The Winter of the Witch

The Winter of the Witch is a historical fantasy novel by the American writer Katherine Arden, published in 2019. It is the third book of the Winternight trilogy.

The novel is set in medieval Russia and draws on Russian folklore. Moscow has come through both a fire and a siege and is lying under fresh snow when it opens, and the Grand Prince, Dmitrii Ivanovich, and Vasya's brother Aleksandr Peresvet find a golden bridle while searching the ruins of the palace stable. The bridle is the one Kasyan used to enslave the mare that became the Firebird and set the city alight, and Dmitrii has it locked away.

Father Konstantin Nikonovich, a priest who has spent years hating Vasya and wanting her at the same time, takes the grief of Moscow and turns it into rage by accusing her of burning the city with witchcraft. A mob goes to the tower of her older sister, Olga, to find her. Vasya tries to slip out of the city to draw them away from her family, and her horse Solovey breaks his leg bursting from the stable to carry her to safety; the priest cuts the animal's throat.

Morozko, who had used the last of his influence to smother the fire in Moscow with a snowstorm, appears in the form of the death-god for the horse. Vasya, beaten unconscious by the crowd, is dragged away, and what follows is her attempt to survive the winter and to answer what has been done to her and to the city.