Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

Winternight Trilogy Reviews

• 
  Jaanaki

  A very well written fantasy which will make us fall in love with winters in Russia ,a bay stallion Solovey and a tiny mushroom spirit Deb Grib who steals the show in the last book.The transformation of Vasya from a sweet wild child to a queen of the Cheyrti realm was stunning.
  Katherine Arden has succeeded in mixing fantasy and Russian folktales with history .The narrative has lush descriptions and beautiful prose. Every character was unforgettable right from the idealist Sasha,the practical homemaker Olga ,the prince Dimitri and even ancient and mad Baba Yaga .
  Still,it is not all milk and honey in this historic fantasy .Arden is brutal when she describes patriarchy in Russia and the fate of the women who are forced to manipulate,lie ,act and use their powers of negotiation to preserve their families and pride in a society that hardly gives them their due.The treatment of women who are considered witches is despicable and it always has been so .I have often wondered why they have never had warlocks burned ????🙄
  This is a series that will be unforgettable for many years 😊
• 
  Katie

  My favourite fantasy series. It's about a girl who doesn't fit in finding her place in the world and the pagan spirits she loves fighting to exist. It's about tolerance and compromise. It's about love of family and country. It's about sacrifice and determination. It's about figuring out what's right and doing it no matter what it costs you personally. It's about acknowledging your flaws and learning from your mistakes. It's evocative and lyrical, featuring complex, contradictory characters, all of whom are allowed to love and fear and be angry and joyful all at once. It's a beautiful story, satisfying without being overlong. It's sweeping and romantic, epic and atmospheric, bittersweet and hopeful. I love everything about it.
• 
  Jennifer

  This was one of those series that made my heart sing; Familiar, but fresh with an unusual culture and a unique heroine. Arden sets us in the middle of a battle where there is no good or evil, because both men and myth are far too great for such simplicity.
  
  This trilogy follows a young Russian girl, Vasalisa, as she realizes she has the ability to see the spirits of the earth. (An unfortunate gift for a child in a Christian town.) This unusual talent causes a stir with two elder-spirits, Winter and Chaos. Over the novels, Vasya must navigate both the world of men and gods as she demands control over her own life and fights to save her family from war and destruction.
  
  Arden has created beautifully nuanced characters and a fully developed new fantasy world. She isn't afraid to ask the reader for suspension of disbelief and you are only too happy to do so. If you enjoy a good fairy tale or just a well crafted historical fantasy, you won't be dissapointed.
• 
  Mélaine

  Je mettrais 4.5 étoiles si c'était possible.
  Je ne pensais pas en commençant, mais j'ai ADORÉ
  Je trouve ça hyper intéressant de créer une histoire sur la base de l'Histoire (avec un grand H).
  On est plongé dans l'histoire de ce qu'on appelait (il y a vraiment très longtemps) la Rus' (qui n'est pas la Russie), mais tout est rendu magique, car les créatures et personnages de contes populaires russes existent.
  
  Le début est un peu lent, car le cadre est massif et long à mettre en place. Même en prenant du temps, j'ai été un peu perdue au début. Il y a tout un vocabulaire conservé du Russe, que je trouve excellent car ça permet de ne pas oublier où se passe l'histoire (on a tellement l'habitude des contes plus ""européen""). Mais ça rend la lecture plus longue et compliqué au début.
  
  L'écriture du personnage principal est vraiment bon et résonne avec les femmes que l'on peut être aujourd'hui. Vassia, qui est une petite fille condamnée a se marier, être abusée et négligée dans un mariage arrangée et enfermée, soit chez elle, soit au couvent, fini par prendre tout les risques pour pouvoir vivre libre. Elle fait beaucoup d'erreur et s'effondre un million de fois, mais elle fini par devenir incroyablement forte. Le personnage m'a vraiment parlé.
  
  J'ai adoré voyager dans des contes que je connaissait pas, que j'ai découvert en lisant.
  J'ai aussi beaucoup aimé la définition du bien et du mal, à savoir : il n'y en a pas. On est tous le monstre de quelqu'un, et même les "méchants" sont humains.
  
