Happy New Year and Happy Release Day

2017 was a big year for Slavic influence--I read The Bear and the Nightingale, Uprooted, and The Fifth Doll; I also played several video games that centered around Slavic myths.  When Penguin sent me an ARC for The Girl in the Tower, I was ready to close out my year with more cheryti and snow.

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden


The holidays kept my reading time somewhat limited, but The Girl in the Tower was a tale that just kept pulling at me to read chapters whenever I could squeeze them in.  

 I was more impressed with this novel than I was with The Bear and the Nightingale.  I don't often enjoy the second novel in a trilogy more than the first because it often seems like the author is trying way too hard to write a second novel.  Those forceful pages were not present here.  There was a growth in writing that made the cohesion of storytelling better this time around.

While Vasilisa wandered the woods and mingled with cheryti in the first novel, she was a truly wild spirit in this novel.  The magic was more present and more real.  Perhaps it was all because we knew the characters and the myths now, the author didn't have to invest as much setup and we, the readers, got to enjoy the wild ride.  There even managed to be some tiny little twists.

 I'm really glad that I got introduced to this series.  It has been an exciting set of reads and new stories.  For any bookworm, that's all we can ask.  The conclusion of the trilogy is due to be released this year as well.

The novel releases today, and I will be giving a hardback copy, direct from the publisher, of The Bear and the Nightingale to one lucky reader so they can get caught up before picking up The Girl in the Tower.  Check out my Giveaway tab for your entry.

 Here's to another wonderful year of the printed word.

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