My favourite since The Empress of Salt and Fortune. I’m fascinated by stories of non-human people, and here, by Vo’s attention to the ways that perspective, the teller and the listener, shape a story. The things that bridge difference are another subject here, with attraction, curiosity, and setting the record straight doing as much work as barter and diplomacy. These novellas offer a wealth of discovery around fictional, but somehow real, cultures, stories, and characters. Beautiful, wild, and deeply satisfying.