“The River Has Roots” by Amal El-Mohtar

This was a quick, sweet fairy story novella about sisterly love.

Esther and Ysabel are sisters whose family has long tended the magical willow trees growing along the banks of a river flowing out of Fairy (there are different terms used in the story, but that’s the gist). They live on the edge between worlds, both in terms of where they live and the nature of their livelihood. Though they’re as close as sisters can be, it’s pretty clear that a divergence is coming at some point: Esther is drawn in her heart to the Fairy lands, and Ysabel is drawn towards the mortal world.

The plot of the story (without giving away spoilers) centers on the two suitors of Esther, the elder sister. One is their neighbor; a marriage would unify their two properties, to the increased prosperity at all. A very sensible, solid match. The other suitor is a fae; wild, exciting, but unpredictable and with many questions of what Esther would have to give up to be with them.

The story is sad, and sweet, and very lovely. It made me very interested to read This is How You Lose the Time War; I’m a big fan of Max Gladstone, but this novella was so very different from anything he’s written that I’m extremely curious how the two would play off of each other.

One final note: Publishers, please stop stretching the definition of “debut” so much when marketing things. This novella was marketed as El-Mohtar’s “solo debut,” but she’s a published author, with a Hugo Award and co-wrote a well-received novel. The word “debut” is carrying an awful lot when a better description is “longest-form solo work written to date.”