did you know it is spin off of anya and the dargon
Good book, but too long
This is one of the most entertaining fantasy stories I've read recently. Set in an alternate Russia (I think in the Middle Ages) where people can use magic and enchanted creatures live in the forests, streams, and people's houses, it's the second in a series and focuses on the continuing adventures of Anya (the only daughter of the only Jewish family in her small town), her friend Ivan (who comes from a family of professional fools, kind of like old-time comedians), and their water-dragon friend Hakon. A knight had promised to help get Anya's father home from where he'd been wrongfully conscripted into the army, but he still hasn't returned after almost a year, and the three go off to rescue him. Along the way, they meet a warrior princess, an elf who wields sound magic, and a charming young archer who's the son of a rabbi. Will Anya ever develop magic of her own? Will she save her father and figure out what the tsar is up to? Read this humorous, charming book and find out!
Spoiler alert! Anya tries to find her father and bring him home but instead she meets a elf known as the nightingale who's brother has been trapped by the tzar merely for existing! Can Anya help free them? Read the book to find out.
It could be a really good book, like the first. Although both books are not always right about Jewish tradition or Jewish law. In the past, girls were bat mitzvah at 12, not 13. That is only a recent thing in certain groups and most Jews still do it at 12 outside of America. I don't like that the Tsar doesn't allow Jews to serve. My rabbi's ancestors hid their sons by using the names of boys who had died because the Tsar not only took Jews to be soldiers, but kidnapped them from their families when they were just kids, even only 7 years old. The kids forced to convert to Christianity and were not allowed to go home until they grew up and then served 21 years in the army. Very few Jewish kids came home who were taken to be soldiers for the Tsar. So, that part wasn't true because lots of Jews were lost in the army, including kids.