Review of Bone Weaver—Imperial Russia-inspired Fantasy

A girl raised by the dead discovers her own life-saving magic in Aden Polydoros’s second novel, Bone Weaver. I knew Polydoros was one to watch from the moment he first announced his Jewish historical thriller debut, The City Beautiful, which was one of my favorite books from last year. So when I heard he was diving even deeper into fantasy with his next book, which takes place in a secondary world inspired by Imperial Russia and Slavic folklore, I immediately requested a review copy and was not disappointed. Bone Weaver comes out tomorrow, September 20.

The upyri that have raised Toma since she was ten years old aren’t your typical flesh-eating revenants. Though their bodies may be slowly falling to pieces, Papa, Mama, and little Galina are as loving a family as Toma could want, and she is content to spend her life among the undead in their isolated cabin in the Edge. But their peace is disrupted when the tsar’s dirigible crash-lands in the woods outside Toma’s home and the rebel soldiers pursuing him capture Galina. Toma will have to join Tsar Mikhail on his mission for vengeance against the rebel leader Koschei in order to get her sister back. As they travel across the country of Kosa, Toma and Mikhail are joined by Vanya, a member of an oppressed minority group whose ability to use magic makes him suspect among both his own people and those in power. Mikhail is forced to confront the violence and inequality his family’s reign has contributed to, while Toma begins to discover her own heritage and unlock the traumatic memories of her birth parents that she’s kept long-buried. But these revelations will be short-lived if they fail to stop Koschei’s violent revolt. 

One of the central questions of the book is whether there really is a difference between the magic that society considers good and the magic considered bad. Upper-class magic users, like those in the tsarist army, are called bogatyri and revered for their powers, considered a gift from the goddesses. Meanwhile, others—like Vanya—are denigrated as kolduny, or witches, and hunted down by a Tribunal to be killed. But are they really wielding different kinds of magic or were these systems just put in place to control who is allowed to have power and who isn’t? Then there is the Unclean Force, a nebulous concept blamed for everything from kolduny magic, to blighted lands and dead humans returning to life as monsters. But if kolduny and bogatyri are the same, perhaps all magical forces come from the same source, as well. Both Toma and Vanya question these distinctions between “good” and “bad” magic that the rest of society has accepted as immutable fact. 

Toma takes these questions a step further by refusing to accept society’s understanding of the monsters that populate this fantasy world. If proper precautions aren’t taken, the dead often come back for a monstrous second life—whether as upyri like Toma’s family, or as ruthless rusalki or vodyanye in the rivers and marshes, alluring mavki in the woods, or the doom-bearing drekavcy that tend to haunt graveyards. To Toma, this second life is miraculous, not monstrous, and she views these beings as sympathetic and deserving of compassion. The knowledge that the dead can return in another form makes Toma less afraid of death. But is it always a positive thing for the dead to return to life? In this book, Toma’s journey involves developing meaningful relationships with the risen dead, but the next lesson she may need to learn is how to let the dead rest when the right time finally comes.

If you love Slavic folklore, magic based on fiber arts, or found family narratives, you’ll definitely want to check out this book. You can find Bone Weaver on shelves at your favorite local retailer starting tomorrow, or you can order it online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. Once you’ve read it, be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments!