A forceful and distinctive voice!

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The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3) by Katherine Arden        
I cant help but see this series as if looking into a fantastical snowglobe, that upon closer inspection takes you into the very heart of a Russian winter forest. Stepping inside opens you up to a magical, yet fearsome otherworld tale that inhabits your dreams and nightmares complete with a feisty heroine and a daemon king. Creatures out of folklore, some benign, others not so! A struggle for supremacy reigns on various levels all intrucibly linked.
There is so much to think on at the conclusion of this series. The Winter of the Witch draws all together to a grand finale.
The chyert called Medved, the Bear has slipped his bindings. An uneasy truce is in the offing, Lady Midnight pays a call and the world as Vasya knows it turns.
Three thoughts leap into awareness for me:
The illuminating creativity of Arden whose woven fact and fiction into a magical world that sparkles with life and fills the reader with dread and wonder.
The struggle between pagan and Christian and how Arden has forged the two understandings and belief systems together that raises many other questions.
The very humaness of the story: one we can exclaim at, rage at, feel compassion with and cry for.
Arden's author's note adds to this conversation, ending with:
"Who is to say, in the end, that the three guardians of Russia are not a witch, a frost-demon, and a chaos-spirit?
I find it fitting."
Whimsically, so do I! A fitting note for a magnificent fantasy saga that captivates. Bravo!

 A NetGalley ARC

*****

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