eingehend ergründet. Vasjas Konflikt mit den Normen der Gesellschaft tritt explizit in den Vordergrund. Sie widerspricht der damaligen Vorstellung einer demütigen, gottesfürchtigen und vor allem unsichtbaren Frau; ihre couragierten Taten werden nur akzeptiert, weil sie sich als Mann ausgibt. Ich habe mich über die Ungerechtigkeit dieses Rollenbilds fürchterlich geärgert, obwohl es selbstverständlich der Realität des 14. Jahrhunderts entspricht. Ich konnte mich mit Vasjas hilfloser Zerrissenheit voll identifizieren, fand allerdings auch die Perspektive ihrer Geschwister Sasha und Olga sehr interessant. Es fällt ihnen schwer, die kaum zu zügelnde Wildheit ihrer Schwester zu tolerieren. Sie bewundern Vasjas Talente widerwillig, zum Beispiel ihren beeindruckend realistisch dargestellten sensiblen Umgang mit Pferden, doch sie können nicht damit umgehen, dass Vasja alle Konventionen verweigert. Ich konnte ihre Empörung zum Teil verstehen, denn freilich bringt Vasjas sorglose Hitzköpfigkeit sie alle durch ihre Nähe zum Großfürsten in Gefahr. Leider hatte ich Schwierigkeiten, Moskau im 14. Jahrhundert zu visualisieren. Während Arden ihre Leser_innen erneut mit traumhaft atmosphärischen Beschreibungen der Wildnis verwöhnt, wollte sich bei mir einfach kein konstantes Bild der Stadt einstellen. Es flackerte. Nichtsdestotrotz habe ich durch die Lektüre abermals viel gelernt. Mir war nicht bewusst, dass es sich bei Großfürst Dmitrii Ivanovich um eine reale historische Persönlichkeit handelt und er der erste Regent war, der sich gegen die Herrschaft der Mongolen über Moskau auflehnte. Katherine Arden kombiniert diese explosive politische Situation mit einer übernatürlichen Bedrohung, wodurch „The Girl in the Tower“ reifer als der Vorgänger wirkt.

Ich kann das Finale der „Winternight Trilogy“ kaum erwarten. So viele ungeklärte Fragen warten darauf, beantwortet zu werden. Vasjas Wurzeln liegen noch immer im Dunkeln, ebenso wie die Rolle des Winterkönigs. Wieso erwählte er ausgerechnet Vasja? Ich vermute, dass sein Interesse an ihr mit dem Geheimnis ihrer Familie mütterlicherseits zusammenhängt. Laut Goodreads wird der dritte Band „The Winter of the Witch“ heißen und im August 2018 erscheinen. Ich werde mich gedulden müssen. Vielleicht nutze ich die Wartezeit, um meine Kenntnisse der russischen Geschichte aufzupolieren. Katherine Arden weckt in mir eine beharrliche Neugier hinsichtlich dieses weiten, mysteriösen Landes, das auf eine bewegte Vergangenheit zurückblickt. Ihre Faszination ist ansteckend. Ich habe Lust, Russland von einer ganz neuen Seite zu entdecken, in seiner magischen, leidenschaftlichen Mythologie zu versinken. Ich möchte das Russland kennenlernen, das Katherine Arden so liebevoll porträtiert: Vasjas Russland.

Vielen Dank an den Verlag Ebury Publishing und Netgalley für die Bereitstellung dieses Rezensionsexemplars im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension!

Second installment of the Winternight Trilogy, The girl in the tower story begins a few months after the ending of The bear and the nightingale.

Vasya left her village: despite having fought to save it from the darkness, the villagers say she is a witch, and Vasya struggles for new adventures, so she decides to go and discover the world.

The medieval Russia reserves only a few choices for a woman: nuns of mothers and wives, so Vasya disguises herself as a boy when approaching the villages and cities. In the areas near the capital, the boy Vasya meets the prince and his warriors, and among them her brother Sasha, who left the village to become a priest.

