Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to western European culture: a menacing, evil shape; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for decades. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eye of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and changed undertake the tale brings the actions to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian background in the twentieth century. Deathless, however, is normally no dry, traditional tome: it lighting up like fireplace as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a smart child from the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. On the way you will find Stalinist home elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power.

All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of trend and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian misconception back to lifestyle in a sensational new incarnation.