They say, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” which is a fair and a true statement for many reasons. The most common reason is the cover doesn’t always do the book justice, among other reasons. There is another common reason for not passing judgment on a book’s cover: the title is revealed before a book’s cover is determined.
The Witch and the Tsar—the debut novel by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore—is a book with a title that draws you towards it without knowing what the story is about. There is a hint within the title—the tsar—but which one? Here’s another hint: this historical fantasy novel is about two of Russia’s most infamous figures—both from folklore and from history—the witch, Baba Yaga, and Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich IV of Russia, also known as Ivan, the Terrible.
The protagonist in this narrative is Yaga, before she earns the title, Baba. In this variant, Yaga is a demigod: her father was mortal, and her mother is Mokosh, the Earth Mother and the goddess of fertility. Yaga has lived for centuries alone in the woods with her house, on chicken legs, and her familiars for company. However, Yaga does live amongst mortals from time-to-time, before they learn she is a witch, and try to kill her.
Yet, Yaga does make friends during those times. In fact, one of them is the current Tsaritsa and wife of Tsar Ivan, Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva; and, she has sought out Yaga for help. The Tsaritsa believes someone is poisoning her and asks Yaga for an antidote. Yaga cannot determine what the poison is, but she is able to give the Tsaritsa a tonic, which does keep the effects of the poison at bay for some time.
The Tsaritsa must return to Moscow even though she has not recovered from the poison. The only thing Yaga can do for her friend is to travel to Moscow so she can protect the Tsaritsa and to figure out who is poisoning her. It is a risk Yaga is willing to take, but will the Tsar and the members of court allow Yaga to continue with both her treatment of the Tsaritsa and her investigations of the culprit behind the poisoning?
There are other characters in this narrative who have pivotal roles. The first character is Tsar Ivan. He is worried about his wife and of potential warring armies to the point where he’s starting to become paranoid of everything and suspicious of everyone. Next, is Boyar Konstantin Buyanovich, the Tsar’s advisor. In fact, Yaga recognizes the Boyar and decides to confirm his true identity. Then, there is Kira Armikovna, the Tsaritsa’s Head of Household, who is not pleased to see Yaga accompanying her mistress. Last, is a boyar named Aleksey Fyodorovich, one of the members of the Tsar’s Council. He is worried the Tsar’s erratic behavior is getting worse and could soon cause chaos within Russia.
Yaga speaks with Konstantin, and it turns out they want the same things. Yaga wants to protect the Tsaritsa—and her sons, Ivanushka and Fyodor—to save Russia from a nefarious future, and Konstantin wants to protect the Tsar to keep Russia from heading into a nefarious future. They should be working together, except Yaga’s role, status, and reputation are against her. And, when a series of misfortunes—including the Tsaritsa’s declining health—strike Moscow, with Yaga being labeled as a vedma (witch), she needs to find a way to claim her immortal heritage to save Russia from those who indulge in the Tsar’s madness. All of these characters want the same thing: to protect the Royal Family, and to save Russia. Unfortunately, their egos keep them from working together.
One of the things that make this novel stand out is the balance between history and culture. While this is not new in the historical fantasy subgenre, the Russian folklore plays just as much of a role within the narrative as the moments in history. For over twenty years, immortals, magic, and warfare wreaked havoc throughout Russia. This presents the potential long-term affect all three would have on a nation, and its denizens—the same things the main characters wanted to protect. Even if you do not believe in gods and/or magic, you cannot deny that war, especially civil war, is not a good thing.
Gilmore [or Salnikova Gilmore, not sure which it is -editor] found a clever way to retell the history of Ivan the Terrible’s reign. One might not remember everything they learned about this Tsar outside of their high school history class, but Tsar Ivan IV is a historical figure, abet a notorious one for reasons mentioned in the narrative. Throughout the narrative, both the time of the year and the specific dates are noted by the protagonist through the author. This is NOT a coincidence! In fact, history buffs will figure out the significance of those dates before the other readers do.
As I mentioned earlier, this novel tells a story about two Russian figures. Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich IV lived during the 16th Century, but Baba Yaga’s story had been reduced to folktales told to children as cautionary tales (or, a codename for a fictional Russian mafia hitman). Reading about Baba Yaga’s actual history within Russian culture demonstrates how much history and culture was lost, until someone found a way to re-introduce the figure to modern audiences. It is possible that Russian gods and goddesses influenced this war similar to how the Greek gods and goddesses influenced the Trojan War.
Fans and readers of historical fantasy—especially those who enjoy the historical narrative—should read The Witch and the Tsar. This novel is NOT a retelling of the lore of Baba Yaga, but a fictionalized history of the role Yaga might have had during Russia’s most pivotal moments in history. If you enjoyed Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, or Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark, then you should read this book.
The Witch and the Tsar is the debut novel that takes two notorious figures and puts them on opposing sides of a conflict which changes one empire forever. Gilmore writes a convincing historical fiction with enough fantastical elements that readers of both genres will be immersed in the narrative, equally. Yaga has an interesting history, and we get to learn about (some of) it.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene