Spinning Silver
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “One of the year’s strongest fantasy novels” (NPR), an imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale from the bestselling author of Uprooted.
NEBULA AND HUGO AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADE • ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Public Library
With the Nebula Award–winning Uprooted, Naomi Novik opened a brilliant new chapter in an already acclaimed career, delving into the magic of fairy tales to craft a love story that was both timeless and utterly of the now. Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into this glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. She will face an impossible challenge and, along with two unlikely allies, uncover a secret that threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike.
Includes the new bonus short story “Hoodwinked”
Praise for Spinning Silver
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Time, Tordotcom, Popsugar, Vox, Vulture, Paste, Bustle, Library Journal
“A perfect tale . . . A big and meaty novel, rich in both ideas and people, with the vastness of Tolkien and the empathy and joy in daily life of Le Guin.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Gorgeous, complex, and magical . . . This is the kind of book that one might wish to inhabit forever.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Cool and clever and . . . dire and wonderful.”—Laini Taylor, author of Strange the Dreamer
“The Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale has never been as captivating. . . . Spinning Silver further cements [Novik’s] place as one of the genre greats.”—Paste
NEBULA AND HUGO AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADE • ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Public Library
With the Nebula Award–winning Uprooted, Naomi Novik opened a brilliant new chapter in an already acclaimed career, delving into the magic of fairy tales to craft a love story that was both timeless and utterly of the now. Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into this glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.
Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. She will face an impossible challenge and, along with two unlikely allies, uncover a secret that threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike.
Includes the new bonus short story “Hoodwinked”
Praise for Spinning Silver
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Time, Tordotcom, Popsugar, Vox, Vulture, Paste, Bustle, Library Journal
“A perfect tale . . . A big and meaty novel, rich in both ideas and people, with the vastness of Tolkien and the empathy and joy in daily life of Le Guin.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Gorgeous, complex, and magical . . . This is the kind of book that one might wish to inhabit forever.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Cool and clever and . . . dire and wonderful.”—Laini Taylor, author of Strange the Dreamer
“The Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale has never been as captivating. . . . Spinning Silver further cements [Novik’s] place as one of the genre greats.”—Paste
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Community Reviews
“Bring me the winter king, and I will make you a summer queen.”
I am very pleasantly surprised by this Rumpelstiltskin retelling (albeit loosely based). I am not one who usually enjoys fantasy and rarely retellings, but I’m a sucker for atmospheric and well thought out books.
I, with being from the American South surrounded by the Bible Belt, haven’t had a lot of exposure to Judaism. I loved how Judaism was a huge component in the plot line. Through this book not only was I able to read a beautifully told story, but I got to experience another religion and fascinating culture.
The main character, Miryem is a young Jewish woman who decides to takeover her father’s job of being a moneylender. She becomes so talented at her trade that she ends up bragging about being able to “turn silver into gold.” That’s when the Staryk King overhears her in the woods. The plot takes off from there.
This story has so many interesting characters and POV’s, that I just adored. My favorite was Irina, the unattractive daughter of a Duke with enchanted jewelry who’s to be married off to a squirrel-killing-Tsar.
I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy atmospheric fairytales.
I am very pleasantly surprised by this Rumpelstiltskin retelling (albeit loosely based). I am not one who usually enjoys fantasy and rarely retellings, but I’m a sucker for atmospheric and well thought out books.
I, with being from the American South surrounded by the Bible Belt, haven’t had a lot of exposure to Judaism. I loved how Judaism was a huge component in the plot line. Through this book not only was I able to read a beautifully told story, but I got to experience another religion and fascinating culture.
The main character, Miryem is a young Jewish woman who decides to takeover her father’s job of being a moneylender. She becomes so talented at her trade that she ends up bragging about being able to “turn silver into gold.” That’s when the Staryk King overhears her in the woods. The plot takes off from there.
This story has so many interesting characters and POV’s, that I just adored. My favorite was Irina, the unattractive daughter of a Duke with enchanted jewelry who’s to be married off to a squirrel-killing-Tsar.
I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy atmospheric fairytales.
I really liked this book for its take on the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. I really enjoy different takes on fairy tales, so this was something that intrigued me about it, and why I selected it as my book of the month. Unlike many people here, I hadn't read Uprooted, so I wasn't expecting anything.
I enjoyed the shift in perspectives, and for a while the perspectives were only coming from women, and I thought that was a really cool feature. However, as the book went along there were a couple of male character's perspectives from whom the story was told, which annoyed me a bit. I know it wasn't sold as a feminist book, but I enjoyed that the women were empowered, and that it was their views, so when the male views came along, it was a bit annoying, but probably unavoidable.
The middle of the book also seemed to drag on forever. Miryem is told that she has to turn the silver into gold, and once she does, she will become a Staryk queen. If she doesn't she will die. However, after she becomes a queen, the story lulled for a bit while you were trying to figure out what the rest of the story was going to be, and why there is another 250 pages of the book left.
All in all, it was a good story, and an interesting take on Rumpelstiltskin, but drags on a bit in the middle.
I enjoyed the shift in perspectives, and for a while the perspectives were only coming from women, and I thought that was a really cool feature. However, as the book went along there were a couple of male character's perspectives from whom the story was told, which annoyed me a bit. I know it wasn't sold as a feminist book, but I enjoyed that the women were empowered, and that it was their views, so when the male views came along, it was a bit annoying, but probably unavoidable.
The middle of the book also seemed to drag on forever. Miryem is told that she has to turn the silver into gold, and once she does, she will become a Staryk queen. If she doesn't she will die. However, after she becomes a queen, the story lulled for a bit while you were trying to figure out what the rest of the story was going to be, and why there is another 250 pages of the book left.
All in all, it was a good story, and an interesting take on Rumpelstiltskin, but drags on a bit in the middle.
DNF'd at 36%. I read it for two weeks. I just could not get into this story enough to care about what was happening. I was only mildly interested. The story wasn't moving along fast enough for me. Too much miscellaneous detail that wasn't driving the story forward. Too many books on my TBR shelf to spend more time on this.
It was long and started slow. I didn't understand the rules but chat GPT helped a bit. Overall a really good story and I liked the ending.
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