The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain

Celebrated author Sofia Samatar presents a mystical, revolutionary space adventure for the exhausted dreamer in this brilliant science fiction novella tackling the carceral state and violence embedded in the ivory tower while embodying the legacy of Ursula K. Le Guin.

The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out among the stars. His whole world changes - literally - when he is yanked 'upstairs' and informed he has been given an opportunity to be educated at the ship’s university alongside the elite. Overwhelmed and alone, the boy forms a bond with the woman he comes to know as 'the professor.' A weary idealist, the woman has spent her career striving for acceptance and validation from her more senior colleagues in the hopes of achieving a brighter future, only to fall short at every turn. Together, the boy and the woman will embark on a transformative journey to grasp the design of the chains that fetter them both - and are the key to breaking free.