The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
Mar. 3rd, 2019 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI really enjoyed it. It was my favourite of the three books.
+ I really appreciated Vasya's journey. She made a lot of mistakes along the way but she had good intentions and she did in fact learn from those mistakes.
+ I love that Vasya became guardian of the lake and how her eventual fate turned out. No longer part of the constraints of the human world but still allied with it, her own wild country full of horses to care for, the love of someone with no interest in changing her, a great-grandmother to teach her all the knowledge she wishes to know, the friendship of the Chyerti, the ability to travel far and wide and explore the world as she is (and further than she ever could have gone before. Honestly everything worked out so well for her. Her future is absolutely the best one I could have foreseen for her.
+ I really love that the solution to Medved wasn't to lock him away again. That there was always supposed to be a balance and peace between the twins and that was what Vasya needed to do. Especially because it occurred to me during the final showdown with Medved that the twins had once been exactly alike, that Morozko changed but Medved never had the chance while imprisoned. If one could change so too could the other. I love how the series ended with the three of them tied together.
+ Solovey's death was such a shock. I was so sad. I spent all the time afterwards hoping there would be some way to get him back - he's a magic horse after all. When it was revealed that together Morozko and Medved could bring someone back to life I immediately glomped on the thought that they could bring Solovey back for Vasya - and then they did! Honestly that was the most important thing. That's what made the end truly happy.
+ The culmination of Vasya and Morozko's flirtation was great. I'm pleased that they ended up together.
+ The whole section that took place in Morozko's past and her saving him from forgetfulness was great. That said I was totally expecting Vasya to have changed the future slightly, perhaps just in the creation of a winter queen in the tales told, and for that to come up when she returned to the present. A little sad it didn't.
+ While Vasya lost Sasha it wasn't through fault of her own (as I was afraid it was going), she got a goodbye and the knowledge that he chose his fate. Plus she gained further unknown family (a great-aunt, great-grandmother and a great-grandfather), strengthened her ties to her sister Olga, and gained Masha as an heir with the promise that she will be joining her by the lake, to learn and travel and be free. I consider that a win.
+ I liked how Vasya's family's past was worked in to make it so that she could end up very long lived (if not immortal herself). I like the idea that she ends up fading into myth too - to travel always on Solovey with Morozko at her side (and the Bear not far).
+ I really liked Varvara being revealed to be Tamara's twin. And everything else we learned about Vasya's mysterious maternal family.
+ Certainly the first step to save the Chyerti, and reconcile them and humans, will be to get the humans to stop thinking of them as devils. But I quite liked the solution and treaty Vasya created between the Chyerti, the church, and Dimitri.
+ I've hated Konstantin since the first book but his death scene, and his relationship with Medved especially in the end there, made me go hmmm. I was actually having some Konstantin/Medved feelings there. Medved's sorrow for his loss got to me, I guess, because a part of me wishes that Konstantin had survived that battle. It would have been interesting to see him locked away with Medved and to see how things could have changed for both of them. Could Konstantin have had a redemption? I think maybe. He committed great evil and a lot of it out of his own selfish desires and fears but still... maybe. So if he had been sent away, from other people and temptation, alone with Medved who treasured him in his own way - how could that have changed both of them?
+ I really appreciated Vasya's journey. She made a lot of mistakes along the way but she had good intentions and she did in fact learn from those mistakes.
+ I love that Vasya became guardian of the lake and how her eventual fate turned out. No longer part of the constraints of the human world but still allied with it, her own wild country full of horses to care for, the love of someone with no interest in changing her, a great-grandmother to teach her all the knowledge she wishes to know, the friendship of the Chyerti, the ability to travel far and wide and explore the world as she is (and further than she ever could have gone before. Honestly everything worked out so well for her. Her future is absolutely the best one I could have foreseen for her.
+ I really love that the solution to Medved wasn't to lock him away again. That there was always supposed to be a balance and peace between the twins and that was what Vasya needed to do. Especially because it occurred to me during the final showdown with Medved that the twins had once been exactly alike, that Morozko changed but Medved never had the chance while imprisoned. If one could change so too could the other. I love how the series ended with the three of them tied together.
+ Solovey's death was such a shock. I was so sad. I spent all the time afterwards hoping there would be some way to get him back - he's a magic horse after all. When it was revealed that together Morozko and Medved could bring someone back to life I immediately glomped on the thought that they could bring Solovey back for Vasya - and then they did! Honestly that was the most important thing. That's what made the end truly happy.
+ The culmination of Vasya and Morozko's flirtation was great. I'm pleased that they ended up together.
+ The whole section that took place in Morozko's past and her saving him from forgetfulness was great. That said I was totally expecting Vasya to have changed the future slightly, perhaps just in the creation of a winter queen in the tales told, and for that to come up when she returned to the present. A little sad it didn't.
+ While Vasya lost Sasha it wasn't through fault of her own (as I was afraid it was going), she got a goodbye and the knowledge that he chose his fate. Plus she gained further unknown family (a great-aunt, great-grandmother and a great-grandfather), strengthened her ties to her sister Olga, and gained Masha as an heir with the promise that she will be joining her by the lake, to learn and travel and be free. I consider that a win.
+ I liked how Vasya's family's past was worked in to make it so that she could end up very long lived (if not immortal herself). I like the idea that she ends up fading into myth too - to travel always on Solovey with Morozko at her side (and the Bear not far).
+ I really liked Varvara being revealed to be Tamara's twin. And everything else we learned about Vasya's mysterious maternal family.
+ Certainly the first step to save the Chyerti, and reconcile them and humans, will be to get the humans to stop thinking of them as devils. But I quite liked the solution and treaty Vasya created between the Chyerti, the church, and Dimitri.
+ I've hated Konstantin since the first book but his death scene, and his relationship with Medved especially in the end there, made me go hmmm. I was actually having some Konstantin/Medved feelings there. Medved's sorrow for his loss got to me, I guess, because a part of me wishes that Konstantin had survived that battle. It would have been interesting to see him locked away with Medved and to see how things could have changed for both of them. Could Konstantin have had a redemption? I think maybe. He committed great evil and a lot of it out of his own selfish desires and fears but still... maybe. So if he had been sent away, from other people and temptation, alone with Medved who treasured him in his own way - how could that have changed both of them?
