Rus, Russia, and Ukraine in alternative slavic fantasy by english-language writers

Alternative Slavic fantasy is defined here as fantastika (speculative fiction) created by English-language writers on the basis of real or assumed Slavic folklore, separate from Slavic fantasy per se. The focus of the current paper is the logic of interaction between Slavic folk plots and characters with Russian and Ukrainian history. The first part addresses Medieval Rus in Peter Morwood’s and Katherine Arden’s trilogies. The second part, which addresses Russia and Ukraine in the 19^th-20^th centuries will be published in the next issue of the journal.