Larisa Walk

This engaging novel covers territory that may be unfamiliar to some readers, and it proves a welcome introduction to the Mongol invasion of Russia. It's told from the perspective of Princess Yaroslava, who is taken captive by Batu Khan and ultimately becomes his lover.

The author writes very well. She clearly knows her stuff. Battle scenes are well done and have an authentic feel; there's a lot of suspense and a nice hint of fantasy/witchcraft; not too much to strain credulity. However, while it is an entertaining read, it ended very suddenly and didn't seem a complete story arc to me, which is one reason I gave it only three stars. I wish it would have been longer to allow for a little more character development as well as tying up some of the subplots.

As a writer, I also had some issues with craft and technique that most readers will let pass. In my opinion, italicizing foreign words draws attention to them in a way that is distracting. They are not strange words to the characters, there fore it seems unnecessary to highlight them in this fashion. This author is skilled enough to provide the meaning in context.

I hope to see more from her on this or other periods of Russian history.… (plus d'informations)

4.25/5
Egalley thanks to Smith Publicity
This is a very interesting novel, and I've read it in one go or v odin prisest like Yaroslava would say. However there are some parts that dragged the quality of reading down, and I feel I need to point them out.

First of all throwing so many unknown Russian words merely separating them from the rest of the text in Italic did not help the readability of this book. It's written for an English speaking reader and the text should be able to flow with ease. There were many Russian words which had equivalent in English language but were left in the text to make them sound exotic. Even I struggled first few chapters, and I love Russian history and historical fantasy.

Having said all that if you manage to get through the first few chapters in Yelnik and get to the point where Yaroslava is in Tartar captivity, the story flows much faster and is much more entertaining. This is the best part of the book.

Yaroslava is a Russian princess, and here is the word which should have been changed to kniazhna, because prince or princess in Medieval Russia which had lots of small feudal city states, is a lord/lady of that city state, no more, and there were plenty of those.

Her principality is tiny, her father is very ill and doesn't have a son, so Yaroslava tries to be one. When Tartar invasion reaches her town, it doesn't stand a chance. Her father is dead and Yaroslava is a slave like the rest of her folks who managed to survive because Tartars proclaimed them useful as beautiful girls or craftsmen. They are all hauled to the place with the command centre of the general Batu Khan.

Yaroslava is a strong girl who's got magic in her blood. She can see essences of people - Fire, Wind, Water and Earth and manipulate them, but because it's been only 2-3 centuries since Russia was Christianised she is suppressing her gift out of fear of God's wrath. However it's her gift that will help her save her people and find freedom in the end.

It's certainly a fascinating mix of pagan Russian and Tartar mythology, and I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in different cultures. The plot is intense and fast-paced. The brutality of the era is not watered down, and I give the author high points for that.

I did however have problems with the lack of characterisation. All the secondary characters are barely there. Batu Khan is a bewildering love interest which seemed to inspire love and passion in Yaroslava overnight after a few walks and talks. I found that highly questionable. The rest of the characters had very little personality in them.

I think the book needs work done at making it stronger and making it more marketable. The cover screams classic literature, where it should be a girl standing in a vast steppe in Mongolian cloths. The girl on the cover is not Yaroslava at all. The plot itself needs good explanation of what was happening in Russia and its structure at a time, because this is a good standard practice in fantasy books, and it helps the reader immensely. At last, the words in Italic should be banished. Replace them or make them part of the normal font, but they distract and feel unnecessary to the story.

Despite all that I loved it, bought my own copy and really hope there will be book #2 about Yaroslava's adventures.… (plus d'informations)