The Bear And The Nightingale

Title: The Bear and the Nightingale
Author: Katherine Arden
Series: Winternight #1
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Format: Kindle
Pages: 347
Reason Read: Book Club Backlist
Rating:

Also in this series: The Girl in the Tower, The Winter of the Witch

My Thoughts

Right from the beginning, I adored THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE. I loved the setting of medieval Russia and the Russian words and names. I was all aflutter as I was taken back to my Russian class in high school. It actually took me a little longer to read than it should’ve because I purposefully looked up all the Russian words I didn’t recognize and even transliterated them back into the Cyrillic alphabet. It was so much fun! Я люблю русский язык.

I also loved the story. I loved the dichotomy of the magic and fairy tales with the new Christian religion and whether or not the two could coexist together. Of course, the whole conflict of the story suggests not. It was an interesting ride to see how the characters forsook their traditions because of an over zealous priest and a terrified princess who didn’t know what to make of the fantastical world around them.

I really liked Vasya. I thought she was a wonderful heroine. I enjoyed watching her grow up, see her be a strong and precocious girl who wanted to be just like her brothers. I also thought it was interesting how she just assumed the world around her was the way it was. If she saw something in the fairy tale world, she figured others could see it too until her awful stepmother came along and showed her otherwise.

I also adored Solovey and Morozko. I wish there had been more of them in the story. I hope they will be around more in the sequels. And, I hope Morozko is more than just a helper, if you get my meaning.

Anyway, it was truly a treat to read THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE and I can’t wait to read the sequels.