Review: The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Two of my favourite genres are fantasy fiction and historical fiction, so I was delighted to receive an early copy of The Witch and the Tsar. This story takes the real-life Ivan-the-Terrible and pits him against the legendary Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch!

The story covers a twenty-two-year period starting from 1560. Yaga is the immortal daughter of a goddess and a human; centuries-old, but with the appearance of a young, attractive woman. She lives in Little Hen (a hut on chicken legs) with her owl and wolf in the northern woods, surrounded by the skulls of dead animals, beside the passageway to the Land of the Dead. She mistrusts people, as they mistrust her, but always offers help and healing as  needed.

One day, Anastasia, the tsaritsa and wife of Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, requests help with a mysterious illness - it turns out she is being poisoned. Yaga travels with her to Moscow to keep her safe, but Anastasia's enemy is far more powerful than either of them realise...

The Witch and the Tsar is a clever, well-written story that weaves traditional folklore through a violent period of Russia's history. As I'm not familiar with the folklore, I found this part hard to follow at times and would have loved more detail about the different supernatural worlds and 'kingdoms'. There is a lot happening in this book (wars, uprisings, massacres) and it could have been split into two, to do full justice to the story. I was not as interested in the politics and battle scenes as I was in the magic realism of Yaga's world, her spells, rituals and potions, and her relationships with Konstantin and Vasily.

The Witch and the Tsar didn't quite work for me, but I can see that it might appeal to fans of Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy and Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver.

Thank you to Olesya Salnikova Giomore and HarperVoyager for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily. 

Review: One Dark Window (The Shepherd King #1) by Rachel Gillig

One Dark Window is a YA historical fantasy with elements of magic realism, gothic horror and romance, so it was the perfect read for me! It even has highwaymen!

Centuries ago, when the townsfolk of Blunder wanted help, they would seek blessings and gifts from the Spirit of the Wood. One day, the Spirit granted the King powerful magic of his own. He wanted to share this with his people so he created the twelve Providence Cards. 

Twelve blessings, twelve, curses...

Now the townsfolk had magic of their own, they forgot about worshipping the Spirit, who began using mist to lure people back to the wood in revenge. Children caught in this mist grew sick. Few survived, but those that did were 'infected' with magic that caused them to degenerate. So the King went back to the wood to barter with the Spirit, who told him the way to cure the children was to reunite the Cards - then she tricked him into handing over the last Card before he could do so. Five hundred years later, some are happy to keep things the way they are, others seek to reunite the Cards and break the curse.

After touching a Providence Card as a child, Elspeth was possessed by a supernatural being she nicknamed The Nightmare. She can hear his voice in his head and he can take over her body if she is in mortal peril or calls for his help. But every time this happens the more control he takes from her and the weaker she becomes. If Elspeth reunites the cards will she be cured? Yet the more she's exposed to danger, the more powerful The Nightmare becomes...

One Dark Window is a fabulously dark fairy story, stunningly imaginative, with lots of twists, shifting allegiances and nail-biting life-or-death moments. It's a story-within-a-story containing rhyming extracts from The Book of Alders, which was a lovely touch. I fell completely in love with the characters, especially Elspeth, Ravyn and the cynical wise-cracking Elm, and was entirely sucked into their world. I loved every minute and didn't want the story to end. The only problem is that it ended on a massive cliff-hanger! Argh!!! I really, really can't wait for the next book!

One of my favourite reads this year, One Dark Window would suit fans of dark fairy tales and authors such as Naomi Novik (Uprooted), Holly Black (The Folk of the Air series) and Brigid Kemmerer (The Cursebreaker series).

Thank you to Rachel Gillig and Orbit (Little, Brown Group UK) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily. 

Review: Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer

I loved Brigid Kemmerer's earlier series, The Cursebreakers, which was about an American teenager (Harper) finding her way into an alternative world called Emberfall, where she meets Prince Rhen and his bodyguard Grey, and where magic is real and deadly. (There are three books in that series: A Curse So Dark and Lonely #1, A Heart So Fierce and Broken #2, and A Vow so Bold and Deadly #3.)

This story, Forging Silver into Stars, takes place four years after that series and follows one of the supporting characters, Tycho, along with two new characters, Jax and Callyn, who live in an almost forgotten village on the border between Emberfell and Syhl Shallow. There are new heroes and villains, along with several old friends. You don't need to have read the earlier series first, but you would get more from the story if you do.

Jax is the main protagonist; a young blacksmith who has coped well with losing his foot in an accident. He works hard to keep his father's forge open, despite his father's regular trips to the local pub. Likewise, Callyn is running her family's bakery and looking after her younger sister. Both have reasons to distrust magic, which was outlawed in their country until very recently, and both are struggling financially. They don't care about politics, just keeping food on their tables and paying their taxes. When a strange woman arrives at the forge, asking for Jax's absent father to keep a message for her, Jax volunteers to keep it safe. He'll earn valuable silver and, after all, what harm can passing on a message do?

