''Chernevog'' is a

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

by American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and fantasy author

C. J. Cherryh Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels '' Downbelo ...

. It was first published in September 1990 in the United States in a hardcover edition by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

under its

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...

imprint. ''Chernevog'' is book two of Cherryh's three-book '' Russian Stories'' trilogy set in medieval Russia in forests along the

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...

River near

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in modern-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The novel draws on

Slavic folklore Slavic folklore encompasses the folklore of the Slavic peoples from their earliest records until today. Folklorists have published a variety of works focused specifically on the topic over the years.See, for example, Kononenko 2007. See also * ...

, the title of the novel being a variant name of the "black god"

Chernobog Chernobog ( "Black God") and Belobog ( "White God") are an alleged pair of Polabian deities. Chernobog appears in the Helmold's '' Chronicle'' as a god of misfortune worshipped by the Wagri and Obodrites, while Belobog is not mentioned – he wa ...

, and concerns the fate of a girl who has drowned and become a rusalka. It is also an exploration of magic and the development of a young wizard. Cherryh

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

a revised edition of ''Chernevog'' in e-book format in March 2012 at Closed Circle Publications. Authorship of this edition is credited to C. J. Cherryh and

Jane Fancher Jane Suzanne Fancher (born 1952) is a science fiction and fantasy author and artist. Work In the early 1980s, she worked for Warp Graphics as an art assistant on '' Elfquest'', providing inking assistance on the black and white comics and colori ...

because of Fancher's contributions to the revisions.

Plot summary

''Chernevog'' begins three years after the conclusion of '' Rusalka''. Sasha, Pyetr and Eveshka are living in Uulamets' cottage; Sasha is 18 and a young wizard, and Pyetr and Eveshka are married. Chernevog is still asleep in the forest, guarded by the leshys, but Sasha and Eveshka have disturbing dreams about him waking up. One day Sasha and Pyetr find that Eveshka has disappeared, and they set off to find her. They suspect that she may have gone to confront Chernevog, who still controls their lives. Sasha and Pyetr travel into the forest and find Chernevog still asleep. Pyetr tries to kill him once and for all, but an owl, a childhood friend of Chernevog's whom he gave his heart to, attacks Pyetr. Pyetr kills the owl and Chernevog regains his heart, which wakes him up. Chernevog had given away his heart to free his conscience, enabling him to practise magic freely. Sasha has learnt that Chernevog had rejected Uulamets' teachings of wizardry, which works within nature and considers the consequences of wishes, and turned to magic, which taps dark forces and is not concerned with laws of nature. Pyetr tries to kill Chernevog again, but Sasha stops him. With his heart, Chernevog's actions are limited and Sasha is able to control him. Sasha and Pyetr resume their search for Eveshka, taking Chernevog with them. Eveshka's reason for fleeing the house is because she knows Chernevog will wake up and she fears for their safety. She is drawn to a house occupied by her mother, Draga, whom Chernevog and murdered after he had had Eveshka killed. Draga and Uulamets had met when they were both under the tutelage of a wizard named Malenkova, but Uulamets feared her and ran away. Draga killed the wizard, and later, pregnant, arrived at Uulamets' cottage to give birth to Eveshka. Uulamets took Eveshka away from Draga, and fearing for her life, she ran away, leaving Uulamets the task of bringing up and controlling a "doubly gifted" wizard. Draga then found Chernevog, an abandoned child who had been abused by another wizard, and took him in. Chernevog was wild and appeared possessed, but she controlled and manipulated him, then sent him to Uulamets to be his student. Chernevog hated Uulamets and had killed Eveshka to revenge him. Chernevog then, using his new-found skills, hunted down and killed Draga. Over the years Draga, as a ghost, slowly willed herself back to life, intent on revenging her murder. After days looking for Eveshka, Sasha drops his guard and Chernevog sends his heart to Pyetr, allowing him to freely practise magic again. In control of both Sasha and Pyetr, Chernevog directs the search for Eveshka, hoping to find her before she finds Draga, whom he knows is alive again. Draga needs Eveshka's help in overcoming Chernevog and tells her that she is pregnant with Pyetr's child. She also persuades Eveshka to start using magic. Draga had inherited magical wolves from Malenkova and she divides Eveshka's consciousness amongst them, increasing her power. When Chernevog, Sasha and Pyetr arrive at Draga's house, the wolves threaten to overwhelm Chernevog. Realizing that he cannot defeat Draga and Eveshka's magic, Chernevog retreats and the wolves and Draga follow. When they reach a nearby hill, Chernevog calls down a lightning strike that kills him, Draga and the wolves. This frees Pyetr of Chernevog's heart and Eveshka from the wolves and Draga's control. Pyetr, Eveshka and Sasha return to their cottage where Eveshka gives birth to a daughter. But she is worried about bringing up a wizard child, knowing what it might do to them, and especially Pyetr, if it does not get its way.

Reception

In a review of ''Chernevog'' in the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', science fiction and fantasy writer

Roland J. Green Roland James Green (September 2, 1944 - April 20, 2021) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer and editor. He wrote as Roland Green and Roland J. Green; and had 28 books in the Richard Blade series published under the pen name 'Jef ...

complemented Cherryh on her "deep historical scholarship, splendid folkloric skill, superb characterization, and ... mastery of mood-setting". A reviewer in

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

said that while ''Chernevog'' is " scure in places" it is "an original fantasy with fascinating characters, unique magic, and compelling plot".

Notes

References

Works cited

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External links