Customer Reviews

Rusalka

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I reread this trilogy (this is the first -- followed by Chernevog and Yvgenie) every few years. I love it. Obviously it isn't to everyone's taste, judging by some of the other reviews, but if you like stories about the power of friendship -- which is more powerful than wizardry as far as CJ Cherryh is concerned -- then this is well worth reading.

Just be prepared for some "stream of consciousness" writing.

ETA
Er, apparently the author doesn't agree with me - she may be planning a rewrite. She has a blog
[...]
However she has recently had a loss in her family, so, be kind. July 2009

N

We open learning about Sasha and Pyetr, who are drawn together by chance. Sasha is a young wizard with a dangerous gift, and Pyetr is a young trouble maker who lives off of his wealthy friends. But wanted by the law, Pyetr makes an escape with Sasha at his side to aid him. That is until they discover Uulamets, a wizard with a secret. Uulamets wants Sasha's help to bring back his daughter Eveshka-a rusalka, a ghost who remains alive by sucking the life out of living things around it. Then there is another problem: Eveshka is in love with Pyetr. Overall this is an EXCELLENT book!

Chernevog, Rusalka, and Yvengie are the greatest books. I enjoyed the atmosphere. An old-time russian fairy-tale. This series pulled together bits of all folklore I know, and even taught me some things I wasn't aware of. The characters are likeable, even the truely evil ones. You can imagine where they are coming from and why it is they are acting like they are. Perhaps it is a bit predictable, but it's a fairy-tale.

First, I would like to say that I do not know about Russian culture. A friend of mine told me that there are plays and operas based on Rusalka. Depending from different parts of Russia, Rusalka is a ghost with past different mythologies & varieties of powers. Well, Ms. Cherryh create a great fantasy based on the concept of a Rusalka.

The intorduction of the book is fast paced where one the the characters, Pyetr falsely accused of something and the village wants him dead. Along the way, he gets unexpected help from a wet behind ears teenage boy and escape the village of Vojvoda.

Pyetr learns a little bit more about his new companion, tries to portray the real harshness of life & squash fairy tales of magic. Pyetr getting weak & near death they fortunately meet the likelihood of Uulamets. Uulamets a proud wizard in own right does something that is believe that can't be done. The trio soon become somewhat of a family when a new chartacter, Eveshka comes into the mix. Don't want to give away to much but this a great read especially for a book that was written sometime in the 80's.

This is a 312 page book that is very different for CJ Cherryh's usual style. I was fortunate enough to have found this book at a book fair. It appears to me as if there aren't many copies avaiable based on the pricing here. Rusalka is based on ancient Russian folktales come to life. The two hero's struggle to deal with angry townspeople, wizards, wraiths, and Things throughout the book. But along the way they learn a lot about themselves and how important wishes are. You see you have to be careful what you wish for, it might come true. But not in the ways that you think.

Rusalka is a fantasy set in pre-Christian Russia. Cherryh creates plenty of atmosphere as her characters Pyetr and Sasha flee trouble in Vojvoda during the darkness of winter and find themselves at the mercy of a powerful wizard in a dead forest. Pyetr, who was mortally wounded as he fled, has ironically been healed and returned to life by a magic he denies exists ... a skeptic. Sasha believes in magic and lives at its mercy until he discovers that he is a wizard and must learn how to direct the powerful forces that flow through him.

Despite their differences, Pyetr and Sasha are devoted to each other. Street-wise Pyetr is determined to protect the younger and naive Sasha from those who would take advantage of his innocence, and Sasha refuses to leave Pyetr alone and unprotected from the powerful magic that he vehemently denies. Pyetr relies on his wits to shield him from misfortune. Sasha is determined to avoid trouble by learning to carefully control his powerful thoughts. Together they learn that neither wits nor careful manipulation will protect them from the uncertainties of life and that there is nothing more powerful than a good and loyal friend.

Pyetr and Sasha will need to rely on each other if they are to survive the ordeal that awaits them. They encounter various magical spirits that inhabit this dark forest while constrained by the will of Uulamets, the wizard. These spirits are quite fickle and most times very dangerous. Along with these not-so-benevolent spirits, the forest is haunted by the ghost of a young murdered woman. She is a rusalka and she is the daughter of Uulamets. The rusalka doesn't want to be dead and so must drain the life from anything or anyone in order to maintain existence until her father can bring her back to life.

Cherryh uses Slavic folklore, with its heavy emphasis on magical power, to tell the story of a different kind of power ... the power of friendship. This is the strength of Rusalka. Cherryh's ability to create an atmospheric novel is one of her strong points as a writer. She can also generate an intensity that leaves you gasping and dreaming strange dreams at night. That said, I was disappointed with this novel. The struggle of wills revealed through the dialogue between characters was meant to build and create that intensity I just mentioned, but instead I found the conversations repetitive and tedious. I couldn't wait for the characters to stop their constant bickering and for Cherryh to just get on with some action instead. I generally like Cherryh's books a lot, so I'm a bit baffled by my ambivalence toward this novel. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for this one, so I'm glad that this was not my first experience with Cherryh.

I bought this in 1990 and promptly lost it, couldn't find another copy for years. Purchased it on Amazon who sent it to the last address. Got it again on e- bay who didn't screw it up.

Fairly good story, angst and anger ridden though. Very good treatise on the mechanics of magic in a quasi magical universe. As you can imagine a story about a murdered girl can be rather dark. The ending was interesting and borrowed from Tolkein a bit. I liked the book as a whole.

A good book but not outstanding. Sometimes the story seemed to drag a bit and I had a hard time relating to the characters. But I did really like that it was based off Russian folklore because I haven't read many other fantasy books that have done so.

Very different direction but excellent. These are not sci-fi for all you sci-fi Cherryh fans out there.

I'm usually a big Cherryh fan, I have enjoyed everything else I have read by her. But Rusalka just left me cold. It seems to go on forever with the main characters bickering, to be brightened by momentary flashes of action after which ... the characters resume bickering.