Spinning Silver brings critical representation for a gender that has traditionally been relegated to the roles of ditsy damsels or only-pretty princesses. With nearly every main character a female and most of the men weak or villainous, Novik literally recasts what it means to be a woman in a fantasy universe. The story was also amazingly refreshing for a genre that has often been criticized for its sterility. Beautifully artistic moments, soft and powerful, are interwoven throughout the pages of her story: “A great jagged cluster of frozen spars of ice or clear crystals stood there, shining, and the tiny narrow curling of a frozen stream wound around the base and trickled away as a silver line through the trees.” Such vivid language creates snowflake moments that very much shine in what is by any definition a large book, illuminating details that other authors might simply rush past. From the first page, what struck me most was its grace. Even as I sat typing this review, I kept finding more aspects of the novel to love. There is much praise to heap at Novik’s feet for the creation she has wrought. What results is truly a battle of ice and fire. With a little meddling, the two heroines plot to pit their monsters against each other. Beneath the Czar’s beautiful façade, a fiery demon smolders, one which desires not only to consume Irina but the entire kingdom of Lithvas. Her sudden fortunes have little to do with luck, however sinister motives lurk. Irina, a clever yet plain-faced woman of noble birth, finds her future prospects radically improved when Czar Mirnatius himself suddenly proposes marriage to her. He spirits her away to his icy kingdom where Miryem seems doomed to spend eternity-until, through a witch’s magic portal (and an odd twist of fate), she meets Irina. As her skill and profits continue to grow, however, she draws the attention of an ice king who is convinced her power of turning silver into gold isn’t marketplace cunning but magic. Pushed into desperation, Miryem picks up the trade herself…and finds she’s rather good at it. Miryem is the daughter of a moneylender who doesn’t so much lend money as give it away.

It’s at these times I find solace in books like Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.

I miss the hero actually living to the end of the story, and sometimes, sometimes, I miss the happy ending.

I miss the classic tale of a heroic protagonist set on an impossible quest. Martin singlehandedly dismembered the fantasy genre. But every now and again, I miss the days before George R.R. By the end, half the characters are dead, most of the reader’s dreams have been shattered, and any of the possible happy endings we would have liked to have seen have been-at all costs-avoided.

Naomi novik spinning silver review