Outside The Gates by Molly Gloss. Saga Press, 2019. 9781534414976. 128pp.
“The best first novel I’ve seen in years.” — Ursula K. Le Guin
I came across a copy of this novella in a bookstore and had to it when I saw that cover blurb. It’s now one of my favorite novellas, right up there with Spear by Nicola Griffith.
Outside the Gates is about a boy, Vren, who is put outside the gates of his village by people who fear his power. He expects to encounter monsters in the wilderness but instead he finds something else.
There are echoes of Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea in this story, which evolves into Vren standing up to a powerful person to save someone he loves. Worth noting: it has one of the best characters I’ve read about in a while, a quiet, older woman who reminds me of my mother-in-law.