In the meanwhile, some villages are devastated by bandits' raids, and all the girls are kidnapped to be sold as slaves, and a dark menace impends on the city of Moscow.

Vasya will end up fighting for the city, her family and her freedom, helped by the folklore spirits and by the frost demon, Morozko.

As in the previous novel, the setting is build up with precision, both folklore and historical elements help in improving the setting and the plot. Here we meet again some characters of The bear and the nightingale, but grown up and changed accordingly to their own story. The plot is engaging and fast paced, a perfect follow-up of the first novel of the series. Now I'm waiting for the last book.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

Hot on the heels of The Bear and the Nightingale comes its sequel: another compelling slice of Russian-flavoured fantasy, prickling with ice and magic. Our heroine Vasya has saved the villagers of Lesnaya Zemlya from an evil far greater than that of the Devil the priests have taught them to fear, and far older than the icons and crosses of their churches. Yet her reward is scorn, distrust and hostility: a reputation as a witch. And so her eyes turn to the horizon, to the wider world she has craved for so long. With her incomparable horse Solovey, she sets out - but not before her path leads her back to a little house in a fir-grove in the forest, where the frost-demon Morozko waits for her.

Richer in scope than its predecessor, this novel spreads its wings beyond Lesnaya Zemyla and takes us to medieval Moscow, to the barren wastes of the Russian forests and to the peaceful sanctuary of an isolated monastery. For the first part of the book, we actually see very little of Vasya but we do reacquaint ourselves with her sister Olga, now a noble matron and mother in Moscow, and her charismatic brother Sasha, a monk-warrior. It's a precarious time in the Rus', where local chieftains sense the fading power of the Great Khan and begin to stretch their muscles. Bandits roam in the woods, kidnapping children and carrying them off as slaves. And the young prince Dmitrii begins to wonder whether the time has come to shake off his obligations to the Golden Horde and make a kingdom for himself. In the midst of this turbulent period, two strangers arrive at the court. One is a priest with golden hair and a silver tongue, discovered half-starved in the forest, who comes bearing shocking news about the family of Pyotr Vladimirovich. The other is the red-haired boyar Kasyan, courageous, daring - and mysterious.

Of course I can't help comparing this to the first book, and perhaps it's no surprise that it doesn't quite reach the same level of brilliance. Second books hardly ever do and, even if I didn't love this quite so much, I still thoroughly enjoyed it: Arden continues to be an evocative and stirring writer and I'm fond of her characters, even though I sometimes wanted to knock their heads together. The broadening of the setting results in an unavoidable lack of focus, of course. Lesnaya Zemyla may have been small, but I had a strong sense of the place and people in a way that just isn't possible here. Arden offsets this by developing her secondary characters, who become strong presences in their own right: Sasha intrigues me, and I'd love to know more about his past experiences, while Solovey has a personality as real and forceful as a human. There are also new characters to get to know, notably Olga's daughter Marya, in whom Vasya comes to see something of her own younger self.

One thing I would say - risking spoilers, so skip ahead if you want to avoid them - concerns the romance. We all knew it was going to develop this way: the first book made it pretty clear. And I have no problem with it per se; it just wasn't always as convincing as other parts of the story. Vasya wants to have her cake and eat it: she dislikes the thought of being a plaything for an immortal creature, but at the same time she seems to rely on Morozko's readiness to ride to her aid. As for Morozko himself, eternal life doesn't seem to have stopped him behaving like an awkward moody adolescent. Would the man who has carried off maidens, and presumably done his fair share of ravishing, be so clumsy? Surely a few centuries would have made it clear that it's bad manners to give a woman burning looks, save her life (repeatedly) in a dashing fashion, kiss her (several times) in moments of ardent passion, and then basically ghost her? I mean, really.

