This epic tale brings both history and folklore to vivid life. It’s a fresh, exciting take sure to capture fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe and Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne.”– Publishers Weekly Beautifully written, gripping…a story of Baba Yaga as you have never met her before—don’t even THINK about missing it!”

The man halted at the fence, no doubt trying to decide if the skulls there were human. “Is this the izbushka of Baba Yaga the Bony Leg?” However, Yaga soons find out that the tsarina's enemy is a formidable one, has deep knowledge of the supernatural and it's about more than Yaga's childhood friend.The author weaves a story of light versus darkness that highlights Russian history, mythology, and folktales. The country seemed to come to life in this descriptive tale that has excellent world-building. However, the pacing was slow at times. Interspersed throughout the story are themes of power and ambition, expectations and rules for women, charity, hope, manipulation, mental health, blame, hatred, violence, murder, love, friendship, and family by choice as well as family by blood. And yet, The Witch and the Tsar, written by a Russian and thus presumably above accusations of cultural appropriation and racist stereotypes and Russophobia, is really no different in this sense. Women in these sorts of stories—legends, fairytales, and myths—are often relegated to secondary roles: Princesses that need rescuing or witches that need vanquishing, and neither of them is truly capable of making many choices of their own. The Witch and the Tsar is full of complicated, three-dimensional women well beyond its titular heroine, and although they are not all necessary likable or sympathetic or even what we would traditionally define as good, there’s no doubt that they are in charge of their own destinies at last. A perfect blend of fantasy and historical fiction … Immersive and beautifully written, Yaga’s story reminds us that gods–like humans–can choose their own fates.”–Anika Scott, international bestselling author of The Soviet Sisters

Berkley Publishing Group – Ace and Olesya Salnikova Gilmore provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for September 20, 2022. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine. It's a universal truth that if anyone knows all about snow besides Alaskans, Scandinavians, Inuit, Canadians, my friend from Minnesota, and polar bears, it's the Russians. This book retells the entire folkloric story with another perspective, humanizing Yaga, giving her true defiant, powerful voice she needs. She doesn’t feed herself with children, flying around in a mortar, terrorizing her community as it’s told. It’s a remarkable redefinition and recreation of the character! I truly loved this version more!She has been alone for centuries, with only her beloved animals for company. But, when Tsaritsa Anastasia, wife of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, shows up at Yaga’s cottage on the brink of death, Yaga is compelled to travel with her to Moscow to keep her safe. Let’s talk about the importance of the historical setting. What made you choose the sixteenth century? So, the crux of her argument is that it was men (of course, it's always the evil males, even though Gilmore herself says in the previous line that Baba Yaga is complex, "both benefactor and villain, a mother and an old maid, a witch and a woman.") who made Baba Yaga be a witch instead of, I don't know, a powerful goddess as she supposedly was before, so the aim of this novel is to "restore" Baba Yaga to her old self. The implication here is that Baba Yaga was defamed and needs restoration to be properly understood and feminist. Instead of powerful and vulnerable, though, this novel made Baba Yaga, the multilayered witch of the Slavs that is one of the extremely few women in folktales that is neither an evil hag nor a simpering damsel, into a naïve, easily impressionable, judgmental, profoundly self-unaware, politically inept, defanged and declawed, wimpy, and, horror of horrors, too-stupid-to-live young woman. Welcome to the Hive Olesya, and congratulations on the release of your debut novel! How does it feel to know your book is out there on shelves?

Beyond that, I had a hard time connecting to Yaga. Yes, part of me was simply disappointed that she was a young woman because I’ve read a million and one novels about young women in fantasy and it’s always refreshing to read about different age groups (people over 30 exist! especially older women! things happen to them and there is a unique power and experience to be mined there!). But beyond that, Yaga, while still young-looking, is in fact meant to be quite old. And yet she routinely seemed to be quite naive in a way that I found hard to reconcile with the amount of lived experience she should have under her belt at this point. There is even a bit of romance to counterbalance some of the considerable blood-letting. After I had witnessed my first birthing not ten years into my life, Mokosh had explained to me the intricacies of lovemaking and child making. “Though immortals can birth other gods and half gods,” she had said, gently, “it is not simple for us, with mortals above all. Most of the time, it happens not. It is even harder for half gods. If it happens, it does so for a reason. It is willed by the Universe.” I had known many men over the centuries, both mortal and immortal. Not once had my trysts ended in anything other than fleeting pleasure or pointless regret. I knew it would never happen for me.But then she meets Vasily Alekseyevich Adashev, studly warrior, but mortal, which is a problem. It gets complicated. He is probably in his 20s or 30s, she is several hundred. (Baba Cougar?) It is a delightful element. This is a time of transition in Russia, when the old gods were being replaced by the Christian invader. But local loyalties were sometimes with the old and sometimes with the new. Yet, the old gods were still actively interfering in human activities. Getting a look at such a tumultuous period in Russian history is one of the bonuses of this book. The Witch and the Tsar is Olesya Salnikova Gilmore’s intriguing debut. It is a well-written and compelling story, focused on atmosphere. And that makes The Witch and the Tsar a perfect read for this time of year.” An utterly enchanting, wholly immersive debut that deftly reimagines the legend of Baba Yaga. This one is unmissable.”In the vein of the Greek retellings, my aim was to show a different side of her character that maybe people have not heard about before. This idea is rooted in the fact that many scholars believe the Baba Yaga we know is a version or a descendant of an earth and fertility goddess that ancient Slavs worshipped. I instantly became interested in the concept of how a goddess was turned into a witch – and an old, ugly one at that – seeking to reframe Baba Yaga by imagining what she could have been like if she were a goddess and a human woman both, before the rumors and tales had reduced her to a silly old crone. I wanted to reinvent her as a living, breathing woman, extraordinary yet relatable, multi-dimensional, and most importantly, real . And I would call her simply Yaga .

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore weaves a rich tapestry of mythology and Russian history, reclaiming and reinventing the infamous Baba Yaga, and bringing to life a vibrant and tumultuous Russia, where old gods and new tyrants vie for power. This fierce and compelling novel draws from the timeless lore to create a heroine for the modern day, fighting to save her country and those she loves from oppression while also finding her true purpose as a goddess, a witch, and a woman. A delicate weaving of myth and history, The Witch and the Tsar breathes new life into stories you think you know."–Hannah Whitten , New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

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I loved the author’s creative perspective and her talent to mash up folklore, mythology with true Russian historical facts. It’s a marvelous, heartfelt, exhilarating journey you should not miss! Overall, this was a violent and emotional story that kept me engaged. Those that enjoy reimagined folk tales and mythology may want to consider this book as their next read. I wanted to set my novel in a specific historical time period because Yaga felt more real to me this way, if I could envision her living in the real world–our world. Medieval times came quite naturally to my story. I’ve always been obsessed with this time period, starting with my mania for the Tudors of England, the Valois of France, the Ruriks of Russia. And I chose Ivan as my antagonist because he was the first true Russian tsar. He is also a very famous tsar in Russia, arguably as part of the popular culture as Baba Yaga herself. He was an autocratic ruler, was paranoid and constantly felt his power threatened, and was incredibly superstitious. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that he would invite a witch and healer like Yaga to his royal court. So, the sixteenth century it was.