Book Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Del Rey (July 10, 2018)
Length: 480 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
I know I’m in the minority here, but I didn’t love this book. Oh, I enjoyed it well enough, because it’s Naomi Novik and her prose is always excellent, and Spinning Silver was beautifully written. However, I’ve also had enough experience with work (especially with the Temeraire series) to know her books can be very hit or miss. Believe me, I was thrilled when she started writing fairy-tale-inspired fantasy novels, and I absolutely adored Uprooted, but I just wasn’t as taken with this one as I expected to be.
The story of Spinning Silver contains several POVs, but the closest we have to a main protagonist is Miryem, the daughter of a very bad moneylender. Everyone knows her father will let late payments slide, and is too timid to chase down what is owed. As a result, Miryem’s family lives in poverty while her father’s borrowers flourish, until one day, our protagonist has had enough, and she sets out into the village to knock on the door of everyone with outstanding payments. And as it turns out, Miryem makes a rather formidable moneylender. Very quickly, she turns a pouch of silver pennies that her father loaned her into a big bag full of gold.
But even more quickly, rumors of a girl who can change silver to gold began to spread far and wide, eventually reaching the ears of the Staryk, cold-hearted beings of folklore who desire gold and riches above anything else. Miryem catches the attention of their wintry ruler, who orders her to transform his vast stores of silver into gold, and in return he will make her his queen.
First, I’ll go into what I loved about the book: the atmosphere and folksy fairy tale vibes that bring to mind the dark, mysterious charms of a Brothers Grimm story. If the plot of Spinning Silver reminded you a bit of Rumpelstiltskin, that’s because the novel is loosely inspired by that tale, though you’ll also likely catch snippets and elements from a lot of different fairy tales while reading. One of the most impressive things the author has done here is the way she incorporates these stories and their themes into a new narrative, focusing on relatable and genuine characters while still preserving a lot of the original wonder and magic. This has always been Naomi Novik’s forte whether she’s writing about dragons in the Napoleonic Wars or a persistent moneylender’s daughter from a rural village. Whenever she reimagines a world, she does it in a way that’s rooted in history and folkloric tradition, but the end result is always complex and creative enough to make it stand out from the rest.
And now, for the things I didn’t like so much. Unfortunately for me, the second half of this book was kind of a slog. Part of the problem was Spinning Silver wasn’t just a story about Miryem, and over time, more characters are introduced to the mix. I didn’t mind it at first; Wanda for one was a wonderful new addition, and I loved the strength she showed even through hard, trying times. Then there was Irina, a girl born into the royal court, but while she may be rich in possessions, she is poor in love. Despite her upbringing though, she is selfless and caring, only wanting to do right by her people. Later on, however, we also have a few other minor POVs join their voices, and that’s where things started to get a little messy. First of all, I didn’t feel that all these perspectives were really necessary, as overall they didn’t add as much as I would have liked. Second, whereas I found myself completely rapt by the intro and first half of the novel, the rest of it felt convoluted and a bit bloated. Also, the book was probably longer than it had to be, which, admittedly, was an issue with Uprooted as well. The difference there was that I was able to push through some of the slower and more meandering parts, but here I found it was a struggle to even stay focused. It’s a shame because I loved the first half of the book, but the momentum and interest I found there did not extend all the way through to the end (though to be fair, things did pick up again just in time for the conclusion).
Like I said, I enjoyed Spinning Silver, but I also don’t think it’s a standout for the genre, especially when fairy tale retellings and stories grounded in folklore are all the rage at the moment, with so many recent book releases that feel thematically and narratively similar. It’s also not my favorite book by Novik, and incidentally, I preferred Uprooted a lot more. Truly, I wish I had loved this one just as much, but I simply couldn’t get over some of my frustrations with the slower, more tedious, and convoluted parts. Still a very good read, however, and I encourage you to pick this one up if you are a fan of the author or imaginative retellings.
The BiblioSanctum 
I really like the book cover and at least it turned out to be a good enough read to entertain.
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True – though I confess I was expecting more!