The tongue was faintly in cheek there, but you get the point. This is a young adult series, but it wasn't until we got to the romance that it felt like one. Everything else remains strong, with lots of wonderful intrigue and the addition of many new figures from Slavic legend (I was especially excited by the Firebird), and there are some thrilling moments, most notably a horse race round the walls of Moscow, where victory isn't the only thing at stake. If The Bear and the Nightingale was about finding out who you're meant to be, this book is about having the courage to forge your own path and become that person, in defiance of whatever society (or your elders) think you should be doing. Vasya, despite her occasional romantic angst, is a terrific protagonist and just the sort of feisty, capable and adventurous girl I wish I could have read about in my mid-teens.

This is the perfect time of year to read this series so, if you haven't yet read The Bear and the Nightingale, hurry up, and if you have, then this sequel has been published just in time to whisk you off to the frozen land of the Far North, ready for Christmas. I shall have to be patient for the next book in the series, but in the meantime (for reasons those who've also read this book will understand), I'm tempted to seek out Catheryne M. Valente's Deathless. Another recommendation, for those who enjoy Arden's series, is Naomi Novik's Uprooted, which I think has a very similar charm.

This review will be published on my blog on Tuesday 19 December at the following link:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/12/19/the-girl-in-the-tower-katherine-arden

Un cavallo veloce corre per le innevate campagne di Russia: lo monta un giovane dagli occhi verdi, senza paura, con un demone di gelo che veglia su di lui. O meglio, su di lei.

Un altro cavallo torna a Mosca: lo monta un giovane monaco, che porta notizie grandi e terribili al suo principe,  e vola sulla neve sperando di prevenire la guerra e mettere fine al fuoco.

Una banda di banditi brucia villaggi e rapisce bambine. E chiama vendetta.

Un ragazzo che ragazzo non è, un monaco, un principe: e, dall'altro lato della barricata, forze che vogliono la distruzione della Russia, e domare ogni forza contraria: sopratutto se è il coraggio e il desiderio di libertà di una giovane donna insofferente alle costrizioni del ruolo stabilito per lei dalla società.

Dopo The Bear and the Nightingale Katherine Arden ritorna nella Russia medievale, in bilico fra antiche tradizioni e nuova religione, e lo fa in grande, proponendo ancora una volta una vicenda che, sfruttando tutti gli elementi della fiaba e del mito, è in realtà una commovente, appassionante riflessione sul coraggio di ribellarsi e di sacrificarsi insieme, sull'amore nelle sue sfumature, sulla necessità di preservare il passato guardando al futuro.

E prepara un finale che si preannuncia di grande impatto, per una delle trilogie più belle mai lette.

I have received an ARC from publishers but it does not in any way influence my thoughts and opinion.

THE WORLD: It is the second book in the series following rather famous The Bear and The Nightingale. As this book is pretty much takes off where the first one ended we are again set in the magical fairytale land of Russia where old gods and dark magic exists. I must say I was looking forward to being again in this world even more than I wanted to know what happens next! The Bear and The Nightingale was the first book that introduced me to this amazing genre and since then I have been reading many books set in old fairytale lands. Therefore I was slightly bit disappointed when we did not get to see as much of magic as in the first book. I mean of course it is expected, in the first book we learned all about the world and it's rule and by now we are as familiar with everything as our own world but still...little part of me would have loved more legends and old stories.

CHARACTERS: Just like in the first book we are still following Vasya as our main heroin. She is now a young woman who has to choose to either marry or go to the convent. Of course if you remember Vasya you already know that neither choice is something she would pick so Vasya ends up pretending to be a boy and set off on the adventure. As Moscow and surrounding villages are being attacked by bandits and little girls stolen Vasya finds herself trying to solve the mystery. After a battle she is invited to the castle where she is supposed to talk to the prince. Except that if you remember both Vasya's brother and sister are in Moscow and that of course becomes a problem because she is still pretending to be a boy. Alright so now let's look at Vasya herself. She is not a child anymore and the choices she makes are also not so small. When she leaves her village she ends up leaving her family behind which of course is nothing easy. She also has to eventually comes to the point as to what she will do next. Adventure and fighting off evil will always be her thing but now that her siblings are there and she is invited by the prince Vasya seems to kinda loose her appear. Not that I don't like her anymore. It's just often I found myself not a biggest fan of what she does. However it was very nice to read about her siblings again.

