Katherine Arden is a masterful storyteller!
The Girl in the Tower is a great follow-up to The Bear and the Nightingale. Vasya is a compelling main character and it is easy to get swept up in her story. While Vasya and the other characters are interesting, the true star of this book is Arden's amazing writing. She is able to spin a world that is rich and intoxicating with magic but also extremely grounded in reality.
The Girl in the Tower is my least favorite in the trilogy, which is illustrative of just how amazing these books are because I still gave it a 5-stars! I appreciated getting to see a different side of the world, namely the courtly and political spheres. In addition to showing just how much the world was changing around Vasya and the realistic troubles facing Rus during the Bronze Age, it also backed up Vasya's viewpoints and position. She is different and wild when compared to her older sister. Seeing the way her older sister lives... it is impossible to picture Vasya in a similar role.
All in all - I loved this book and I love Katherine Arden. I highly recommend the Winternight Trilogy to anyone interested in an intricately woven fairytale.
The Girl in the Tower is my least favorite in the trilogy, which is illustrative of just how amazing these books are because I still gave it a 5-stars! I appreciated getting to see a different side of the world, namely the courtly and political spheres. In addition to showing just how much the world was changing around Vasya and the realistic troubles facing Rus during the Bronze Age, it also backed up Vasya's viewpoints and position. She is different and wild when compared to her older sister. Seeing the way her older sister lives... it is impossible to picture Vasya in a similar role.
All in all - I loved this book and I love Katherine Arden. I highly recommend the Winternight Trilogy to anyone interested in an intricately woven fairytale.