The Whisper of Stars - Cristin Williams

The Whisper of Stars is an ambitious work of fantasy fiction that lays its fantasy elements onto real-life history and even real-life historical figures. That's not entirely new of course, but what is impressive is in how convincing Cristin Williams makes it, building a folk-like legend around a particularly dark moment in world history without making light of the horrors surrounding it. The events of the novel are set in 1923 in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, where the Bolshevik forces under Lenin are hoping to use the skills of a select group of citizens to serve the needs of the state: those with the ability of witchcraft.

There are three individuals in particular in the novel with striking and different abilities. Yekaterina Efremova, comes from a family of anarchists, Katya the daughter of the famous Svetlana Efremova. Katya is volshevniki, born with magic powers, her speciality as a charovniki is in the casting of spells. After some experiments to try to control her powers have failed, she is exiled to a prison and forced labour camp on Solvetsky island. the site of the famous Solovki Monastery. Katya is unaware that her mother once visited the island, but she immediately feels that the island has some strange character and power.

Also exiled to the island is Dima, the son of an aristocratic family of Cossacks and thus another enemy of the state. He has skomorokh shape shifting powers and can transform into a bear, another power that the authorities find too hard to control. He has recognised Katya from a vision while they were both being experimented on at the lab. They may be both counter-revolutionaries in their own way, but a aristocrat and anarchist, they are on opposing sides and natural enemies. Dima has also has a distant ancestor who stayed in the island, so there appears to be strange forces at work that needs their combined abilities.

And there is something there that could prove to be critical to determining the future of Russia, a certain object related to the 17th century revolutionary Stenka Razin that could grant huge power to the owner. Of course there is a danger what that will mean should it fall into the wrong hands, and the Bolsheviki are searching for it too. Commissar Boky's spy network has employed another young person with special powers to help them. Natasha is a vedma witch, who has used the magic of ritual to identify and condemn counter-revolutionaries, with perhaps little choice in the matter. She has also been transferred to the prison island with instructions to get close to and report on Katya.

Although there often feels like there is a YA teen element to the book with its focus on the three young people - and to be honest I found the teen romance aspects of the story very off-putting - Cristin Williams in no way underplays the horrifying reality of what it means to be sentenced to a labour camp on Solvetsky Island; it's a brutal place where you work or starve. Even the overlaid fantasy elements don't make that any less bearable, but on the contrary, with a unit of guards that are able to transform into volkolaki wolves it just seems to find another way of highlighting the darkness and unreality of the place and the times.

It presents an accurate picture of the bloody brutality of the times, Cristin Williams meticulous in the historical research that has gone into the book, but the way that the Russian revolutionary history is combined with folk stories, history and legends is even more impressive. It might not be a perfect fit and sometimes inevitably the magic seems to be found at convenient moments, but it also presents a sense of power that the Red Army are not able to control and the dangers of where it can all lead. That's a large subject when it comes to Russian history, but the author tackles this difficult period recognising that horrors have been committed by all those seeking power throughout the ages.

“The Revolution was meant to be a beacon, but its light had gone out. Now the people were held for ransom by the beastly men who’d devoured their way to the top.”

And along with that there is the recognition that the ones who suffer and pay the price for these ideals and ambitions are the ordinary people. The suggestion, through the young people and the figures (and legends) who give them inspiration and direction, is that they are not powerless themselves. As well as being a thrilling use of the genre, the magic fantasy element also serves to point to a deeper human experience and connection. Even within the teen romance between former enemies there is a sense of that, but it is still tedious and skipoverable. These are all features however that blend together exceptionally well, making the choice of setting and handling of history relevant, giving the novel some real world purpose and meaning. 

Reading notes: The Whisper of Stars by Crispin Williams is published by Gollancz on the 6th November 2025. I read an advance proof eBook provided by the publisher through NetGalley.