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I am not a fan of this whole fairytale retelling thing, so I’m hoping it passes within a couple of years. I can’t stand “trendy” writing styles 🙂
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This retelling trend has been around for a while, but yeah, it seems to have exploded in the last couple years. I can’t wait til it passes either, I’m a bit sick of having to sift through a greater volume of books for the good stuff! 😛
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Novik first wrote this book as a novelette of the same name that was very good but it only featured Myriem story so it was a bit more fast paced. I really loved the story and because of it, I won’t read the longer version because it was perfect as it was, no need to add more POVs!
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Ah, I didn’t know it was originally a novelette, thanks for that! Now I kinda see why she expanded it the way she did, though she might have gone a bit overboard!
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Well at least it doesn’t sound like a total loss. I’m still waiting to read Uprooted but I don’t think I’ll hurry to pick up this one. Too many others I want to read first. Great review!
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Definitely not a total loss! Novik writes beautifully and I always enjoy her stories. I just wish I had liked this one as much as Uprooted.
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Your review doesn’t surprise me, since I’ve been seeing mixed reviews around for this book. I doubt I’ll pick it up at this point since my NetGalley request is still hanging in limbo!
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LOL, I hope I get to see more of these mixed reviews as time goes on, because right now I feel like there’s something wrong with me! 99% of readers seem to love this one, I just feel like the odd dissenting voice 😛
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Great review! This is actually the first one I’ve read for Spinning Silver that hasn’t been 5 Stars. I’m loving it so far, but I’m only in the very beginning. I wonder if my mind will change during the second half.
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Yeah, I was pretty sure I was going to be in the minority on my feelings! Believe me, I wanted so badly for this to be a 5 star book! 😀
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I didn’t know about this one but I saw one of her novels translated in French and people were loving it
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Oh yeah, most people are loving this one! Don’t mind me, I’m just picky. 😉 You should give it a try!
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My own experience with Novik is quite limited, since I read – and loved – the first Temeraire book, but was unable to finish the second because it seemed as if the… magic had disappeared. So it would seem that she’s not as steady in her offerings as other writers, but still I might try Uprooted because I heard nothing but glowing reviews about that one.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Yes! That was my feeling about the Temeraire series too. And most people I know who have read it have also said the same thing, that’s so interesting.
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I will wait for the library to get it 🙂 I fear I did not love uprooted as much as others, even though I still liked it
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Haha, that pretty much describes the way I felt about this one 🙂
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When i saw this cover the first time i thought it was another robin hob series… its a shame that you did not enjoy this one that much
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Haha, now that you mention it, I see the similarities between the cover styles!
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I liked this one slightly more, the feel that different tales were incorporated, etc, but not all the POVs so much. And, the second half did slow down a little. I really loved the first half and the build up.
Lynn 😀
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Yeah, I don’t know, I just couldn’t stay focused through the second half no matter how hard I tried! I loved the intro and Miryem’s story line though. Still, very glad to hear how much you liked it!
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Based on this review, I’ll pass. I had the same problems with Uprooted: truly fantastic first half, but the the second half doesn’t keep it on the same level. I’ve come across rave reviews of this only, and was considering to give Novik another chance because she clearly has talent, so thanks for the warning!
I’ll wait for CSE Cooney’s debut full lenght instead.
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Yeah, it’s funny – Uprooted had its pacing issues, but I was able to deal with them. In this one though, it was a struggle at times.
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Huh, this is an intriguing review! So the author puffed up this book with unnecessary characters and plotlines? I’ve had this problem occur before, but the strength of the premise and other aspects usually helped me dilute the negatives by the end. But I think you make a very good point; considering there are so many retellings nowadays, books like these really do need a strong focus and color to pull it through. Excellent review! 🙂
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Yeah, this book reminded me strongly a couple other books I’ve read in the past few years. I guess we might be reaching a point of saturation for the fairy tale retelling genre!
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Haha fairy tale retellings are to books as superhero stories are to movies. Both about to reach saturation! 😛
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Hmmmmm. I actually read an excerpt of Spinning Silver on Tor.com recently (I think it was Wanda’s first chapter?), and it didn’t do much for me. So between that and your review here, I might have to lower my expectations a little bit… which is hard, considering how much I enjoyed Uprooted.
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Yeah, Wanda was probably my next favorite POV, though she still paled in comparison to Miryam, whom I loved. Her story was just so compelling! I don’t know why they didn’t choose one of her chapters for an excerpt! 😀
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