ROMANCE: Not the center. There is something happening and there are things carried over from the first book but Vasya is still a free spirit.

GOOD: I liked being back into the world. Will always love it and its magic.

BAD: It kinda felt like this book has a second book syndrome. I read first book as a stand alone and it was great but having a second book our after less than a year...I think you can feel that it was written much faster than the first book.

OVERALL: It was great to be back in the world but I wished a little bit more of this book. However as it is a trilogy maybe all the biggest fun is coming in the next book!

I could rename this review "the one where Lucinda thinks she knows what her book of the year is, but then changes her mind in the middle of December" because this book...is PERFECT.

I just love it so much.

I absolutely adored the first installment of the Winternight trilogy (The Bear and the Nightingale - review here) and I was sooooooo excited to receive a pre pre pre release copy of the sequel (literally - I did a little scream). Therefore, it has taken a supreme effort to resist reading The Girl in the Tower as soon as I got it. Even though I'm frantically trying to finish off my reading challenges for the year and I'm about six months behind on my netgalley requests, I just can't wait any longer. The weather is perfect (brass monkeys, snowing, dark, lit by twinkly Christmas lights) so I'm diving in.

And oh, how beautiful it is.

The Girl in the Tower picks up from where The Bear and the Nightingale left off, with Olga in Moscow, Sacha working as a monk and Vasya fleeing her village to avoid either being married off or sent to a convent. Unfortunately, Vasya stumbles upon trouble and has to pretend to be a boy in order to help. This leads to her experiencing the most thrilling adventures as she battles against the forces of evil to keep the local people safe.

That brief summary doesn't even begin to do justice to this story - but I really REALLY don't want to ruin it for anyone. You'll just have to trust me when I say it's really, REALLY good.

The Girl in the Tower is a full on emotional rollercoaster of a novel. Normally, my notes when I'm reading are pretty sparse, but just look at how much I wrote for this book:

0% - I'm so excited! 1% - What a great opening line. This is going to be good. 5% - stertorous - good word! *files under "potential countdown conundrums"* Still 5% - Surely that's not...hmm, I'm intrigued. 8% - You bastard! It is! 9% - A serpent headed sword? As we all know, nothing good ever comes from serpents. Clearly, this is going to go tits up. Still 9% - Ooh, irony. Bashyna Kostei translates (I think) as Tower of Bones, which makes sense as the area was named after the third starving winter. Feeling smug after reading a Goodreads comment saying "I don't get it!". Ever heard of Google love? 12% - I wonder where Vasya is. She's my favourite. 13% - Yay, there she is! Pleased to see people still mistake her for a boy. 15% - Yes! You don't need no man/frost demon. Except some of that gold would be useful... 23% - Please don't die! 24% - Ooh, romance! I know a lot of other bloggers have said they missed a love interest in the first book so maybe this will satisfy them. 25% - Just read the words "hungry eyed". Now I can't stop singing "HUNGRY EYES! One look at you and I can't disguise, I've got...HUNGRY EYES!" Probably not what Katherine Arden wanted, especially as I'm now picturing Morozko as Patrick Swayzee. 28% - Clever use of male/female ambiguity in names. Gold star for Ms Arden! Still 28% - What can kill, creates fire everywhere but leaves no tracks...is it dragons? I REALLY BLOODY WELL HOPE IT'S DRAGONS 36% - A sennight? Like a week? Half of a fortnight? I thought Americans didn't use these words? 41% - Wait, is her dad...not dead? Maybe? 47% - Yay but OH NO! 50% - CUT YOUR HAIR, VASYA!!! 53% - WHAT?!? 56% - Oh, I love Vasya and Marya together. Also love how hungry Vasya constantly is and how she seems to survive exclusively on bread and cake and pie. 65% - Oh no!!!!!! This is not good. I don't trust that Prince. I have a theory about why Morozko thought he saw something (someone) at the feast too. 67% - Ok so now I REALLY don't trust that Prince. Also, I'm a little bit confused about who Olga is married to? 68% - The golden horse is fitting in with my theory... 70% - BASTARD!!!! 75% - I knew it!!! 74% - OH MY GOD! How do they know each other? 81% - Kick him in the balls Vasya! 83% - I was right about my Tower of Bones translation! 84% - OH NO!!!!! 90% - is it...her grandmother? 99% - WOW. JUST...WOW.

As you can see, there's a bit of everything in this story. Intrigue, romance, magic...dragons? I can neither confirm or deny that last one, you'll have to read it to find out. You can also see how the excitement builds as my notes get shorter and my use of swear words/caps/exclamation marks increases. Sorry about that.

I think that one of the best things about the book is the usage of language. It is just so. beautifully. written. You could turn to any page and get at least one exquisite quote. I loved how descriptive the storytelling was, and because the novel is set in Russia the dark, snowy environment leant itself perfectly to such a magical, dark fairytale. It was incredibly atmospheric and evocative, and I loved how Katherine Arden wove Russian words into the narrative in such a way that you understood their meaning even though they bore no resemblance to their English counterparts. So clever.

I really noticed the development of the characters from book one and I loved how we got to find out more about each of them now that they had grown up a bit. I was initially worried that this novel would be the awkward middle bit, where everything is set up for a big finale but not much happens, but it isn't at all like that. Instead, The Girl in the Tower could almost be read as a stand alone novel as it has a proper beginning, middle and end and a narrative arc all of it's own.

In terms of character development, one of the most noticeable changes from The Bear and the Nightingale is the introduction of a bit of romance. I know other reviewers felt that this was missing from the first book (I didn't, but each to their own) so I'm sure they'll be pleased to see a relationship developing. As ever, I thought the way that it was written was absolutely perfect, it didn't detract from the main action and I loved the fact that the male character was waaay more romantically invested than the female character, who basically had bigger things on her mind.

In keeping with that tone, I did detect a strong feminist ideal running through The Girl in the Tower. Vasya sees that as a girl her options are severely restricted - she can either be a princess locked in a tower producing babies for her husband, or a nun locked in a monastery...not having babies. I loved that she was a total rebel against this repressive society, so she just pretended to be a boy in order to do what she wanted (ride her horse, see the world, have fun etc.) I really liked how hardy and capable she was, and in particular I ABSOLUTELY loved that she wasn't beautiful and didn't care about what she looked like. I also adored the fact that she ate cake, pies and wine at every opportunity, was constantly hungry and hardly ever washed. That's my kind of heroine.

There are so many other brilliant things about this story that I could go on for hours - the use of "real" Russian mythology, the family dynamics, the relationship between Vasya and her horse Solovey...but I would literally be here for days. Instead, I urge every single one of you to just go and read it for yourselves.

When I read The Bear and the Nightingale, I definitely liked it, but I knew that the series was not opening up its full potential. But I decided to stick with it, because I was sure it would bloom by the second book. And it did! I loved The Girl in the Tower. So here are…

5 Reasons To Read The Girl In The Tower
It's about...

The Girl in the Tower carries on where The Bear and The Nightingale left off. Vasya, a rebellious girl, needs to flee her homeland, because after the events of the first book, she is regarded as a witch, feared and loathed, and she is worried for her own life. She can think of no other place to flee to than to Morozko, the frost god. However… Things get even darker than in the first book, but also? Much more adventurous! As Vasya now becomes the traveling adventurer maiden she was cut out to be.

Reason #1.
Vasya Is A Great Model Of Female Power
Vasya is such an amazing woman! Sure, she’s a tomboy, she’s rash and doesn’t quite think things through, but also? She’s brave, she’s daring, and through her character and her experiences, we get to see the obstacles women had to face before our times. I have always known that life for women was tough, back in the day. We all know that. But do we ever think just how tough? How limited the self expression and the life, when you’re trapped in a tower, and that’s normal? When you can’t ever say what you want to say, or even feel what you want to feel? Not speaking of the boredom and dullness of such a life. Vasya was a great contrast. She fought, she ran, she rescued. She burned and destroyed. Vasya is the true strong female heroine and I love her for that.

