The Bear and the Nightingale

by Katherine Arden

paperback

Published by Random House US.

ISBN:: 9780399593284

(30 reviews)

"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, a stranger with piercing blue eyes presents a new father with a gift - a precious jewel on a delicate chain, intended for his young daughter. Uncertain of its meaning, Pytor hides the gift away and Vasya grows up a wild, willful girl, to the chagrin of her family. But when mysterious forces threaten the happiness of their village, Vasya discovers that, armed only with the necklace, she may be the only one who can keep the darkness at bay."--

6 editions

sidra reviewed The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The Bear and the Nightingale' on 'Storygraph'

1 star

i was going to give this 2 stars but why bother? it's... underwhelming; i was bored to tears, the plot picked up in the last 20 pages or so and i did not care about the characters at all. vasya, lyoshka, & sasha were more tolerable than the rest. but... nothing more, i just DID NOT CARE for anything or anyone.

that being said, the author did a brilliant job at setting up the story, the environment, & the atmosphere. i'm not well-versed with russian folklore so it was good to know about that & it 'seemed' incorporated nicely into the story.

loppear reviewed The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The bear and the nightingale' on Goodreads

4 stars

What a solid blend of historical fiction, fantastical folklore, pre-industrial Russian atmosphere, and love of horses.

the_lirazel reviewed The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The bear and the nightingale' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.0? 4.5? need to think about it

AliCorbin reviewed The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The bear and the nightingale' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

A novel, with a strong female protagonist, loosely based on Russian fairy tales. A couple of people had gone to see the author at a talk in the burbs, and said that she'd written it because she was bored. And had written too much and had taken the first third of her manuscript and rewritten that as the first novel of a trilogy.

kim karma reviewed The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The bear and the nightingale' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Audiobook.
This book is fantasy but a lot different from the stuff I usually read. In this case, it was a nice change. The story is engaging and the setting so out of the norm that it keeps the interest. The narrator for this book is fantastic, I feel she added to my enjoyment and it's possible I'd have dnf'd this if I had eye read it.

Old_Tim reviewed The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The bear and the nightingale' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A fantastic debut. Great for cold winter nights. Go on & read it already!

http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2017/01/warm-stories-for-cold-nights.html

Debbie reviewed The bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden

Review of 'The bear and the nightingale' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Gorgeous and lyrical. Arden reimagines the Russian fairy tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful but melds it with traditional stories of the fey folk. Instead of a doll, Vasilisa has brownies, and nymphs, and dryads, and others. I loved this melding of different folk tales, and it added depth to Vasya's story, that she have the sight and able to see the magical creatures, and that this is placed into context of the Christianity causing the old ways to die.

As is true of Russian literature, this is not a light book. There is an air of oppressive darkness throughout, which is in line with the harsh winters and the danger of death through cold or starvation -- even before the addition of a mythical Bear-demon who creates undead vampire wraiths.

I read this book slowly, though it is not very long. The plot is not quick and I did not want to rush it. Arden takes the time to set the stage and it is a slow build -- so slow, in fact, that when the book's denouement arrived, it was over too quickly. I wanted more; I wanted to spend more time with these characters and to see what happens next to Vasya.

This is Arden's debut book and I'm very impressed. I look forward to seeing what else she writes.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley.