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C. J. Cherryh
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Rusalka Paperback – September 13, 1990

by C.J. Cherryh (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 34 ratings
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This is Hugo-Award-winning author C.J. Cherryh's Del Rey debut--the story of Rusalka, the ghost of a murdered girl still seeking to exist by drawing the energy of life from all nearby living things, and the attempt to bring her back to life by her father Ulamets, and Pyetr, the young man who loved her.
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  1. Print length
    342 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Del Rey
  4. Publication date
    September 13, 1990
  5. Dimensions
    4.25 x 1 x 7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0345369343
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0345369345
  8. See all details
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-Award-winning author C.J. Cherryh's Del Rey debut--the story of Rusalka, the ghost of a murdered girl still seeking to exist by drawing the energy of life from all nearby living things, and the attempt to bring her back to life by her father Ulamets, and Pyetr, the young man who loved her.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Del Rey; Reprint edition (September 13, 1990)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 342 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345369343
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345369345
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 1 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

About the author

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C. J. Cherryh

C. J. Cherryh

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

I've written sf and fantasy for publication since 1975...but I've written a lot longer than that. I have a background in Mediterranean archaeology, Latin, Greek, that sort of thing; my hobbies are travel, photography, planetary geology, physics, pond-building for koi...I run a marine tank, can plumb most anything, and I figure-skate.

I believe in the future: I'm an optimist for good reason---I've studied a lot of history, in which, yes, there is climate change, and our species has been through it. We've never faced it fully armed with what we now know, and if we play our cards right, we'll use it as a technological springboard and carry on in very interesting ways.

I also believe a writer owes a reader a book that has more than general despair to spread about: I write about clever, determined people who don't put up with situations, not for long, anyway: people who find solutions inspire me.

My personal websites and blog: http://www.cherryh.com

http://www.cherryh.com/WaveWithoutAShore

http://www.closed-circle.net

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
34 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David L. Wilkening
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2017
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It leaves you with a lot to think about.
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Jimi Dracutt
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and beautifully done!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2005
First, I would like to say that I do not know about Russian culture. A friend of mine told me that there are plays and operas based on Rusalka. Depending from different parts of Russia, Rusalka is a ghost with past different mythologies & varieties of powers. Well, Ms. Cherryh create a great fantasy based on the concept of a Rusalka.

The intorduction of the book is fast paced where one the the characters, Pyetr falsely accused of something and the village wants him dead. Along the way, he gets unexpected help from a wet behind ears teenage boy and escape the village of Vojvoda.

Pyetr learns a little bit more about his new companion, tries to portray the real harshness of life & squash fairy tales of magic. Pyetr getting weak & near death they fortunately meet the likelihood of Uulamets. Uulamets a proud wizard in own right does something that is believe that can't be done. The trio soon become somewhat of a family when a new chartacter, Eveshka comes into the mix. Don't want to give away to much but this a great read especially for a book that was written sometime in the 80's.
5 people found this helpful
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Terri B.
3.0 out of 5 stars Not her best, but still contains the Cherryh "magic"
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2008
Rusalka is a fantasy set in pre-Christian Russia. Cherryh creates plenty of atmosphere as her characters Pyetr and Sasha flee trouble in Vojvoda during the darkness of winter and find themselves at the mercy of a powerful wizard in a dead forest. Pyetr, who was mortally wounded as he fled, has ironically been healed and returned to life by a magic he denies exists ... a skeptic. Sasha believes in magic and lives at its mercy until he discovers that he is a wizard and must learn how to direct the powerful forces that flow through him.

Despite their differences, Pyetr and Sasha are devoted to each other. Street-wise Pyetr is determined to protect the younger and naive Sasha from those who would take advantage of his innocence, and Sasha refuses to leave Pyetr alone and unprotected from the powerful magic that he vehemently denies. Pyetr relies on his wits to shield him from misfortune. Sasha is determined to avoid trouble by learning to carefully control his powerful thoughts. Together they learn that neither wits nor careful manipulation will protect them from the uncertainties of life and that there is nothing more powerful than a good and loyal friend.

Pyetr and Sasha will need to rely on each other if they are to survive the ordeal that awaits them. They encounter various magical spirits that inhabit this dark forest while constrained by the will of Uulamets, the wizard. These spirits are quite fickle and most times very dangerous. Along with these not-so-benevolent spirits, the forest is haunted by the ghost of a young murdered woman. She is a rusalka and she is the daughter of Uulamets. The rusalka doesn't want to be dead and so must drain the life from anything or anyone in order to maintain existence until her father can bring her back to life.

Cherryh uses Slavic folklore, with its heavy emphasis on magical power, to tell the story of a different kind of power ... the power of friendship. This is the strength of Rusalka. Cherryh's ability to create an atmospheric novel is one of her strong points as a writer. She can also generate an intensity that leaves you gasping and dreaming strange dreams at night. That said, I was disappointed with this novel. The struggle of wills revealed through the dialogue between characters was meant to build and create that intensity I just mentioned, but instead I found the conversations repetitive and tedious. I couldn't wait for the characters to stop their constant bickering and for Cherryh to just get on with some action instead. I generally like Cherryh's books a lot, so I'm a bit baffled by my ambivalence toward this novel. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for this one, so I'm glad that this was not my first experience with Cherryh.
5 people found this helpful
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Dan
5.0 out of 5 stars Rusalka: Cummingly Mudluscious
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2001
I consider myself to be an educated, literate person. And like most educated, literate people I tend to frown down upon the science fiction and fantasy genre as a whole. But don't get me wrong: there is some damn good fiction that, for better or worse, tends to get categorized as science fiction or fantasy.
At the forefront of this small group are Walter Miller's Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, and CJ Cherryh's Rusalka trilogy. Saint Leibowitz... for being the best work of science fiction ever published, the Wheel of Time for being the best and most ambitious meditation on escapism ever attempted and Rusalka, for simply being Rusalka.
Spare and unpretentious, Rusalka is a fairy tale, and nothing more. Though the characters sometimes do tend to seem stereotypical, as Julia Alvarez' In The Time of the Butterflies shows us, this needn't detract from the value of the work as a whole.
Rusalka may be a fairy tale, but it is a decidedly dark one at that. The whole of the first book's action takes place in a wet, Cummingly mudluscious spring. The woods are dead and dying, the forest of the Rusalka shapeless gray trunks protruding grossly from brittle brown grass and marshes.
To quote the old cliche: you can't judge a book by its cover. But, simply put, I can think of no one more qualified than Keith Parkinson to evoke the entire world of Rusalka in one single image. And he succeeds beautifully. Parkinson's Rusalka covers are easily some of the best paintings to ever grace any book in any genre.
This is as good as fantasy literature gets and I would advise you, regardless of your past experiences with the genre to seriously consider driving out to your used book store and picking up a copy of Rusalka. Hell, pick up the entire series. And if you don't like your books used, order it off of this site. Buy it now, read it later, whatever. Just read it.
6 people found this helpful
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Sara Dawn
4.0 out of 5 stars Pleased
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2014
Verified Purchase
I can't remember the condition the seller said the book was in, so I hesitate to complain about the stain on the dust cover--that is, however, my only complaint about the condition. The book itself has an good story line, but is not fantastically written and strikes me as very generic. Still, an interesting read.
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ndmzero
5.0 out of 5 stars Great if you like stories about friendship (and angst)
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2004
I reread this trilogy (this is the first -- followed by Chernevog and Yvgenie) every few years. I love it. Obviously it isn't to everyone's taste, judging by some of the other reviews, but if you like stories about the power of friendship -- which is more powerful than wizardry as far as CJ Cherryh is concerned -- then this is well worth reading.

Just be prepared for some "stream of consciousness" writing.

ETA
Er, apparently the author doesn't agree with me - she may be planning a rewrite. She has a blog
[...]
However she has recently had a loss in her family, so, be kind. July 2009

N
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Andrea
5.0 out of 5 stars Good service, product as advertised.
Reviewed in Canada on August 3, 2022
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Good service, product as advertised. Thank you.
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2 different items ! L.B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Rusalka by C.J. Cherryh
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2017
Verified Purchase
My Rusalka by C.J. Cherryh arrived today, to replace my former (damaged) version. Now I can happily re-read the Trilogy again with this excellent replacement. So delighted that I was still able to buy it again, after so many years. I really love this author and find the books a very satisfactory read. Fantasy- Sci-Fi is something I enjoy, and Cherryh a master story teller. Many thanks for an exemplary & pristine copy, book's brandnew for a 2nd hand copy. L.B.
One person found this helpful
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The Grumbledook
3.0 out of 5 stars Nicht sehr flüssig zu lesen
Reviewed in Germany on April 27, 2010
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Der Stil ist recht typisch für die Authorin aber man merkt dann doch daß es sich um ein früheres Werk handelt; Die Handlungsstränge sind nicht so klar herausgearbeitet und schlüssig wie in den erfolgreichen Romanen und der Leser fragt sich doch des Öfteren mal "what?" und "why?". Es ist kein Buch das leicht und locker flüssig zu lesen ist aber die Geschichte ist schon recht interessant und die Idee eigentlich sehr gut, nur manchmal kämpft man sich durch die Zeilen wie Petyr und Sascha durch den Wald, das kann zuweilen etwas mühsam sein.
Trotzdem ist es für Leseratten die schon viel von Cherryh kennen ganz interessant auch diese Geschichte zu lesen und auch für Leute die sich der Fantasy-Literatur verschrieben haben und so ziemlich Alles kennen könnte die Thematik dieses Buches eine willkommene Abwechslung abseits des Mainstreams sein.
Vieleicht gerade dadurch daß die Handlung nicht leicht durchschaubar und das Ende nicht vorhersehbar ist bietet dieses Buch mehr Anreiz es zu lesen als solche, bei denen das Happy-End schon zu Beginn des letzten Drittels hindurchschimmert.
3 people found this helpful
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