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juushikaTitle: Deathless (Leningrad Diptych Book 1)
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Published: New York: Tor, 2011
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 352
Total Page Count: 173,258
Text Number: 507
Read Because: fan of the author, purchased from Powell's Books
Review: Young Marya waits for her husband to come to her: Koschei the Deathless, who will abduct her into his fairy tale set in World War II and the Siege of Leningrad. In many ways, this is Valente's most accomplished novel; in as many ways, one of my least favorites. It's a fluid dreamscape of a fairy tale retelling, historically entrenched, dark humored, beautiful and bitter, archetypal, rich with magic and Valente's distinctive prose. Its individual components are strong—most especially, Marya's marriages—but its larger narrative feels only piecemeal, making it difficult to grow invested in the work as a whole. And—intentionally, and enlivened by gallows humor—how grim. I recommend this but didn't particularly love it; it's not a novel I'll return to.
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Published: New York: Tor, 2011
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 352
Total Page Count: 173,258
Text Number: 507
Read Because: fan of the author, purchased from Powell's Books
Review: Young Marya waits for her husband to come to her: Koschei the Deathless, who will abduct her into his fairy tale set in World War II and the Siege of Leningrad. In many ways, this is Valente's most accomplished novel; in as many ways, one of my least favorites. It's a fluid dreamscape of a fairy tale retelling, historically entrenched, dark humored, beautiful and bitter, archetypal, rich with magic and Valente's distinctive prose. Its individual components are strong—most especially, Marya's marriages—but its larger narrative feels only piecemeal, making it difficult to grow invested in the work as a whole. And—intentionally, and enlivened by gallows humor—how grim. I recommend this but didn't particularly love it; it's not a novel I'll return to.
