Little did they know that the chyerti were the only thing saving them from the evil spirits and demons of the forest who would see them harmed. The priest believes that they are evil and they need to forget about them in order to save themselves with the faith. The most interesting aspect of the book to me personally was the way the spirits, called chyerti (spirits of Russian folklore), begin to weaken due to the villagers beginning to pray to God more and forgetting about them. The second half of this book leans much more into magic and religion in a compelling fight between “God” and the natural spirits of the land. Once we are introduced to the cheyerti and we start to see some of the more magical elements come into play the story really starts taking off. I found myself getting distracted and losing interest more than I would like to admit and at times wasn’t sure this was one I needed to see through to the end, but there were enough treats on the trail to keep me going and working toward the more exciting things. I understand the reasoning behind the way it is written and why she needed to go so in depth here to really provide us a good base for the rest of the story, but I feel like it would have benefited from a somewhat quicker pace to get to the action. This first half is slow and plodding and shows us what everyday life looks life for Vasya. We are also introduced to some of the back story regarding the magic of the world. We get to know Vasilisa Petrovna and her family (whose names I can’t imagine pronouncing most of the time).
The first half of the book focuses on setting the stage. The story really is a tale of two halves. Russia isn’t a place you would usually think of for a fantasy themed story so I was really looking forward to it as something different from the usual European settings. I knew absolutely nothing of Russian folklore going into this and honestly it is what drew me to the book the most. It is touted as a darker reimagining of fairytales we all know and love, but anchored in Russian folklore.
I didn’t look up much about the books before I started reading, only what was on the back cover. After generating enough curiosity out of me I decided it was time I dove in on this trilogy and checked it out for myself. This is Katherine Arden’s first entry in her Winternight Trilogy, which I have heard great things about.
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