  Point négatif: l'héroïne est mineure, et tout les personnages masculins du livre tentent de la charmer ou de l'abuser?? Je veux bien que ce soit une histoire dans un cadre ancien, et que les filles de son âge étaient déjà censées être mariée, mais ça m'a mit quand même mal a l'aise T.T
• 
  Rebecca

  Spiderwick for adults! This tale draws you in deeply into a world of magic and fairy tales. The story draws the reader right into the forested world of a Russian village, with the household and woodland spirits who are struggling against the sermons of fear preached from the pulpit. The battle of good vs evil, human vs spirit, feast vs famine goes right until the final chapters.
• 
  Karina Silver

  I read all three, but there seems to be more stories/books there than just the trilogy. Come on and write a 4th and 5th!!
• 
  ~Tessa~

  Definitely my favorite fantasy series and I absolutely recommend it!
• 
  Mike Abrahams

  Stunningly well written fantasy trilogy set in medieval Russia. So different from other fantasy series which in some cases can become a little formulaic.
• 
  Suzy Bess

  Contes, folklore, magie, sorcellerie… ah, que j’aime ces univers !
  Revisitant les contes populaires russes, cette saga avait tout pour me plaire. Il n’est alors pas étonnant que je ressorte de cette lecture émue: c’est un coup de cœur.
  Cependant, il faut avouer que c’était assez mal engagé. Les tomes de cette trilogie sont plutôt inégaux, et le premier m’a parut très introductif. Rien de plus logique, certes, avec un sujet si riche; mais l’action arrivant sur le tard, je redoutais de me plonger dans la suite, qui présentait alors un changement de lieu qui ne me plaisait pas de prime abord… pourtant, ce second opus m’a totalement embarquée. Le dernier, exploitant enfin dans toute sa mesure l’essence même de l’idée de base clôt cette histoire avec brio.
  En nous immergeant dans la Rus’ médiévale, Katherine Arden nous présente l’ancêtre de cette Russie où les tsars n’existaient pas encore; les codes de l’époque, sa rusticité, ses forêts et leurs étranges ombres, les intrigues politiques, les superstitions et l’arrivée croissante de la nouvelle religion (le christianisme orthodoxe), sont dépeints comme un tableau dont on ne pourrait décrocher le regard. Mais c’est quand l’autrice laisse parler l’action et le sentiment qu’elle accroche le mieux son/sa lecteur.ice, et si elle se permet de prendre le temps de peaufiner chaque détail, c’est que ces derniers ont de l’importance. Les personnages sont tout en nuances, la romancière ne cache jamais les défauts sous les qualités de ses protagonistes. Et j’ai rarement vu décrite une si belle évolution que celle de Vassilissa – Vassia – Pétrovna. D’enfant sauvage à jeune fille naïve, se trouvant en danger de bien des manières, on découvre la femme et la sorcière émergeant dans la puissance, parfois à la limite de la folie. Quelle beauté ! Lumière et ombre se jaugent, s’affrontent, s’allient, et c’est diablement passionnant.
  A l’heure où j’��cris ces lignes, je n’en veux plus trop à Katherine Arden de m’avoir brisé le cœur dans son dernier tome – enfin presque plus – puisque toutes ces douleurs, peines, terrifiantes épreuves qu’elle inflige à ses personnages s’avèrent nécessaires pour parvenir à la conclusion de cette aventure.
  C’est peu dire que l’autrice m’a fait passer par toutes les émotions possibles: excitation de la découverte, fascination, ennui, frustration, curiosité, inquiétude, esprit dubitatif, colère, espoir, désespoir, éblouissement… quelle aventure ce fut !
• 
  Jana Rađa

  This was an amazing reading experience! There are books you read for pleasure and there are those you read for your own personal erudition. Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower, and The Winter of the Witch belong to the former category: pure, unadulterated reading pleasure. If you are into fantasy, especially fairy tales, this is for you.
  
