Thursday, August 30, 2018

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver
by Naomi Novik

Fantasy author Naomi Novik has created another marvelous work of fiction with Spinning Silver, a folktale about a kingdom called Lithvas which is ruled by a demon-possessed Tsar. The kingdom is constantly raided by creatures (the Staryk) from another realm on the edge of this kingdom which can only survive in perpetual winter. The fairytale is a mix of the Rumplestiltskin fairytale and the well-known story of Beauty and the Beast with a Jewish heroine, Miryem, at the center of it all. I loved how the author used different characters from the story to tell what was happening from his or her point of view. I was drawn into the struggle between cultures and kingdoms from the very start and literally could not put the book down. Themes of family, loyalty, prejudice, and love are all explored in an entertaining yet creative way. I highly recommend this book.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Uprooted, by Naomi Novik, and The Temeraire series, also by Naomi Novik]

[ official Spinning Silver page on the official Naomi Novik web site ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

No comments: