Christians vs Pagans: The Book (The Bear and the Nightingale book review)

The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Prompt: The folklore- Arden makes fantastic (pun intended) use of the folklore of her chosen era, all the chyerti of the old religion. To mention just a few:  the vodianoy or river-king, the domovoi that cleans and mends and lives in the oven, the twig-man in the trees, the rusalka with her green skin and weedy hair, the vazila who looks after horses, the bannickor bath-house spirit, the leshiye or wood-guards who lead people astray, the upyr or the undead (from where we get the name “vampire”). How has the author used this rich storehouse of known folklore to produce her novel, to generate its plot, its conflicts, its characterization.

Before I even started the book, the use of folklore to generate the books plot was evident in the blurb. But even before the first page, it tells of how not honoring the household spirits creates conflict in the story and it is up to Vasya to save everything. The characters are mythological creatures, the plot is about them and the girl who can see them, the conflict is caused by their kind. Everything is looped into this retelling of folklore that not many people know much about.

I knew the rusalka before this book, having researched it and other sirens/mermaids for my thesis before I had chosen on a firm setting for my story. I adored seeing it and other odd folk creatures pop up in this story. I think that folklore and myths outside of Greek, Roman, and Norse are not mentioned enough, so it’s nice to see them utilized and brought to the publics attention.

We think of mythological creatures having existed for years before us and being self-aware, so I love that some of them in this book, like the vazila doesn’t know how it came to be and ‘names itself’. I also appreciate that this girl who is one of the few that can see the spirits befriends even he dangerous ones, like the rusalka, and in exchange for her companionship they all seem to teach her a special skill of nature beyond what other humans normally know, like speaking the language of horses or climbing trees like cats. The most obvious use of the lore though is the frost demon, who makes appearances throughout the story. I love retellings, like how Morozko is another version of Father Frost/ Jack Frost. It brought up fond memories of movies where winter is depicted as both harsh and festive, like the Winter Warlock from Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town.

However, the pacing of the book feels like the author decided to include Vasya’s entire life and backstory chronologically rather than only including the important parts and sprinkling in past details throughout as necessary. It reads like something you would read a chapter or two of before bed each night, but would be unable to binge read. That is, at least not until about 100 pages in.

The evidence is clear when you consider the blurb versus the content of the book. The blurb tells us right away that Vasya’s mother dies and the girl has issues with her new stepmother, but we don’t even get her step-mother’s marriage until Chapter 9. Plus, for a book supposedly about Vasya, all the chapters up until 11 are more a tale of Pyotr and the struggles of being a single dad with tons of children. All of Part 1 is interesting, but disjointed from the mood of the other sections. The plot really gets going once we reach Part 2.

That being said, I really enjoyed the book after that. I can see why it get glowing reviews for it's stunning prose. It is the first book in a trilogy, so I may just have to pick up the other books next time I have free time to read for fun.

Verdict: read at your own pace and savor it