Reading A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar was an odd experience. I’d been looking forward to this novel for a long time. In theory, it looked right up my alley. I expected to be blown away. Instead, I ended up abandoning the novel at about the midway point. Yet, even though I gave up on it, there’s also a lot to love about it. I may even find myself going back to it, one day.
Plot-wise, the novel is relatively straightforward. Jevick is the son of a pepper farmer/merchant. He grows up on a distant island, hearing stories about the mainland, many from a tutor hired by his father. This tutor also introduces him to the pleasures of reading. When his father dies, Jevick takes his place on the annual trip to the mainland to sell pepper. Once there, he becomes enamored of city life and the availability of untold numbers of books. He also finds himself haunted by the ghost of a girl, and when he seeks help from Olondrian priests, he becomes involved in the struggle between powerful cults.
