By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Fantasy novels offer their authors a number of world-building possibilities that shape and inform their plots and characters. This allows them to include a variety of supernatural elements in their works since they are not restricted to the physical rules of our universe. For example, some create entirely new worlds, which, although they may be based on aspects of the real world, take readers far from the earth they know. Other authors prefer to remain partly grounded in our reality, just adding fantastical elements and characters whose actions then affect ordinary mortals. The difference between these two types of fantasy can be clearly seen in two new works: “The Sins on Their Bones” by Laura R. Samotin (Random House Canada) and “Night Owls” by A. R. Vishny (Harper). 

In “The Sins on Their Bones,” Samotin creates a world based on 19th century Russia, although she calls her country Novo-Svitsevo. While the words Jew or Judaism are never mentioned, it’s clear that the religion of this world is based on Jewish tradition. The tzar and members of his court practice the author’s variation on Judaism, as does the rest of the world. There are rebbes and the use of Hebrew, including blessings that are the same as those used in contemporary Judaism. Shabbat also plays a role in the lives of the characters. The supernatural element occurs when one character breaches the realm of demons and makes himself immortal. The repercussions from that action are what drive the plot of the novel. In addition, Samotin’s world is LGBTQ friendly and includes same sex marriages and relationships, which are accepted as a matter of course. 

“Night Owls” takes a different approach by infusing elements of Jewish folklore into our contemporary world – a world that contains the Internet, film festivals and other aspects of contemporary culture. However, Vishny not only inhabits this world with mortals, but with creatures from traditional Jewish folklore. These include estries (a female variation of a vampire, but who turn into owls, not bats); Ashmodai, the leader of the demons, who appears in rabbinic texts; shadim, demons who look human, but have feet that are shaped like bird talons; and ghosts who speak to several mortal characters. 

Samotin offers the point of view of three characters in “The Sins on Their Bones”: Dimitri Alexeyev, Alexey Balakin and Vasily Sokolov. Dimitri, former tzar of Novo-Svitsevo, is the third son of the former tzar, someone considered so unimportant that he was sold in marriage to Alexey, a member of the aristocracy. When the rest of Dimitri’s family was murdered by anarchists, Dimitri ascended to the throne. However, Alexey did not relish being the tzar consort and felt that Dimitri was not leading the nation appropriately: he cared too much for the poor members of his nation and not enough about power. Alexey became fascinated by the mystical aspects of the religion they share and wanted to make Dimitri all powerful. When Dimitri refused, Alexey underwent the process himself: dying and, through mystical means, being restored to life eternal. 

Alexey then took the throne and declared himself tzar, which led to a brutal war that decimated the country. Dimitri escaped with a few members of his court, which includes Vasily, who serves as his spymaster and now lover. The novel opens with Dimitri already in exile. He is forced to admit that Alexey has become a monster, who must be stopped before he takes over the world. But Alexey believes he speaks with God, who approves of his actions, even though they might destroy the fabric between the world of demons and humans. What makes life difficult for Dimitri and Alexey is that they still love each other, even though they disagree about power and religion. Vasily, who loves Dimitri, cringes at the way Alexey used to treat Dimitri, abusing him physically and emotionally. He is also willing to sacrifice his life to save the world from Alexey.

Samotin does a wonderful job creating believable characters; the fact that everyone is doing what they believe God would want makes their interactions more poignant; this includes their decisions to perform potentially evil actions in order to save their country, even if they will later be condemned by God. The last 100 pages were difficult to read because readers may fear that the characters they’ve come to admire might not succeed, something which would be heart-breaking. 

Readers should note that “The Sins on Their Bones” contains a great deal of male-on-male sex and, at times, features sexual violence and sexual abuse. Samotin offers a warning about this in “A Note to Readers” and suggests that some readers might find the work too disturbing to read. There were also a few times that the characters’ language felt too contemporary for the time period: examples of these expressions can’t be printed in a family-friendly paper. However, this is a minor quibble and may not bother everyone. The work and its wonderful characters will get under readers’ skins, though, making this work an impressive debut. 

While “The Sins on Their Bones” is an extremely serious fantasy, “Night Owls” manages to combine humor with its drama, even as it offers its own chilling moments. The novel also features the point of view of three characters: Clara Sender, Molly Sender and Boaz Harari. Clara and Molly are estries: although they are more than a century old, they look no older than 18. Clara has two rules she believes they must follow to stay safe: 1) no romance and 2) feed only on fellow Jews (to prevent a blood libel accusation against the Jewish population of contemporary Manhattan). The sisters have turned a grand old Yiddish theater into a movie palace and try to live quietly out of the limelight so that no one will notice they never age.

Their lives change for two reasons: 1) Molly has a girlfriend, Anat, whom she’s been keeping secret from Clara. To make matters worse, Molly has told Anat that she is an estry and spoken about her previous life as a Yiddish actress. 2) The introduction of Boaz into their lives: Boaz is a high school graduate whom Clara hired to work at the theater because of his love and knowledge of films. She regrets the decision because he is usually late and always manages to irritate her. However, Boaz has a reason for being late, although not one he wants to share with Clara. Boaz can see the ghosts who walk the city streets; they try to stop him to complain about being treated unfairly during their lives (the main reason they roam the city, rather than resting in peace). His ability to see ghosts comes from his father’s side of the family and his Aunt Hila makes a living as a TV personality who talks to the dead. However, Boaz has no clue that the boss he finds so attractive is different than the young woman she seems. When Anat disappears and ghosts begin to gain more substance, Clara, Molly and Boaz realize that something is radically wrong. The question becomes whether they can stop what’s occurring before it’s too late.

All three characters in “Night Owls” are delightful. The possibility of a romance between Clara and Boaz is well done and funny. The backstories of the sisters and several other characters are chilling and heart-breaking, leaving readers wondering how Vishny manages to change tone so quickly without detracting from the atmosphere or action. The last section of the novel was very exciting and readers will keep turning pages to learn what happens. This work does a wonderful job balancing humor, seriousness and Jewish folklore, making this another excellent debut novel.