Marya
Morevna lives in a long, thin house in the early years of
the last century. She watches while her three elder sisters
marry birds that turn into young men, and the old Russia becomes
the new under Lenin. She wonders when her turn will come,
and visits another dimension one night where the domovoi live.
Another night her own husband comes for her Koschei, the Tsar
of Life who is locked in eternal battle with his brother,
the Tsar of Death. This is to be Marya’s own fate.?
Constable and Robinson are much to be admired as they make
US works of art like this one available to UK readers. Anybody
who has not yet encountered the inimitable style of fantasy’s
hottest property has a treat in store, and anybody who has
is sure to be aware what pleasures lie between these two covers.
I don’t think that there has been a more lyrical writer
since the late Ray Bradbury, and her lush prose takes a good
tale and makes it something truly special. I particularly
like the way she has updated a traditional Russian folk tale
and made it her own, setting it during the revolution and
having the fairy realm adopt the new communist ways as well
(or as far as they understand them). Fairy tales are very
in right now, but instead of mining the Grimm’s works
she has chosen something more original and unusual. By turns
romantic, dark, historical, fantastic and even amusing this
book takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through both
recent history and folklore. I hope that Corsair goes on to
bring all her books to a wider audience.
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