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.
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.
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
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.
okay….
The book was okay, around the 65% mark I started to zone and felt bored and wanted it to be over. I felt not much was happening interesting wise. Truthfully, this book could have been better. The story and setting were definitely interesting but I think the author didn’t explore much outside of the setting. A lot was due to lack of dialogue and huge chunks of paragraphs where characters are doing and thinking stuff but weren’t saying much. I think the story could have improved soo much by just having that alone. There was also no separating chapters or indicators that a new character voice was taking over, all we got was a spindle as a way to start a new storyline, so that always snapped me out of the story because then I had to guess who was talking. I do think at some point the characters she chose were useless (yes i said that) we didn’t need their point or view for the story to progress
The book was okay, around the 65% mark I started to zone and felt bored and wanted it to be over. I felt not much was happening interesting wise. Truthfully, this book could have been better. The story and setting were definitely interesting but I think the author didn’t explore much outside of the setting. A lot was due to lack of dialogue and huge chunks of paragraphs where characters are doing and thinking stuff but weren’t saying much. I think the story could have improved soo much by just having that alone. There was also no separating chapters or indicators that a new character voice was taking over, all we got was a spindle as a way to start a new storyline, so that always snapped me out of the story because then I had to guess who was talking. I do think at some point the characters she chose were useless (yes i said that) we didn’t need their point or view for the story to progress
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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