This book is considerably better than Card's recent allegorical fantasy novels in the Alvin Maker series, probably because it is neither allegory nor fantasy. Savage must be off his rocker. Baba Yaga, Russian fairytales, Sleeping Beauty, a princess . . . This is a science fiction novel in which the science is anthropology, in the same sense as Speaker for the Dead . But the science is not demystification.
Card blends the spirit of scientific inquiry with respect for cultural traditions.
The general setting of this novel is the study of folklore in a dead language. When he returns to the Ukraine for dissertation field work, he does investigate the mystery. And thereby hang several tales. There is a great deal of Clarke's Law magic going on here. When Ivan finally decides to fight Baba Yaga, he does so with gunpowder and firebombs that he prepares in the fairytale past.