  I loved the way Katherine Arden tells the story of a young girl called Vasya and her family: She writes beautifully. I also loved the way she sets the stage for the seemingly inevitable disappearance of traditional Slavic beliefs, tales and mythical beings of medieval Russia—Baba Yaga, Morozko, Vasilisa, the Beautiful, Medved, household spirits (domovoi), courtyard guardians (dvorovoi), guardian spirits of stable and livestock (vazila), vampires (upyr), and water nymphs (rusalka), to name but a few—juxtaposed with the rising power of Christianity, and the way she introduces real historical characters and political events and manoeuvring in The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch.
  
  The whole Winternight Trilogy experience is so far removed from our daily drudgery, domestic or otherwise, that it leaves you completely and amazingly invigorated. The fantasy genre is known to do that, but Katherine Arden ups the ante. At one point, I thought: "I would have adored these books as a young girl!" It is true: I would have surrendered and lost myself readily in the phantasmagoric worlds of Katherine Arden's making, the way teenage girls often do. At the age of 47, some mindfulness and imagination were required to walk in the shoes of a 17-year old girl in the 14th century, but the experiences of women through time and space are not that far removed from each other, so that once I decided to unwind and let myself go it was a spectacular journey.
  
  They are all available in Croatian translation from Mitopeja (
  https://mitopeja.com/).
• 
  Sbooky_witch

  Plongez au cœur de la Russe médiévale et dans son folklore. Dans un monde où la religion est très présente, les anciennes croyances et pratiques, peinent à disparaître. Vassia est une jeune fille, intrépide et qui peut voir toutes les créatures qui l'entourent.
  Découvrez dans cette trilogie son histoire et ses défis dans le froid éprouvant de l'hiver. Sa relation avec le Démon du Gel qui semble lui témoigner une grande attention et les difficultés qu'une fille peut rencontrer lorsqu'elle décide de se lancer seule à travers le pays contre la bienséance et les mœurs de son temps.
  
  Une trilogie qui change de mon registre habituel. J'ai aimé l'univers du folklore russe. L'auteure a réussi à nous insufflé un rythme hivernal et fait ressentir le dur froid de ces contrées. L'ensemble est assez lent, et les chapitres ne sont pas très calibrés et plutôt long, et contrairement à mes préférences, je n'y ai pas prêté grande attention. Je me suis attachée aux personnage sans m'en rendre compte et l'auteure m'a fait passer par un sacré ascenseur émotionnel.
  Je dois tout de même avouer que j'ai eu de la peine avec cette version intégrale, pour deux raisons. La première, le poids. Je vous jure il est atrocement lourd! Mais j'adore la couverture donc RIP mes bras. Et l'autre bémol, le glossaire et petites précisions qui aident à comprendre le fonctionnement et langage russe se trouvent en fin de chaque tome, ce qui n'est pas le top pour chercher les infos.
  Cela dit, c'est une jolie œuvre que je recommande pour son côté fantastique qui change de l'ordinaire.
• 
  Carolyn M

  I loved this series! It is a wonderful mix of folklore and action that had me rooting for Vasya. A few quick spoiler free points.
  
  1 - I appreciated how the author includes a glossary in each book. I don't know a thing about Russian culture or folklore so her notes and definitions helped. I kinda liked that it was a learning experience as well as a fiction read.
  
  2 - I loved how conflicted Vasya was but in the end found her "truth" and stood her ground. She was true to her heart despite everyone telling her no.
  
  3 - I loved the characters experiencing consequences for there actions.
  
  4 - It was still a love story but didn't tone down the "otherworldly" nature of the lover (again no spoilers)
  
  5 - lastly, I loved all the types of conflicts in the book. From medieval beliefs about witches to patriarchal culture to tangible conflicts like war to inner moral conflicts on love and faith...it was a lot.
• 
  Alealea

  Since I read the three books all at once, I will review them together.
  The first book was a bit too slow for my taste, but the writer succeeded in creating an atmosphere of uneasiness that slowly but surely becomes enticing. The two next books are a mad scramble and pure delight (if somewhat horrifying).
  And it's logical, when you think about it, as the first one goes over at least 15 years, while the other two covers, the both of them put together, less than half a year.
  I didn't know if I would like a fantasy book without queer characters, but they felt queer. A lot! The magic is both weird, cold, fairytale like and the small touches of Russian culture, history, trivia, words.... that was a really nice touch.
• 
  Hannah