Forging Silver into Stars is a thrilling adventure story featuring first love, friendships, and shifting allegiances. Brigid Kemmerer is brilliant at world building and I was soon sucked into the rising tensions between Emberfall and Syhl Shallow. There's lots of grey area between the good guys and the bad! There are wrong choices made for right reasons, and soon Jax and Callyn's life-long friendship is severely put to the test!

Forging Silver into Stars doesn't end on a cliff hanger but there are several threads that can be explored further, hopefully with lots more books! (I suspect the next one might feature Alek!) I would also love to find out more about Nakiis and the Scravers. Forging Silver into Stars was one of my favourite reads this year. Would suit fans of Naomi Novik (Uprooted) and Katharine Arden (Winternight trilogy).

Thank you to Brigid Kemmerer and Bloomsbury for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Review: Only a Monster (Monsters #1) by Vanessa Len

I downloaded this book because I love YA fantasy and I was intrigued by the cover and  blurb.

Sent to stay with her late mother's eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her job at the historical Holland House, and when her co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place. Then a Good Samaritan attempt gone wrong sends Joan spinning through time, and her life begins to quickly unravel. Her family aren't eccentric, they're monsters with terrifying hidden powers. And Nick isn't just a cute boy: he's a legendary monster-slayer who will do anything to bring them down. Because in this story, Joan is not the hero...

I have been raving about this book to anyone who will listen to me! It so clever and original; I think the last time I felt like this about a book was when I read the first Harry Potter, years ago. Vanessa Len has created an amazing world of 'monsters' and 'heroes'. Every detail is well-thought-out and completely believable, and the characters are wonderful. There's also the central dilemma: what do you do when you find out you're on the wrong side of good and evil? Believe what you're told implicitly? Or dig around a little further?

A fabulous, magical read, Only a Monster deserves to be a huge success.  There are elements of Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire-Slayer, Back to the Future and Loki, but the story is told with a fresh, original voice and a modern twist. I loved it and I can't wait for the next one in the series!

Thank you to Vanessa Len and Hodder and Stoughton for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Review: A Deadly Education (Scholomance #1) by Naomi Novik

I love Naomi Novik's folklore-inspired fantasy novels. One of my all-time favourite books is Spinning Silver, which is a re-imagining of Rumpelstiltskin so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of A Deadly Education. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but I really enjoyed it. Imagine a kind of Harry Potter where everything is out to get you, not just the bad guy!

El (short for Galadriel) has been born into a magical family and is now studying at the Scholomance - a school for magic that (unlike Hogwarts) seems to actively want to kill its students. All El wants to do is learn magic and survive the first year - without the help of popular rich boy Orion. Oh yes, and there's a prophecy that says one day El will bring death and destruction to all the magical enclaves in the world...

Naomi Novik has created an amazing, original and incredibly detailed world. Sometimes it's best to just go with the flow rather than try to understand everything. The story is fast-paced (with near-death experiences in practically every chapter) and completely thrilling. I truly had no idea what was going to happen next. Part of the fun is to see El slowly forced to make friends - she is so used to people assuming she's into dark magic, she has always kept her distance from everyone and prefers to work out things on her own. Her relationship with Orion (who is determined to save everyone, whether they want it or not) is also sweet and funny.

A Deadly Education is a school-of-magic story with a slightly darker edge that Naomi Novik's regular readers will love. It should also appeal to fans of authors such as Soman Chainani (The School for Good and Evil). I loved El and Orion, and was completely swept away by the novel's originality and exuberance. I can't wait for the next one!

Thank you to Naomi Novik and Del Ray/Cornerstone for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

A Deadly Education will be released on 29th September 2020

Review: Dolor's Legs by Frances Hardinge

Dolor's Legs is a very, very short story that was briefly available via NetGalley. I'm not sure if it will appear anywhere else. It is set in the world of Frances Hardinge's most recent YA novel, Deeplight.

Deeplight was about a boy who scavenged the body parts (not quite as gruesome as it sounds!) of the tyrannical and murderous gods that ruled his world decades before. Dolor's Legs is a prequel, set while those gods are still alive. The heroine is a twelve-year-old girl who hero-worships a glamorous couple who live on a boat. Dolor is one of the gods, the size of a village, who collects legs (also not as gruesome as it sounds). If I tell you any more, I'll ruin the story for you.

Dolor's Legs is the perfect introduction to Deeplight, or as a prequel if you've already enjoyed it. For such a short story it's clever and creepy, with a surprising twist at the end. My only disappointment was that I wanted more!

Thank you to Frances Hardinge and Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and read voluntarily.

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Deeplight by Frances Hardinge