Rusalka is book one of Cherryh's three-book Russian Stories trilogy set in medieval Russia in forests along the Dnieper river near Kyiv in modern-day Ukraine.

[4] Cherryh self-published a revised edition of Rusalka in e-book format in October 2010 at Closed Circle Publications.

[5][6][7][8] Sasha is a 15-year-old downtrodden stable boy living with his aunt and uncle at an inn they run in the town of Vojvoda.

Its occupant, a wizard named Uulamets, heals Pyetr and agrees to let them stay on condition that they help him find his daughter, Eveshka, who had drowned when she was 16 and is now a rusalka.

Uulamets and Sasha find Pyetr unharmed, but are attacked by Hwiuur, a shapeshifting vodyanoi, known to drown people who go too close to the water.

Uulamets had recognised Sasha's potential for wizardry and taught him how to use his talents, but stressed the dangers of unchecked wishing and the importance of considering their consequences first.

Pyetr, who now has feelings for Eveshka, and is slowly accepting this new world of wizards, rusalkas and river creatures, finds her and together they locate Chernevog's house in the forest.

[13] While he was critical of Cherryh's "occasional lapses of narrative technique", he said that she excelled in her "characterization, command of the language, world-building, and background in anthropology, linguistics and folklore".

[14] Jackie Cassada wrote in Library Journal that Cherryh has used her "storytelling expertise" to turn the pre-Christian rusalka folk legend into "a fantasy to be highly recommended.