Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik The skilled author of the Temeraire series has turned the story of Rumpelstiltskin into an extremely satisfying fantasy novel in Spinning Silver. It takes a setting like medieval Russia, and the premise of a father caught bragging that his daughter can spin into gold, and expands it into an amazing …
Tag: russia
Dec 03
Book Review: Blood of Tyrants
Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik I listened to or read all the rest of these books and somehow skipped over this one, so I was glad to see what happened in the interim. I didn’t know who Junichiro was, for example, and missed how Temeraire and Izkierka came to have an egg and why …
Sep 28
Book Review: The Bear and the Nightengale
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden I enjoyed this book quite a bit for the fantasy elements, but especially for the vivid portrait of life in rural Russia back in the days when boyars still gave tribute to the khans to keep the horde at bay. Even Vasilisa, the daughter of a feudal …
Apr 03
Book Review: League of Dragons
League of Dragons by Naomi Novik If I had to describe this book to someone familiar with the Temeraire series, I’d describe it as “A lot more of the stuff you like.” Usually these books are just fun fun fun from beginning to end, but this is the first one that started to feel like …
Dec 11
Book Review: Catherine the Great-Portrait of a Woman
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie I usually don’t read biography, but two disparate people recommended this to me in the space of two weeks, so I decided to make an exception. As you might expect, this book is about Catherine II of Russia, one of the most powerful and …
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