The world itself is similar to ours, though I’m fairly certain it isn’t actually our world. As she did in Uprooted, Novik excels at taking these familiar tales and twisting them just enough to make them new and exciting again.

The Russian folklore influence is mighty, and it’s possible to see things like the story of Scheherazade in Irina. The primary source is Rumplestiltskin, which ought to be obvious from the title, but there are traces of other fairy tales and folk stories layered in here as well. I mentioned up above that Spinning Silver is a fairy tale retelling, and it is. Between all three woman, the fate of the country will be decided. But the tsar is not what he seems, and Irina’s life is on the line. And Irina knows she’s not the prettiest girl, yet her father contrives to marry her to the tsar. But when she and her brothers accidentally kill their father, she must go on the run from the life she knows. Wanda is looking for an escape from her abusive father and finds it in Miryem’s offer to work off her father’s debt. When she takes the family business into her own hands and begins to turn a profit, the winter king of the fairy-like Staryk appears and demands that she turn silver into gold for him. Miryem is the daughter of a poor moneylender. My first readthrough was right after the release, but I just read it again in January after hankering for a good fairy tale. I caved and read Uprooted after seeing some fantastic reviews, and fortunately not long after that, Spinning Silver arrived on the shelves. I promised that I would go back and review some of the books I read during my review hiatus, so here is the very first one.

Spinning silver