The Whisper of Stars by Cristin Williams

Book Blurb

A frozen island

A monastery turned political prison.

A cipher inked in blood.

When anarchist poet Katya Efremova is transferred to the prison colony on Solovetsky Island, she finds an enigma among her returned possessions – a blood-stained book containing a cipher left by her murdered mother, written on the day she died.

Following her mother’s clues, Katya begins to unravel a centuries-old mystery woven into the history of Solovetsky Island. Finding the island’s legendary power might be the key to overthrowing the Bolshevik regime, but Katya wasn’t sent to Solovetsky by chance. The head of the government’s spy network is watching, and there will be no hope of a free Russia if he takes hold of the magic hidden beneath the White Sea snow.

My Review
I was delighted to be asked to take part in the blog tour for The Whisper of Stars by Cristin Williams as it combines two of my favourtie genres historical fiction and fantasy fiction. This book is set in post revolutionary Russia, Lennin is now the leader of Russia but there are those who didn’t feel the revolution went far enough and those who object to the revolution. Those captured find themselves imprisoned on Solovetsky Island, in an old monastery with secrets of its own and a touch of magic. Katya finds herself there after the death of her anarchist mother and Dima being the only survivor after his family were murdered. From disparate sides of the political spectrum they are drawn together and realise that ultimately they have the same goals.

What I loved most about reading The Whisper of Stars was the blend of historical fiction with Russian folklore and magic. Russia is still unstable and Lennin is trying to use magic to control the minds of the citizens into his way of thinking and this is how Katya and Dima come into the story. Katya is a witch, she is imprisoned and being tested on to see if they can harness her magic to use as mind control on dissenters. As a character I really took to Katya, she is only a teenager but sticks to her principles and opposes those in power. If she simply does what they ask her life would be better, better living conditions and food but she refuses to help meaning she is starved. She has closed herself off emotionally as a result of her mother’s death and because of the experiments she is subjected to, until she realises she is not on her own.

Dima, like Katya, has magic in his blood, that of minstrel magic and the ability to transform into a bear. However, he is from the aristocracy and is a cossack that sets him on the opposite side of the Russian Revolution to Katya. His and Katya’s path cross first in the experiment room and then on Solovetsky Island where they realise that there is a lot more to this old monastery and the islands around it. I found their relationship almost hypnotic, the way they interacted with caution but also with passion for the cause and each other.

The story itself was engaging with the many elements of history, magic and the search for a magical book that can give great power to the person who finds it. Cristin Williams certainly captures the atmosphere of Russia at this moment in time. Still a place of discord with harsh punishment for those who don’t tow the line, the brutality of the Russian regime, the sensless murder, the harassment of women made for difficult reading at times. This was magnified by the fact that some of the guards have the ability to transform into wolves so no one can out run them. There were many heart in the mouth and suspensfull moments in this book but also lighter moments of the realtionships forged and of course with a touch of romance.

I found The Whisper of Stars to be an engaging and immersive read. The different elements of the plot worked well together and helped keep my attention. Crisrin Williams has obviously done a lot of reseach into Russian history making it easy for the reader to understand, and the addition of folklore and magic added to the mystical atmosphere of the book. This is an enchanting, enthralling and entertaining read and perfect for curling up with in the coming cold and dark nights.

I’d like to thank Gollancz and Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers blog tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour in return for my honest review.