Current Reads : A Fantasy Trilogy Steeped in Russian Folklore
Weekly Stacks Issue 035 - Exploring a Russian winter in 'The Bear and the Nightingale' by Katherine Arden as the Winternight Trilogy gets underway.
Hey friends!
Welcome back to the Weekly Stacks! ☕📚 Grab your favorite beverage, find a comfy spot, and let's get OWTT and explore some Other Worlds Than These!
“It is a cruel task, to frighten people in God’s name.”
― Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale
As chaotic as the end of 2024 felt, 2025 has kicked off in luxuriously slow and intentional fashion.
Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to explore 8-10 different books and worlds over the course of a month, but sometimes it’s nice to just pause and let yourself get lost in a single world for a while, which is exactly what I’ve been doing through the first week of the new year!
As a quick reminder - I’m not reviewing any of these books here today, it’s just a check in to share what I’ve been enjoying and also selfishly so that I can look back in the future and remember what I was enjoying reading in this moment of my life!
Recent Reads Recap
For the first time in a long time I have nothing to report as I have not yet finished my first read of the new year!
In Progress
As I mentioned last week, I have been trying to slow down a little with my reading to allow myself to be more immersed in the worlds I’m exploring here on
.As such, I still have just one book in the works currently.
The trilogy is called The Winternight Trilogy and the book is called The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden.
Reading format : Physical Book
I’m currently a little over halfway through the book and I’m finding the tale enjoyable if not a little confusing.
The writing is enjoyable, the feeling of the seasons passing from bitter winter to scorching summer, reminds me of the seasons here in Minnesota. I am enjoying the way the elements of folklore and Christianity/religion are blended with the more intimate character work, however where things begin to get a little confusing is all the Russian names and naming conventions.
It becomes a little complicated when each character might have 2-3 different names, for example our main character.
Her actual name is Vasilisa Petrovna.
Sometimes she’s called Vasochka or Vasya, not to mention her nicknames like Little Frog and the Wild Maiden.
And almost EVERY character in this book is like that, which makes keeping track of who is who a little more difficult than it probably needs to be. I’m not finding it so bad that I can’t follow the story, but it does force me to pause here and there to figure out who is in the scene.
The most complicated, or possibly confusing, part of this book so far has been that at the halfway point of the book I still can’t tell who the villain is.
It’s deliciously sinister in the fact that Vasilisa can see all these creatures of Russian folklore, called demons by some but also shown to be super helpful to the residents of her little village, so I still can’t tell if her friendship of these creatures makes them good or evil.
Add in the element of Christianity, in which a young priest named Konstantin Nikonovich comes and instills the fear of God into the residents of the village, causing them to abandon the folklore creatures/demons that have been protecting their homes, and it seems headed towards a story-thread in which folklore vs faith becomes the ultimate showdown at the climax — except we still don’t know which side we should be rooting for.
It makes for a compelling read and the mix of broader folklore elements clashing with the increasing modernization of the Christian Faith through their time period gives a nice nod to the feeling of being rooted in history. I imagine that as this transition took place, these types of belief clashes were a frequent occurrence in real life back then.
The book reminds me a bit of some of the folklore style storytelling I’ve read with Ava Reid in The Wolf and the Woodsman and from T. Kingfisher’s multiple fairy tale retellings.
They aren’t my normal go-to, favorite genres of fantasy but now and then I enjoy the detour through a folklore/fairy tale style story.
One note I should make here — I am by no means an expert in folklore, Russian or otherwise, though I do have some familiarity with these creatures. I’ve heard of exactly one creature in this book prior to reading it, the Rusalka, and as such I have no idea how accurate the depictions of these mythical creatures being referenced in this book are.
As such, their presence adds a delightful tension to this story for me. However, if you are someone more well versed in the folklore and mythical elements being referenced, I wonder how accurately Arden is depicting this element? I could see this being a boon or the bane of your reading, depending on if she’s done her research and is getting things right or if she is stumbling through the historical/mythical references.
Not knowing much about it personally, I’m enjoying the story. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how well she’s handling the more historical folklore elements and if it’s accurate and enjoyable for you to read one way or the other!
On Deck
Right now my only plans are to finish up The Bear and the Nightingale and then move on to book two in the series called The Girl in the Tower.
I have also been thinking about adding a second book to the mix as a Kindle read that I can read when on the go or otherwise am unable to sit down with a physical book to read(most notably when I go up to bed and my wife is already sleeping so I don’t want to turn on a light and wake her up!).
So far though, I haven’t figured out what I want to jump into next. The only fantasy reads I have waiting on my Kindle currently are Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series, starting with book one The Lies of Locke Lamora, as well as the legendary The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I’m just not sure if I feel like a revisit to Tolkien’s Middle Earth or exploring Lynch’s world right now, or if I want to find something else entirely to dig into?
A friend just recommended a non-fiction nature read called A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson — apparently it even had a movie made starring Nick Nolte and Robert Redford — so that may be something to check out as a read/watch combo as well?
Until next time, happy reading!
“She is not afraid, Konstantin thought dourly. She does not fear God; she fears nothing. He saw it in her silences, her fey glance, the long hours she spent in the forest. In any case, no good Christian maid ever had eyes like that, or walked with such grace in the dark.”
― Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale
What are you reading currently, hoping to read next, or looking forward to in terms of new releases? What are your plans for your next reads or even your next year of reading?
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