Not a Book Club Review – Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

Synopsis: A G.R.R. Martin-esque exploration of power -- its sources and its uses, its gifts and its pitfalls -- told in the style of a fairytale. For real.

Book Review: I've grown a bit tired of fairytale-retelling novels, mostly because there are so many of them, and they're never very inspired. I should have remembered that Novik wrote the Nebula-winning "Uprooted" and had some more faith. My lowered expectations were completely blown out of the water, and I devoured this novel.

The story centers on a Jewish girl in medieval Russia. The rest of the village despises them and takes advantage of her father. When she asserts the power of the law (and her rich Uncle living in the capital) to protect her family, she begins to understand the limits of laws-on-paper without immediate physical power to back them up.

She also displays rock-hard bad-assery in terms of realizing that reputational effects are extremely important, and a single slip can ruin them forever. She might as well have "A Lannister pays her debts" as her personal motto. There are several amazing moments were we see her forced into stone-hearted acts because failing to carry through with them would leave her open to predation in the future. It's done very well in its own right, but the contrast of pure Grimdark themes in a fairytale world is awesome.

Speaking of faeries, we got those too! They present the super-human threat that really complicates things. They are alien and fascinating, and I loved everything about them. I kept thinking "If Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell had been awesome instead of shitty, this is the book it would have been!" Their presence escalates the story from one of personal struggle in a village to an existential threat against all humans in the country, and possibly the continent.

My major complaint about this book is that the sequel was inexpertly sewed onto it. "Spinning Silver," as I recognize it, ended about 2/3rds of the way through the book. The sequel is then smashed in, and the sequel is reeeaaaaally not to my taste. It's a standard Romance book of the Beauty and the Beast style. Female lead is captured and imprisoned by a misunderstood male lead, they fight a lot, but eventually she comes to understand him, and he comes to respect her, and they fall in love. uwu.

I assume that it's a very good Romance. Novik is a great writer, and I've really loved the two other books of hers I've read (Uproot, and Spinning Silver). But Spinning Silver 2 just isn't the sort of story I like, so it wasn't for me. I regret reading it, I only did so because it was in the same book as Spinning Silver 1, and I didn't realize it was a different novel. :(

So: Spinning Silver 1, Recommended! Spinning Silver 2, Not Recommended. If you have taste similar to mine, stop after the first climax. (You'll recognize it when you see it).

Book Club Review: Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to our book club meeting for this book, so I got nothing here.