The third novel in Winter Night Trilogy, The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower being the first two, written by Katherine Arden, this novel is the end of Vasya’s journey. And it is wonderful.
Condemned to burn as a witch by the people of Moscow, led by Konstantine, Vasya manages to escape. But the Winter King already let lose The Bear, and chaos will reign.
This novel continued on as the last two did, told from a number of perspectives we get to continue to watch Vasya become who she truly is. And that is a person, neither good nor evil, but trying to do the best she can. She is trying to make up for her mistakes. She is trying to save her people.
One of the things that I greatly enjoyed about this novel was that the final conflict is an actual battle that happened in Russia.
Okay, okay, so let’s break this one down.
The writing: wonderful and perfect story telling. Arden strikes a balance between telling us detail and leaving enough to the imagination that you are able to create your own world.
The characters: in this novel there were characters new to the story, but well known to our characters. They all had depth when they needed it. The creatures of stories aren’t going to necessarily be much more than you expect them to be. But they combine together very well.
The plot: This plot takes a lot of turns. And the whole time the plot is pointing out that it isn’t doing the smart thing; Vasya keeps fighting. She keeps trying to do the right thing, even if bad things happen. Which brings home the ideas in this book so very well. Seeing the Winter King as he once was at his highest was a joy. The quote below, spoken by the Bear to the priest, I think summarizes the themes of this series excellently. And was a lovely foreshadowing as it was spoken early in the book.
There are no monsters in the world, and no saints. Only infinite shades woven into the same tapestry, light and dark. One man’s monster is another man’s beloved. The wise know that.
The Bear
Overall, I really loved and enjoyed this series. Highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Unless you don’t like fantasy or historical settings. Then maybe you might not enjoy reading this.
Also, I love Vasya and the Winter King.
