'Tender' Stories Are A Feast Of Ideas
Sofia Samatar is the creator of an award-winning fantasy world; she sticks closer to earth in her powerful first story collection, but it's not always the earth we might recognize.
Sofia Samatar's duology of novels, 2013's and last year's , took place in a mythic land of Olondria — a place where words are equal to religion, politics, and magic in the power they hold over people. It's one of the most dreamlike and far-flung settings in contemporary fantasy, and it's netted Samatar a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, and the John W. Campbell Award. But in , Samatar's debut collection of short stories, she doesn't stray so far afield. Instead, the
