Book cover for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet.

The Bear and the Nightingale is the first book (as far as I can tell) by author Katherine Arden. It is a fairy tale of sorts set in old-timey Russia.

I don’t know a lot about Russian fairy tales, so I cannot say if this was a retelling of a single tale or a compilation of several. From the writing and the feel of it I would guess that this is an original tale heavily influenced and pulling on multiple other classic folk tales. Further, I have little schooling in Russian history. So, I cannot place the period of the writing nor comment on the authenticity of the setting. The world certainly felt vaguely medieval, set in a time where the Grand Princes bowed to the Khan overlords. A time of feudal lords, when the word of the Christian God was still in the process of displacing the hearth-tales of small wood-sprites and local fairies.

The world of the Bear and the Nightingale was richly developed. With particular success seen in the tension created between ordained worshipers of the Christian God and those who still followed the old practices. I was really struck with the manner of creating characters both good and evil (or good and misguided) that followed both religions.

Image for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet. The date holds reflects the release of the book – I assume.

The narrative meandered between perspectives with general success. With this style of storytelling we had a much better idea of motivations propelling the various characters as they moved throughout the story. At the same time, I feel several perspectives became lost or reduced in the telling. And that was confusing come the end of the tale when some people, who I thought would be more important earlier, were left off in the distances – far from action of the main thread.

I would say that the biggest weakness was the ending. It seemed the story was so busy trying to wrap itself up in poetry and mystery that much was left unresolved. I was left feeling unsatisfied with the culmination of various characters. The Frost-God was teased but nothing much came of him. Even Vasya, our primary protagonist, was just left. This was particularly perplexing when earlier passages tease her death being needed to resolve the main conflict.

If the internal contradictions were intentional, then I would say the author’s purpose and story became lost in her attempt of subtly. Otherwise, this is an example of immature writing, a story requiring greater polishing.

Finally, I am left wondering at the title: The Bear and the Nightingale. The Bear was certainly clear, but the Nightingale appeared at the end of the story and seemed largely inconsequential.

In the end, I am unclear how well I liked the book. I did like it. It was different and interesting. The writing felt like an old-time fairy tale which certainly appealed. I liked Vasya and her family. Only her family came and went from the story and I feel was not as well realized as it could have been.

Book cover for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet.

Upon consideration, I would say The Bear and the Nightingale has a spirit similar to Uprooted by Naomi Novik. In fact they both held that same promise of a good, interesting fairy tale, but left me feeling a little empty at the end.

In conclusion, I suppose I would give the story a 4 out of 5.