Deathless by Mythopoeic and Tiptree Award-winning author Catherynne M. Valente (
ISFDB,
Wikipedia) is her standalone historical mythological fantasy novel based on Russian folklore and history, retelling the classic fairy tale of Koschei the Deathless (
Wikipedia) within the setting of the 20th century Russian Revolution, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Tor Books.
This is their featured Free Book of the Month Club offer for April, and made it to 5th place for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and of course has its own
Wikipedia entry.
Currently free until just before midnight Eastern Time on April 16th directly @
the publisher's dedicated promo page (DRM-free ePub & Mobi available only to Canada & the US due to geographic restrictions, in exchange for newsletter signup with your valid email address), and you can follow along with the ensuing book club discussion on their
usual blog tag.
Description
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.