Travel Destination: Russia
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
A retelling of the Russian folktale Marya Morevna and Koschei the Deathless set in St. Petersburg during the first half of the 20th century.
The novel follows the life of Marya Morevna as she transforms from a young child witnessing the revolution to her newfound position as bride after her marriage with Koschei, Tsar of Life.
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Set in 16th century Russia on the brink of chaos. Tsar Ivan—soon to become Ivan the Terrible—grows more volatile by the day.
As a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumors about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells. But when her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the Tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves.
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
Feodora and her mother live in the snowbound woods of Russia, Ten minutes away from their house, in a ruined chapel, lives a pack of wolves. Feodora's mother is a wolf wilder, and Feo is a wolf wilder in training. A wolf wilder is the opposite of an animal tamer: it is a person who teaches tamed animals to fend for themselves, and to fight and to run, and to be wary of humans.
When the murderous hostility of the Russian Army threatens her very existence, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. What follows is a story of revolution and adventure, about standing up for the things you love and fighting back. And, of course, wolves.
Pyotra and the Wolf by Elna Holst
For the space of a breath or two, that wolf had entranced her, mesmerised her, made her believe-the impossible. And that was all it took.
Nothing about this wolf was as it should be.
Pyotra Nikolayevna Kulakova lives in a small Russian settlement in the northern Siberian taiga, where the polar night lasts for a good month out of the year and the temperature rarely reaches above freezing point. Pyotra's days, too, seem congealed and unchanging, laden with grief, until her baby brother's close encounter with a tundra wolf upends the lives of the three members of the Kulakov family in one fell swoop.
A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton
Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans–especially witches–but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf's keen nose for a secret plan she's brewing . . . Before Zima knows what's happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga's hut and Baba Yaga's body
Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch's help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga's form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.