Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

5 stars for Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.

The book title reminds me time and again of the miller's daughter in Rumpelstiltskin. I may even agree that the very idea of Spinning Silver originates from this children's classic book, yet Spinning Silver is remarkable in its own right.

The story is about a girl, a moneylender from a small town, who can turn silver into gold; from a hundred pennies into a silver kopek, and from twenty silver kopeks into a golden zlotek.

The initial 10% or so of the novel is business as usual, nothing special about the moneymaking activities. In fact, the story is so slow moving and uneventful that I teeter on the edge of abandoning this book for another. It also does not help that the story is narrated by more than one person, making it all the more confusing to read and follow.

Needless to say, I am happy beyond words that I persist in my pursuit of spinning silver into gold for soon enough, I am transported deep into a magical realm, first of winter and snow, then, one of fire and flame. A monster of ice and a monster of fire. As is, there is more to this icy monster than meets the eye. One exists because of the other and for good reasons.

Indeed, Spinning Silver is an enthralling and spellbinding story that explores the dynamics of various relationships and what it means to be human against all odds. Though the many different first person perspectives is not of my preferred style, the author successfully captivates me with her writing and imagery that I willingly let myself be sucked into the magical adventures of Miryem, Wanda, Sergey, Stepon, Irina, Mirnatius and Magreta. On top of it all, I love the underlying message that the story presents: everything happens for a reason.

Well, I shall leave it at that for now and say no more, else you will lose half the fun of immersing yourself in this fantasy novel.


Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: 10 Jul 2018

*** Favourite quote ***

He wasn’t beautiful, he was terrifying; and then he was beautiful, and then he was both, and I couldn’t decide from one moment to the next which it was.

~ Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik

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Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders… but her father isn’t a very good one. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. Hardening her heart against her fellow villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what is owed–and finds herself more than up to the task. When her grandfather loans her a pouch of silver pennies, she brings it back full of gold.

But having the reputation of being able to change silver to gold can be more trouble than it’s worth–especially when her fate becomes tangled with the cold creatures that haunt the wood, and whose king has learned of her reputation and wants to exploit it for reasons Miryem cannot understand.

*Blurb from author's website*

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