In Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver, winters are rough but they get rougher still when the Staryk pass through. They rove the lands, pillaging and sometimes murdering, looking for any gold they can find. They are also very territorial. Everyone knows not to hunt in their lands, particularly any animal that is pure white.
Life is tough. Because of extra harsh winters, farms struggle to produce enough food, markets have less to sell, and people are generally struggling to get by.
Miryem’s father is a money lender, but under these conditions he’s too kind-hearted to follow up his debtors and collect what he is owed. In a fit of desperation Miryem steps up and takes over his collections. She becomes adept and soon draws attention with her ability to convert silver pieces into gold through clever trades and bargaining.
The King of the Staryk notices this, and makes a deal with her: take increasing amounts of silver and convert them into gold, and he’ll marry her. She’s afraid of him, but she’s afraid of what happens if she refuses.
All the deals and bargains draw together a number of different people as the danger of both the Staryk with their endless winter and the political maneuvering of the local tsar threaten Miryem and everyone she knows and loves. From the help Miryem hired to care for her parents to the daughter of the local duke engaged to marry the mysterious tsar, everyone is tangled up in what could be the end of the world as they know it.
Though the world is filled with magic and feels very much fantastical it is rooted in our own, based on Eastern European myths and traditions. Miryem and her family are Jewish and the way the community treats them as something different and vaguely unwelcome is all rooted in our history. The kingdom they live in is ruled by tsars and the lives they live could be right out of history.
Naomi Novik has tread this ground before in the similarly themed Uprooted and she pulls it off again. She is a master at creating the feeling of classic myth and fairy tales while still feeling fresh. If you enjoy mythmaking and legends, Spinning Silver feels both modern and timeless all at once.
Steven McCreedy is a library technician at the Cambie Branch of the Richmond Public Library
