NEW SCIENCE
FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS
Reviews Of
Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
Reviewer:
Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
Blog
Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/
July 7, 2017
Nicholas Kotar Pens
Russian Fantasy:
The Song Of The Sirin Retells Prince Ivan And The Grey Wolf
A Review of
Nicholas
Kotar Raven Son Book One – The Song of
the Sirin (Waystone, 2017)
373 pp $11.34
ISBN: 9780998847900
Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz
Nicholas Kotar is an American of Russian
descent who has embarked on a mission to revive Russian fantasy beginning with
the story under review here. (This is a
change from his original plan three years ago in which Raven Son was the title of the first book, rather than of the
series.) The Sirins in this tale are
very good and exalted beings whose songs lead to great blessing, so that they
must in no way be confused with the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey, whose songs lead to destruction. Another difference is that the Ravens here
are much more wicked than the Poe-ic Ravens:
their blackness is comparable to the blackness of Black Holes. These are but two examples of the uniqueness
of the story’s Russian fantasy context, which is suffused with all kinds of
concepts with which Americans are unfamiliar.
So, the reader should prepare himself for a wild old-time Russian Ride through
all kinds of strange places with all kinds of strange fantasy beings!
You can get some idea of the author’s
perspective by visiting his beautiful and informative website www.nicholaskotar.com.
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