Reason #2.

The Slow-Burn Romance
To be honest? I was very curious what would become of the romance in this story. This is not the kind of book, nor is Katherine the kind of writer, I feel, who would subject you to flowery love stories. I wouldn’t have expected ANY romance in this series at all – apart from the fact that the story was set up from the first book and it was sort of leading up somewhere. And I was so curious about where it would lead! I have to say, I am extremely satisfied with the outcome. I’m not a romance fan, so this was just perfect for me. Subtle and reasonable. I will not say more, for fear of spoilers!

Reason #3.

The Pace And The Suspense
This book has done what the first one hasn’t – namely, it has suspense! If The Bear and the Nightingalewas slow at times, you could only say this book was rolling, and always on edge. At one point, I had to stop reading, because I just didn’t want to find out what was next – it was too much. Had to put the book down for a day or two!

Reason #4.

This Book Is More Adult
You can clearly feel that Vasya is no child anymore in this book. If things were a little soft around the edge in The Bear and the Nightingale, they are not so in The Girl in the Tower. The book is much more adult, both in the tone, and the darkness it tells about. I’m normally very sensitive to darkness in books, but this was just right. The ideas it helps express just absolutely worked with it.

Reason #5.

Being A Strong Woman Can Be So Many Different Things
You’d think that if Vasya, a strong and fighting woman, is in the spotlight here, this book says that the strength is only in fighting? WRONG! I was pleasantly surprised to see extremely strong and capable female characters who were symbolizing the other side of femininity – the soft, submissive side, namely – Vasya’s sister Olga. She is no rebel, she does what she’s told, she submits to her life and bears her cross with her head held high. But it’s no weakness! Olga displays incredible strength in the face of adversity, and she only bears that kind of life because that’s the way she can protect everyone she loves, keep her responsibilities. I couldn’t claim that either one of these women – Vasya or Olga – is portrayed as the right one! That’s the whole brilliance – both are right ways to live. Your strength lies in who you are, and there are many ways to be strong. Because of this, the book feels like a song to the many kinds of femininity there can be.

However...

I know I loved this book and it was very easy for me to follow. However, I’ve grown up close to Russia and I’ve been exposed to Russian fairytales and mythologies from an early age. I’ve heard from some Westerners that some of the mythologies are hard to follow and maybe not explained enough – if I hadn’t know the fairytale about Koshchei the Deathless, I might have had trouble following too. So if you don’t have any background, just read the glossary at the back first.

I thank Del Rey and Katherine Arden for giving me a copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion.

Another exceptional book from Katherine Arden, The Girl in the Tower is book two in The Winternight Series, carrying on from the wonderful The Bear and The Nightingale, which was one of my favourite reads last year. Carrying on from where the first book ended, we join Vasya on her travels, where disguised as a young man she comes to the rescue of three young girls stolen by bandits. Fleeting from the kidnappers she is reunited with her brother, now a monk, and comes to the attention of the powerful crown prince. Danger surrounds her and even the powerful Morozko may not be able to save her if her secret is revealed.
This is the perfect book to savour on a cold winters night, ideally in front of a crackling fire while sipping something warm and tasty. The wintry setting is vividly brought to life by the talented author, and the numerous little details about life in medieval Russia, the deprivation of the peasantry and the opulence of the aristocracy frame the story incredibly well for the reader,creating a world that I for one was sorry to leave.
We learn more about Vasya's family and indeed family and the sacrifices we make for those we love are themes that run throughout the book, and once again there are numerous references to folk tales and tradition, something I particularly liked about the first book.
Following up a book like The Bear and the Nightingale may have been a daunting task, and as a reader I was certainly nervous that it would not live up to the incredibly high bar set by it's predecessor, but my worry was all for naught since this book is just as beautiful and exciting. I can't wait to continue the adventure.