The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden has completely stolen my heart – reading it might form into a winterly ritual for me! The inspiration from Russian folktales is what separates the series from anything else I’ve read, but in addition the writing is gorgeous and I absolutely fell in love with the characters. The installments are slightly different in style and Arden developes as I writer with each of them, which corresponds with the main character’s development.
The Winter of the Witch has a perfect combination of action and quieter moments, magical surroundings and mundane settings. I feel like it’s the strongest book in the series, but I prefer to consider them as one complete story – they continue right were the previous one ends. And the final ending is fantastic! There are no loose ends to haunt me and I felt deeply satisfied with what I had read.
I’ve found writing this review extremely difficult as I can’t seem to be able to put into words all the reasons for my obsession. Maybe after an unavoidable reread I’ll have more coherent words to offer.
But if you have recommendations for other fantasy books that are inspried by the myths and folklore of a foreign nation, please share them!