The pacing of this book was so much better than book 2. I loved the play of time, history, myth, folklore, and imagination and this book was moving and I will admit to a few tears at the end. The prose was beautiful and left me wanting more at the end.

The book is definitely problematic for me as an Orthodox Christian though. I appreciate the author’s desire to explore the intersections of faith, myth, etc, but she pulls Orthodox saints into it this time, which makes me very uncomfortable, and I think gives a wrong idea about Russian faith. Of course, syncretism happens in many places, and in Russia no doubt, and having a character like Konstantin is understandable, but to suggest that St. Sergius would be anything other than against the pagan spirits is ludicrous and sacrilegious and does not understand Orthodoxy. To her credit, she does not completely eliminate the power of Christianity. The true Orthodox believers are not powerless and she seems to have moments where she argues that God is real too. But she argues that He exists along other gods/spirits, which ultimately is a big problem. It’s a fascinating read, but very slanted.