Spinning Silver

 

Image credit: Book Depository

After the last two reads that featured heavily around war and historical discomforts, a return to fantasy was the obvious choice for my next adventure. So without any thought or hesitation I plucked my newly acquired copy of Spinning Silver off the shelf and dove into a beautiful, frozen world threatened by dark magic. 

Miriyem is the daughter of the local moneylender who is forced to harden her heart and take up her too-generous father’s job in collecting the debts from the village that would save her family from starvation. Soon she gets a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold, which captures the attention of the King of Winter, who whisks her away and charges her with an impossible task. To fail would mean her death, to succeed would be worse. 

Irena’s father is determined to see her married to the Tsar and schemes to make it so. But Lithvas’ handsome ruler has a dark secret that threatens to engulf the kingdom. As Irena and Miriyem’s paths entwine, the two girls embark upon a great quest that will either save their home or bury it in fire and ice. 

I’ve already said that Naomi Novik has quickly become one of my favourite names in fantasy literature. Her fresh and modern twists on classic Eastern European fairytales are timeless and captivating. Spinning Silver follows narrative paths reminiscent of The Snow Queen and Rapunzel, whilst also taking a turn down thoroughly modern avenues. Told from multiple perspectives with events overlapping this book is a wondrous piece of fantasy that’s also a none-too-subtle stab to the patriarchy with the damsels in distress taking matters into their own hands whilst a number of the villainous males undergo an emotional thawing (as well as their comeuppance).

Image credit: Goodreads

Whilst the prose is blunt, it’s still poignant and Novik succeeds in painting incredible images by simply telling it like it is. Often the mantra of ‘show don’t tell’ is adhered to in image-heavy literature, but with Novik’s heroines narrating the events place as they see them, it actually proves to be just as effective in their simple sentence structure and uncluttered descriptions (e.g. “mountain of glass” to describe the Winter kingdom). 

I absolutely adored this book. I’ll admit that it can feel a little slow to start, but even though it’s easy to put down on more than one occasion, you cannot help but pick it up again and again throughout the day! 

Author: Naomi Novik, 2018

Published: Del Ray, an imprint of Random House, Penguin Random House Company New York