There are also two opposing magical forces in the novel: the Staryk, or winter people, who bring cold and snow to the country of Lithvas, and a fire demon who possesses the tsar and sustains itself by devouring others. Our three heroines get caught in the middle of this epic conflict and must overcome numerous challenges to survive and keep their loved ones safe.
What I love about Novik's characters is that they are ordinary girls. None of them are beautiful or have super powers. They must rely on their natural talents, strength and ingenuity to outwit the magical beings. Moreover, Novik basically equates overcoming of challenges through natural talent and intelligence alone to having magical superpowers. She says in the novel: "A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true; the proving makes it so." The magic that Wanda and Irina experience comes to them from the love of their mothers - I just loved that. Wanda's mother is able to restore Sergey to health and Irina discovers a talent she received from her mother that helps hide from the fire monster.
I also loved the way Novik tackled antisemitism in her novel. The danger, bigotry and hatred that surround Miryem and her family are palpable. It was so good to see her as the ultimate hero in the novel.
Novik's writing itself is akin to spinning. Her narrative is meticulous and unrushed. It takes detours, provides glimpses into scenery and is overall more like looking at pictures than reading words. You could imagine an old woman spinning wool by the stove and slowly telling this tale to kids.
Her story line is very well constructed and everything in it is logical. There are no miraculous rescues or sudden changes of rules. Her characters have to work hard and the way magic works continues to be logical to the very end. The reader thus never feels cheated or tricked. There is also no instant love in this story. In fact. the only kind of love present for most of the novel is love of family and your own people. Respect and deep romantic love need to be earned in Novik's universe and thus feel more authentic and worth having.
This story is multi-layered and each character deserves to be discussed in their own right. This would make a great pick for a book club or any sort of discussion group. Spinning Silver is a definite new favorite of mine. 5 out of 5 stars.
Lyuba, I enjoyed it, as well. My only real criticism relates to Novik's use of the multiple first-person narrative.
ReplyDeleteAs the book went on, the narrative voices of the 3 lead female characters began to meld into one. So as the narrative jumped to the next voice, it took me a sentence or two to figure out who was "speaking". Because of the plot elements, it didn't take long to figure it out, but it took me out of the lovely environment of the story for moments at a time. I think she could have given those characters more personality or "voice" delineation once she decided to use that storytelling device.
But overall, I liked the book a lot.
Jane
I agree. You needed a couple of sentences to figure out who it was. I did not "recognize" Stepon, for example, right away either. But I kind of liked figuring it out, and once I knew who it was I was not confused for the rest of that segment. With other books employing multiple POVs, I sometimes have to remind myself which perspective I am reading from throughout any given chapter - which is way more distracting! She is a very talented writer and it is not an easy way to structure your narrative.
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