The Winged Histories

Small Beer Press
Sofia Samatar
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Four women, soldier, scholar, poet, and socialite are caught up on different sides of a violent rebellion. As war erupts and their families are torn apart, they fear they may disappear into the unwritten pages of history. Using the sword and the pen, the body and the voice, they struggle not just to survive, but to make history.

Praise for The Winged Histories:

“Like an alchemist, Sofia Samatar spins golden landscapes and dazzling sentences.... a fantasy novel for those who take their sentences with the same slow, unfolding beauty as a cup of jasmine tea, and for adventurers like Tav, who are willing to charge ahead into the unknown.”—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“A highly recommended indulgence.”
—N.K. Jemisin, New York Times Book Review

“Above all, it’s a story about love—the terrible love that tears lives apart. Doomed love; impossible love; love that requires a rewriting of the rules, be it for a country, a person, or a story.”—Jenn Northington, Tor.com

“An imaginative, poetic, and dark meditation on how history gets made.”
Hello Beautiful

Sofia Samatar is the author of the novels A Stranger in Olondria and The Winged Histories and a collection, Tender: Stories. She has written for the Guardian, Strange Horizons, New Inquiry, Believer, and Clarkesworld, among others, and has won the John W. Campbell Award, the Crawford Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the World Fantasy Award. She lives in Virginia and her website is sofiasamatar.com.

Contributor Bio

Sofia Samatar is the author of the novels A Stranger in Olondria and The Winged Histories, the short story collection, Tender, and Monster Portraits, a collaboration with her brother, the artist Del Samatar. She is the recipient of the William L. Crawford Award, the Astounding Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the World Fantasy Award. She teaches Arabic literature, African literature, and speculative fiction at James Madison University.

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