Agnieszka’s village lies at the edge of The Wood, a dark and sinister forest full of monsters and magic. They survive only by the mercy of The Dragon, a great and powerful wizard, but his mercy has a price. Every ten years, he descends on the village and chooses a girl to become his servant. The girls are never the same when they are released. Everyone has always known who will be chosen this year, Kasia, the good and brave and beautiful. So when the day comes and the Dragon chooses her unremarkable friend Agnieszka instead, everyone is stunned, especially Kasia and Agnieszka. So Agnieszka goes to his tower, and finds that nothing is as she expected. The Wood is advancing, huge and ominous, and if they aren’t able to stop it, it will devour her village and everything and everyone in it. And the Dragon isn’t what she expected either...This is a tale deeply rooted in Russian folklore and fairy tales, but it subverts a lot of the tropes you usually see in the fairy tale genre. Not every author can build an atmosphere like this, both tense and whimsical. The descriptions of the forest are legitimately frightening, and the style of magic they use is really something different. Agnieszka isn’t your average fairy tale heroine, and the Dragon isn’t your average hero (or villain, or romantic lead, for that matter). If you’re a fan of dark fairy tales, give this a chance. It’s one of the best.
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