Spinning Silver cover art

Spinning Silver

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Spinning Silver

By: Naomi Novik
Narrated by: Katy Sobey
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Will dark magic claim their home?

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her own heart and takes up his work in their village. Her success creates rumours she can turn silver into gold, which attract the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge – and if she fails, she’ll die. Yet if she triumphs, it may mean a fate worse than death. And in her desperate efforts to succeed, Miryem unwittingly spins a web which draws in the unhappy daughter of a lord.

Irina’s father schemes to wed her to the tsar – he will pay any price to achieve this goal. However, the dashing tsar is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of mortals and winter alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and Irina embark on a quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power and love.

As with her standalone novel Uprooted, Naomi Novik has once again been influenced by classic folktales. Taking Rumpelstiltskin as her starting point, Spinning Silver is a rich, multilayered new story which is a joy to read.

©Naomi Novik 2018 (P)2018 Penguin Random House LLC Fantasy Fiction Historical Magic Heartfelt Winter Paranormal

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Silver Birch, Blood Moon cover art
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow cover art
All the Murmuring Bones cover art
The Witness for the Dead cover art
Bryony and Roses cover art
King of Scars cover art
Ash cover art
New Spring cover art
Demon in the Wood cover art
Elantris: Tenth Anniversary Author's Definitive Edition (1 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
The Priory of the Orange Tree cover art
Morgan Is My Name cover art
Wicked Saints: A Novel cover art
Kissing the Witch cover art
Birdcage Walk cover art
Nolyn cover art

Critic reviews

Cool and clever and warm and satisfying and dire and wonderful; I loved this book so much (Laini Taylor)
A book as cool and mysterious as a winter’s night, with two marvelous heroines at its heart. Spinning Silver pits the cold of endless winter against the fires of duty, love and sacrifice. I couldn’t put it down (Katherine Arden)
Dauntless women, cruel lords and wayward fairies come together in a beautifully realised world. Brimming over with fairy-tale magic, SPINNING SILVER proves Naomi Novik to be a master fantasist at the top of her game (Zen Cho)
Lovely, intricate and strong. A gorgeous read. The sort of book one reads again and again (Genevieve Cogman)
All stars
Most relevant  
As so many reviews before me. I agree that it was difficult initially to get used to the narrative as her changes were difficult, but as all the reviews also said you get used to it and the story is well worth it. so stick with it.

wonderful tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I listened to Novick"s _Uprooted_ and immediately purchased _Spinning Silver_. I was thinking that the length of it would keep me busy for a while. BUT I couldn't stop!!! The plot kept getting better and better and the characters kept giving me more and more layers. I want to go back and listen again so I can think about the themes she's woven through. This might be my new favourite book. Just read it. But make sure you have time to keep going once you've started!!!

I COULDN'T STOP

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Knowing that the story is narrated from multiple character's points of view has helped listening and keeping up with the storyline. The frequent changes keep it interesting and pace the story well. I loved the character development and detail that went into the world building. Looking forward to more from the author!

Enjoyable and cleverly done fairytale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was a lovely audiobook and a really good story.
If like me comments and reviews freaked you out a bit : I personally enjoyed the changes of POV!!
I thought it was masterfully handled, and getting different perspective on the same events in the book added so much layers and characterization.
It's also fucking nice to see how independent thinking can blossom in the minds of different folks going through different kinds of traumatic shit. I'm a bit tired or the narrative that pretends "women in the ol'times did not think by themselves and just accepted their lower status heads bent" and this book was anything but that!!
It very vividly depicted genuine character development, and it talked about a form of solidarity born of complexity and oppression rather than our of pure "magic kindness'.
And I appreciated that a lot!!
I'm a sucker for folktales rewritten and as a Jew I highly value the art of retelling stories over and over, that is part of our long-standing tradition as a people.
And talking about Jewishness, so THIS IS where all the Eastern European Jews of Uprooted where hiding all of this time!! Glad Novik ended up finding room for our people, and including us in her amazing writing.
I'll even forgive her having Miryem referenced the Book of Judith (Christian Scriptures!!!!), because the way she writes about antisemitism and her characters experiencing it on both ends (either being antisemitic or suffering antisemitism) was very well done.
It is at time a bit simplified, no mentions of the Christian Church planting and using that antisemitism to its own gain for instance, but overall I felt like a nice and relatable portrait of Jewish identity that I resonated with.
I enjoyed my time in Lithvas, and left this world on an ending that made me hopeful and filled with a craving for rereading my favourites tales.

An empowering and smart retelling of a folktale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My 1st adult fairytale type book. I thought it might be soppy but it wasn’t. If you liked Harry Potter or The hobbit, or Jonathon Strange, you may well like this one. I was gripped & even a little tearful occasionally. Well written in language & setting. Details of time & place ie Russian type setting seemed authentic & believable. The narrator was fine. The voices weren’t so very different - but often in books it takes a few words into a chapter to twig who is talking so similar to this & didn’t distract from story.

Gripping & worth spending a credit on it. Also long so good value for a journey!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I wasn't sure what to make of this book but actually I really enjoyed it. it's full of fantasy with lots of twists and turns with the characters. good story line and well thought out.

The narrator was good BUT I found myself getting confused on which female character she was playing. sounded all the same so had to keep listening to figure out which one as it went along.

magical and all things fantasy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A slower burner that the amazing trilogy, darker, harsher but with wonderfully strong female characters as always. Only seen a good because her trilogy was great. Narration excellent as ever.

Not in the same vein as deadly education, but good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved it, even more than I loved Uprooted. The voice took a moment to get used to (an hour or so), but was lovely after that. One issue I had, is that it sometimes takes a moment to realise which of the main characters is speaking at the moment, since there are a few. This sometimes created a little confusion. But I have quickly become a Naomi Novik fan!

amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have really enjoyed this. Loved appearance of old Gods in the story. Very well crafted

Brilliantly put together

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrator does a similar voice for different points of view and there is no warning that the point of view has changed mid chapter! This might be ok in the book but it made me confused.

Good story. Confusing narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews