Susan Price (1) (1955–)

A rather drawn out rendering of witches and shamans and Czars with a cat as indirect narrator adding exactly nothing but and unfortunate voice to the whole.

A very cool and interesting children's/YA fantasy book that uses elements of Russian folklore. Evil Czars, a prince locked in a tower, a story-telling cat, good witches, and bad shamans. Think Howl's Moving Castle but make it Siberia and darker. I loved it.

A really good romp, but obvious that there is a lot of thought and intelligence underpinning it, so a very satisfying read. The characters really come alive to me as the author treats them all as human individuals. No cardboard characters or stereotypes here. The time travel framework allows a great juxtaposition of two cultures. The 16th century and the 21st century passions work out wonderfully differently, yet splendidly the same, from the same stuff of human life. And good fun.

this is a one-of-a-kind ghost story because of the way it delivers alongside an ongoing examination of the tensions btwn wage earning & self reliant ways of life, as well as contrasts btwn rural & urban, btwn age and youth, btwn men and women, and how they make us vulnerable, weak, and strong in turn .