One for 2011? ‘Deathless’ – Catherynne M. Valente

This was originally going to be one of those ‘I’ve never read anything by...’ posts until I remembered that I had read something of Valente’s in the past year or so. Well, I say ‘read’  but what I should have said was ‘tried to read’... ‘Under in the Mere’ was a book that I just couldn’t get into and I did try, given that I’d heard an awful lot of good things about Valente’s work. Nothing to do with the book though, I’m just not one for poetry and ‘Under in the Mere’ felt an awful lot like poetry to me...
Never mind though, I’ll be giving Valente another try with ‘Deathless’ (a March 2011 release from Tor). Check out the blurb...

Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.

Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.


This one sounds like it could be a little more accessible to the likes of me. How about you? Is this one that you would consider picking up? Are there any other books, by Valente, that you would recommend?