Spinning Silver
By Naomi Novik
Blurb
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her own heart and takes up his work in their village. Her success creates rumours she can turn silver into gold, which attract the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge – and if she fails, she’ll die. Yet if she triumphs, it may mean a fate worse than death. And in her desperate efforts to succeed, Miryem unwittingly spins a web which draws in the unhappy daughter of a lord.
Irina’s father schemes to wed her to the tsar – he will pay any price to achieve this goal. However, the dashing tsar is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of mortals and winter alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and Irina embark on a quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power and love.
Our Review
I was really excited to read Spinning Silver because from its description it sounded like my ideal kind of book.
Spinning Silver is basically a cross between Rumplestiltskin and The Bear and The Nightingale. It was in some ways a retelling of an old fairy tale, but the author brought something new into the mix by bringing in some old Russian folk tales.
“The real story isn’t half as pretty as the one you have heard.”
The above quote is a pretty accurate account of the novel. It isn’t your average fairy story, there is no damsel in distress being rescued by a prince. I think it is fair to say that the central three female characters pretty much hold their own in this story. In a lot of ways the men are the weak ones.
I thought the Character and world building by the author was excellent, in particular with relation to the Staryk.
On the negative side I felt that sometimes the split person narrative form wasn’t needed and actually detracted from the story. There were so many characters in the book that sometimes I wasn’t aware whose chapter it was until I was a few pages in. This was mostly a problem with the more minor characters such as the Tsar.
Additionally, I felt like the ending was a bit rushed. There was so much build up to it and then it just seemed a bit of an abrupt end.
However, I did really enjoy reading the book and will definitely read more work from this author.
Our Final Rating...
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