NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The fate of two worlds rests on the shoulders of Vasilisa Petrovna as she contends with forces both mortal and magical in the stirring conclusion to the story that began with The Bear and the Nightingale. “A tale both intimate and epic, featuring a heroine whose harrowing and wondrous journey culminates in an emotionally resonant finale.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review) NAMED ONE OF PASTE ’S BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF THE DECADE Vasilisa Petrovna is an unforgettable heroine determined to forge her own path. Her gifts and her courage have bound her fate to Morozko, the winter-king, but it is too soon to know if this connection will prove a blessing or a curse. Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. And a wicked demon returns, determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict, her destiny uncertain, knowing that her choices will determine the fate of two worlds, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself as she desperately tries to protect her family, her country, and the magical world she loves. But she may not be able to save them all. “Luminous from page one . . . Featuring Rus nobles, witches, frost gods and a magical horse-with-the-soul-of-a-bird, The Winter of the Witch finds Arden at her best.” — Paste Don’t miss any of the bestselling Winternight Trilogy: THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE • THE GIRL IN THE TOWER • THE WINTER OF THE WITCH An Amazon Best Book of January 2019: As the third book opens in Arden's fantasy trilogy set in medieval Russia, Moscow is burning. Vasya is one of the few who can still see and speak with the old spirits who guard the hearth, calm horses, or lure unwary travelers into bogs, but her impatience and sense of invincibility has led to this disaster. Before the ashes of the city cool, old enemies rise to take their revenge on Vasya, and only through striking a bargain with a previous foe does Vasya have a chance to survive. Under the pressure of her mistakes, Vasya transforms into a battered but wiser warrior, and to save Russia from the all-too-human invaders at its borders, she must find a way for the old magic to work with the new. Arden's writing is almost luminescent in its power and emotion, and she bypasses lyrical fripperies for spare, white-hot storytelling. Not only does the Winternight Trilogy shine among Russian-inspired tales, it establishes a new high bar for coming-of-age fantasy epics. The Amazon editors picked all three books in the Winternight Trilogy as Best Books of the Month, and I can't wait to see what Arden creates next. —Adrian Liang, Amazon Book Review “[Katherine] Arden’s gorgeous prose entwines political intrigue and feminist themes with magic and folklore to tell a tale both intimate and epic, featuring a heroine whose harrowing and wondrous journey culminates in an emotionally resonant finale.” — Publishers Weekly  (starred review)   “Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy isn’t just good—it’s hug-to-your-chest, straight-to-the-favorites-shelf, reread-immediately good, and each book just gets  better .  The Winter of the Witch  plunges us back to fourteenth-century Moscow, where old gods and new vie for the soul of Russia and fate rests on a witch girl’s slender shoulders. Prepare to have your heart ripped out, loaned back to you full of snow and magic, and ripped out some more.” —Laini Taylor “Luxuriously detailed yet briskly suspenseful . . . a striking literary fantasy informed by Arden’s deep knowledge.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)   “Visceral descriptions of battle, an atmospheric sense of place, and some truly heartbreaking moments of loss make this a gut-wrenching read, but there’s ample hope and satisfaction to be found as Vasya chooses her own unique path to triumph.” — Booklist “Exciting, moving, and beautifully written, this is a story readers will savor.” — Library Reads Katherine Arden is the author of the national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower. Born in Austin, Texas, she has studied Russian in Moscow, taught at a school in the French Alps, and worked on a farm in Hawaii. She currently lives in Vermont. 1. Marya Morevna Dusk at the end of winter, and two men crossed the dooryard of a palace scarred by fire. The dooryard was a snowless waste of water and trampled earth; the men sank to their ankles in the muck. But they were speaking intently, heads close together, and did not heed the wet. Behind them lay a palace full of broken furniture, smoke-­stained; the screen-­work smashed on the staircases. Before them lay a charred ruin that had been a stable. “Chelubey disappeared in the confusion,” said the first man bitterly. “We were busy saving our own skins.” A smear of soot blackened his cheek, blood cr