★★★★★ Naomi Novik's best novel?

Spinning Silver

Naomi Novik

For the last several days I have been monitoring (and occasionally engaging with) a discussion of fantasy authors, in which Naomi Novik's name has come up. Novik's Spinning Silver has come in for a lot of praise. It's been on my "to-review" list for ages, and I am moved to do something about that. For orientation, here is my personal Novik horoscope:

★★★★★ Uprooted
★★★★★ Spinning Silver
★★★★☆ A Deadly Education
★★★★☆ The Last Graduate
★★★★★ The Golden Enclaves
Meh... Temeraire series

Obviously I am a fan (except for the Temeraire series, which feels to me as if it was written by a completely different author). I even loved the sometimes controversial Uprooted.

I don't really evaluate books based on their faults. If a book is peppered liberally with defects but there is one thing about it that is spectacularly good, I have no problem with giving a five-star rating. This is because I like to read, and I read to enjoy the good stuff (unlike many GR reviewers, who apparently read books to find stuff they dislike). If I have to wade through a little grime to get to the good stuff, I can handle that.

In Novik's work, the brilliant moments are what I call the "terror and guts" moments, when a powerful character takes on a monster beyond human abilities. In terror and despair and through sheer guts she contacts her inner power and defeats the monster. In Uprooted this is Neeshka entering the Heart Tree. In A Deadly Education it's El taking on the maw-mouth, and learning what she is capable of, and also what she is not capable of: sacrificing others to save herself. I cannot say when it happens in Spinning Silver without spoiling. But it's there.

Now, I think the reason we all agree on Spinning Silver is that it's not just one good thing. You will not be thinking "There's got to be a pony" as you read. It's basically all ponies, starting with the brilliant and surprising reinterpretation of Rumpelstiltskin's spinning straw into gold as creation of a successful business. Yes, I know that sounds less than promising, but that's why it's brilliant. Novik makes it work, and runs with it.

Amazon review

Goodreads review

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