Spinning Silver

I really love reading stories that remind you of old fairy tales - the kind of stories that remind you of C. S. Lewis's Narnia, filled with magic and bursting to the seams with it and make you believe that anything in the world is possible. Uprooted by Naomi Novik remains one of the books which made me feel that way, which is why I picked up Spinning Silver, which came highly recommended.

Plot

Spinning Silver weaves together elements of fantasy and folklore as a very loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin set in Eastern Europe. Miryem's father is a moneylender, but he really isn't a good one. Not only has he lent away most of his wife's wealth, but he's also too craven to ask for his money back. As her family's financial struggles worsen, Miryem takes matters into her own hands and takes up the job her father never did. As it turns out... she is rather good at it.

Because that's what the story's really about: getting out of paying your debts. That's not how they tell it, but I knew.

Miryem's growing reputation soon lands her in trouble. As word gets around, she soon attracts the attention of the Staryk - a race of fae-like creatures that live in the winter forest. One fine day, the Staryk king finds her, striking a deal with her in exchange for her services. Unfortunately, she has no idea about the web of political machinations and magical encounters she has entered.

Meanwhile, a local lord plots to wed his daughter, Irina, to the Tsar, Mirnatius. However, something dark lurks in the beautiful, cruel Tsar. As Irina slowly learns the truth of what haunts her husband, she soon realizes that he's a part of something much bigger than either of them.

Making up the trio of protagonists is Wanda, a local peasant who finds herself working for Miryem's family. Although Miryem remains the central character, Irina and Wanda's storylines often intersect with hers.

"My mother had enough magic to give me three blessings before she died," I said, and he instinctively bent in to hear it. "The first was wit; the second beauty, and the third—that fools should recognize neither."

Spinning Silver has a solid start. At first, I really didn't get where the different storylines were going or how they were related. However, the storytelling is clever enough to give you bits and pieces and let the reader connect the dots. This tale is magical, and it reminds me of the simpler days of my childhood. I tore through the first third of the book within hours.

Unfortunately, the second half is where it starts going really downhill. By trying to juggle multiple plot threads with way too many unnecessary characters, it quickly lost its steam. The story felt so bloated with all those narratives that the plot barely got a chance to shine. The pacing felt painfully slow. Although the ending did tie things up logically, I had lost my enthusiasm by then.

Characters

Although the book focuses mainly on only three to four characters, there are about six different points of view in the book. This was pretty annoying because it spent a lot of valuable pages on those secondary characters while making the book longer. I somehow wish that the book concentrated a little less on the unnecessary parts.

Miryem

I loved Miryem. Not only is she extremely resourceful, but she's also actually pretty good at this moneylending business! Despite its grueling nature, her line of work has not made her mean, cold, or utterly calculating. She still has a heart of gold, and no amount of riches can take it away from her. I found her interactions with the Staryk fascinating - it's interesting to watch her deal with this strange, alien creature that's so different from humans.

He would only shrug and look at me expectantly again, waiting for high magic: magic that came only when you made some larger version of yourself with words and promises, and then stepped inside and somehow grew to fill it.

Irina

Raised by a rather unfeeling lord for a father, Irina is someone who knows her way around the world. Bethrothed to the Tsar of Lithvas, she soon finds out about the terrible darkness haunting him. Unflinching and determined, Irina's not one to back down from a challenge and soon finds a way to subtly move pieces here and there to make things happen. I loved her political machinations at court and her loyalty to her people.

Worldbuilding

This book has some really gorgeous settings. With an exquisite blend of folklore and magic, Novik breathes life into Lithvas, creating a dreamy world where strange things are rather common. It has mirrors that are not really mirrors. It has a castle made of ice in the strangest of places. It has vicious devils and magical ornaments and strange little houses on the edge of the world. Once again, Spinning Silver reminds me a lot of the magical world of Narnia.

Writing Style

Reading this book made me feel cozy: it felt like curling up by the fire and drinking coffee in winter. Set against a pastoral backdrop, the imagery of ice and frost, of spring and fire, is very strong. I particularly loved the attention to sensory detail and how rich and vivid the descriptions are.

The pale endless grey of the sky in here was broken up into jeweled brilliance, thin dazzling rainbow lines sketched across it, and in the center of the meadow beneath that diamond roof, a grove of white trees grew.

However, I found it a little annoying that although the book is told from the first-person perspective, the chapters do not start with the name of the character narrating it. This was quite jarring at first. Although the characters' narrative voices are different enough to distinguish them after a while, I found it an odd choice. I wonder why the author decided to take this approach.

In Conclusion

Spinning Silver has a unique take on an old folktale: you don't really see a lot of Rumpelstiltskin retellings these days. Combined with a lush world and beautiful settings, I can see what the hype is about. I think that was part of the reason why the first half of the book had me so engaged.

Unfortunately, I think I went into this story with too many expectations, and it ended up not meeting them. Great writing and worldbuilding are nice to have, but my interest really plummeted with the slow middle and the extraneous secondary characters. I wanted to love this book. It had all the elements of an amazing story, but it wasn't it for me. It's a shame because Uprooted still holds a special place in my heart to this day.

Nonetheless, Spinning Silver has its highlights. It is a truly escapist fantasy with a gorgeous, ethereal world where anything can happen. While it follows its protagonists in a quest that is grand in scale, it remains intimate at its heart. After all, it's a tale about family, survival, and, as Novik herself puts it, getting out of your debts.