Deathless

I don't even know what to say about this book. It's gorgeous and dark and terrible in the way of true fairy tales. It gave me nightmares. Also in the way of fairy tales (or dreams), it makes no sense – characters' motives are unclear and they exist in a world where ordinary words and actions are suffused with unknown dangers (and, occasionally, unexpected luck). But, since it is a fairy tale, I don't believe that is a criticism. In the end, everyone did the best they could to find happiness within the story that had to be played out... a sense of losing oneself to an archetype, to a pattern, to the requirements of a life. (Writing this, I'm wondering if knowing the Russian mythology it's based on would give me more of a framework for understanding the story. It does seem to have something in common with Wicked, or Grendel, or “Snow, Glass, Apples”... a sense of being on the wrong end of a predetermined series of events.)I never comprehended Marya, and it frustrated me. Her character kept shifting and there was never enough insight into her inner thoughts to make me feel like I knew her.It's a sad book, even a heartbreaking book sometimes; a world where love is about power and pain, where everyone is at war (and the war is going badly; the war is always going badly), where your friends always die, where death seeks to reach out and claim you at every moment. A world where the story will play out, whether you will or no. But there is a sweetness in it, too.On the whole, I am not entirely sure I understood it, and I do know I liked [b:Palimpsest 3973532 Palimpsest Catherynne M. Valente http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320532857s/3973532.jpg 4019291] better.