The Five Daughters of the Moon Is a Fairy Tale for the Revolution

Leena Likitalo’s The Five Daughters of the Moon is the the first in the Waning Moon duology. The story is told from the point of view of five sisters, the daughters of the Celestial Queen. Each gets a chapter to tell her version of the tumultuous events they are living through, and each account is remarkably distinct in voice. Through them, we live a rich, invented history—though one inspired by the raal lives of the Romanov children of Imperial Russia—experiencing their thoughts and feelings, their loves and fears as malicious supernatural forces seek to destroy everything they’ve ever known.
Alina is the youngest, just six years old. According to tradition, the soul isn’t confined to the body until the sacred ceremony in which a person’s chosen name is said aloud for the first time. But Alina is afraid a man named Gagargi Prataslav is going to steal her soul before she has a chance to secure it. He’s invented a Great Thinking Machine, powered, as is just about everything in this world, by souls. Animal souls are the chosen fuel, but the gagargi has a dark secret, and Alina can see into places she shouldn’t, not at her age. And she’s very afraid.
Merile is 11, and seems to care only for her two dogs, the gifts from her seed, the man the Queen had chosen once to help bring forth another child for the Queen and her King, the Moon. The Moon is sacred, worshipped by all as he hangs bright in the sky, keeping watch over his Daughters and his Kingdom. But Merile is afraid too: she’s wary of Gagargi Prataslav and his Great Thinking Machine, but she has no one to turn to for help.
Sibilia, 15, is about to make her debut in society, and she can’t wait. She’s enraptured with a mysterious man she refers to in her diary only as K, but she’s not allowed to announce a lover until her older sisters do. Until then, she must abide by her nurse’s orders and stay a child in the eyes of all. The civil unrest and the upheaval Prataslav brings to her sister’s lives are of no concern.

Elise, 16, is on the cusp of childhood and adulthood, and I find her the most fascinating of her family. Her pull between loyalty to her family and a yearning for independence are the most real, and most compelling part of this tale. She’s met a man whom she calls the “captain of her heart,” but he teaches her about more than just love. Her eyes are opened to the plight of those beneath her station, and she finds herself with a front row seat to a revolution she never saw coming.
Finally, there is Celestia, the oldest at 22. She’s next in line for the throne, and struggles under more pressure as a result, her every move scrutinized. She’s beautiful and aloof, but her desire to be a worthy heir leads her to make rash, unwise decisions that will imperil her family and the empire. The heart of the story is her struggle to make amends, sacrificing what might be most precious to her in the bargain. Her decisions drive the arc of the story—fitting for a woman meant to be a leader.
With precise prose and an engaging plot that is lyrical even as it is paced like a thriller, The Five Daughters of the Moon is rich, rewarding tale, even as slightly greater than novella length. Though I should warn you—it does end with a cliffhanger. Happily, the wait for the resolution won’t be long: the second half of the story, The Sisters of the Crescent Empress, arrives just as November’s chill settles in.
The Five Daughters of the Moon is available now.