Spinning Silver

There's something nostalgic about Novik's writing. Both “Spinning Silver” and her previous book “Uprooted” feel like German fairy tales written a hundred years ago. They have a sense of danger you wouldn't see in a Disney fairy tale, while incorporating the fear and reality of an old-time tale. Spinning Silver jumps between first-person stories following a money changer and her growth into the role. The story takes a turn when a mystical character asks her, a regular person, to change silver into gold after hearing of her skills out of context. What follows is a tale through distant worlds that still feels familiar.