The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

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Cover of The Bear and the Nightingale

The Bear and the Nightingale

core novel 2017 The Winternight Trilogy

Record

First published2017
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating4.08 (245,320 ratings, collected 2026-09-14)
Page count319
First-edition ISBN9781101885956
Internal chronology1

Synopsis

The Bear and the Nightingale, the first novel in the Winternight Trilogy, is set in medieval Russia and follows Vasya Petrovna, a young girl who has inherited a rare ability to see and speak with chyerti, household and nature spirits invisible to most people. When Vasya's father remarries a devoutly religious woman, Anna Ivanovna, who shares Vasya's gift but regards the spirits as demons, and a charismatic, zealous priest named Konstantin arrives in their village determined to root out lingering pagan practices, Vasya finds herself caught between the old ways her family and neighbors have quietly kept and the encroaching authority of Orthodox Christianity. As offerings to the household spirits dwindle under the priest's influence, Vasya senses the protective chyerti weakening, drawing her toward the frost-demon Morozko as old and new beliefs pull the village apart.

Where it sits

Awards (verified)

  • Locus Award (Best First Novel), 2018: finalist; 3rd place, no-cutoff convention.

Notes

  • From the series record (The Winternight Trilogy): Core Canon = all 3 novels of the completed trilogy (Del Rey, 2017-2019).

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.

  • Reading order, within the series The Winternight Trilogy: position 1 of 3: next The Girl in the Tower (2017)

Sources

← The Winternight Trilogy dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.