  These are probably my favorite books I have ever read. When I finished them I couldn’t bring myself to finish another book for around a month (I usually read 1-3 books a week) because I would start the book and then put it down because I was sad it wasn’t the Winternight Trilogy. They’re all so fantastic. There isn’t a single bad book in the trilogy. There isn’t even a single “okay” or “good” book in the trilogy. All three are amazing. The writing is so lush and immersive, and the I love the plot and the characters. I feel like I didn’t just read these books, I EXPERIENCED them.
  
  If I could give this series 1000 stars I would.
• 
  Jasmina Ljubinković

  Smatrate da je ženi mesto u kuhinji sa varjačom u ruci? Posle jela bacate mrvice? Verujete u jednog jedinog boga, ostalo je praznoverje i babske priče? Onda ovo nije priča za vas!!!
  Saga zimske noći vratila me je u davna vremena, kada sam na selu, pored vatre koja pucketa u smederevcu uživala u prababinim pričama.
  Vasja, to devojče sa divljinom stoletne ruske šume u očima i srcu, na leđima moćnog soloveja, otvorene duše i vida, pomirila je staro i novo, u odbrani ljubavi ( prema porodici, domovini, prirodi i onostranom). Likovi iz ruskih bajki, istorijske persone i događaji, maštovito uklopljeni u novu i sasvim originalnu priču, koja ravnopravno sa predivnim skaskama zauzima mesto na vrhu moje liste epske fantastike. Vasja umesto varjače nosi bodež od leda, plače za svojim pastuvom, voli kralja zime i odriče se i života radi boljeg sutra za sve...za mene uvek inspiracija i energija za dalje!
  Knjige kojima se najradije i veoma često vraćam!
  My favourite books ever!!!
  Обожаю эту новую сказку!
• 
  Kate H.

  I thoroughly enjoyed this series. It was an enjoyable blend of adult fairytale and historical fiction. I learned a thing or two about Russian history and mythology, which was really interesting. and got thoroughly lost in the world she created. I gave it 4 stars and not 5 only because I think there is room for improvement. I'm not sure what exactly, but... something. I suppose I felt something was a bit off and I was slightly unsatisfied when it was all over somehow. But overall, they were quite good, worth my time, and I recommend them to others. I look forward to reading more of this author's work as she continues to grow.
• 
  Miss Garceau

  This is a special & precious read. One I plan to read often & cozy up to on those harsh winter nights.
  
  Yes, it’s magical & wonderful. For me, it’s something I feel in my soul. It’s hard to be a girl, in the world. Then, now, maybe always- but hopefully not forever.
  
  It’s deep, and beautiful & I love it SO much!
• 
  Kelli

  I only rated this a 3, but I liked the series enough to read all three in quick succession, so maybe it was more engaging than I give it credit for. I liked learning about Russian pagan beliefs. The third book wasn't as well written as the first two, in my opinion. These books are just a fun read.
• 
  Sarah Almeida

  The more I think about the more I fall in love with this trilogy.
  A delicious and dramatic experience lead by a strong female character that decides to be more a hero than a princess.
  All the characters are complex, fantastic and at the same time, so real.
  Unforgettable
• 
  R. L. Carlo

  Official Rating:
  5/5 stars 🌟
• 
  Maria Doherty

  This is one of those series of books that make me go into mourning when it's over, and I have reread favorite bits over and over.
  Vasya and Morozko will follow me forever.
• 
  Suba

  I started reading this series in summer... it's like living in winter of Russia. we don't have such winters here.
  It's a unique experience.
• 
  Pepita

  IN LOVE
• 
  Catharine

  Great world building, characters, storyline. Excellent writing. Will read again
• 
  Vagabonde

  J'ai bien aimé, mais j'ai trouvé qu'il yavais des passages superflu.