The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain by Sofia Samatar

Publisher – Tor

Published – Out Now

Price – £12.99 paperback £2.99 Kindle eBook

The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out among the stars. His whole world changes - literally - when he is yanked 'upstairs' and informed he has been given an opportunity to be educated at the ship’s university alongside the elite. Overwhelmed and alone, the boy forms a bond with the woman he comes to know as 'the professor.' A weary idealist, the woman has spent her career striving for acceptance and validation from her more senior colleagues in the hopes of achieving a brighter future, only to fall short at every turn. Together, the boy and the woman will embark on a transformative journey to grasp the design of the chains that fetter them both - and are the key to breaking free.

Education is a fascinating word. Is it a process, it is a symbol of civilization and can it also be seen as a business producing new parts for society to use? In the UK we are seeing schools becoming part of academies and universities are often balancing income generation and teaching aims. It raises then questions for those being educated – what are they getting? Understanding of a subject, job skills and how to fit into the system. Even now certain universities open many doors into the places of power. When reading Sofia Samatar’s elegant and thoughtful science fiction novella The Practice, The Horizon and The Chain where the idea of education is thrown int the spotlight and what it tells us about the wider world (and our own) that it operates in.

The boy works in the Mine and that is all he knows. Connected by a physical chain that allows him to feel all those he lives with this is all he expects to be. Even under the guidance of the man many call the Prophet he has no expectations. But the Prophet as well a teaching the boy the concept known as The Practise also helps the boy develop drawing. His art brings him to the attention of those above and in particular the woman who works at the University. The boy will be moved from them with chains as part of a scholarship program. Can he be made to fit into society? However, the boy and the woman are to find out knowledge can be two-ways.

Reading this novella is a fascinating allegory for how in the 21st century our views on education have changed and widened. This is a story that explores class and the structures a world uses to enforce it; the difficulties in crossing class and the way anyone expecting to behave outside of the expectations will be clamped down upon hard. What could be a dry subject though works thanks to Samatar’s framing of the story. Our main characters have no names told to us (supporting characters do and interestingly they’re in higher positions to both). It feels almost a future SF parable but there isa richness of language and concepts to make us feel the emotional power of what unfurls and importantly the power of connection.

In some ways the story feels initially like so many heart-warming tales of a teacher and place if education helping a working-class person develop and fit into wider society. One to make everyone feel better about themselves when we watch it. But instead over the three parts of the story (each named after part of the title) we get those concepts challenged. Yes, the boy’s life is indeed hard, but we start to realise someone has decided in this giant spaceship fleet they’re part of that he will be allocated to a life of hard labour; someone decreed he should be chained just because now the boy has a skill should it still be right everyone else stays in what is known as the Hold? The motivations of the university are also questionable. Is this more a case of academics trying to prove their own social theories, gain power and prestige for their own work and feel smug and satisfied? Did anyone consider the wider implications. These tensions are played throygh in the middle section and a haunting scene where one of the Chained is brought naked for a life skills class brings home how those below are viewed as property and objects to be used. The boy feels shame and its him the teachers turn on for not obeying instructions. A very powerful scene to show how class operates across the world.

The other fascinating aspect is how the story shows there are other structures of control in any world. If the chained reach the main level of the ship they become ankleted – a glowing device within their body with no obvious chain but still a form of monitoring and control. The boy and the woman share this. This covers many groups from those who clear up after the teachers to certain groups of academics. There are some more powerful groups with no such controls on them but they’re the most powerful. Samatar explores how a civilization van have more subtle controls and that anyone getting out of line can suddenly find the upper classes ready to bring their own power down hard. The consequences when we see this in action are chilling and helps us see the bigger injustices of the world.

If this story is about the darker side of education, it also explores education’s other purpose learning empathy for others. The boy and the woman’s discussion of life below start to make the boy realise he can sense others through the anklet network; their emotions and their locations even across the fleet. It’s not about going up or down in the world but where are going towards as a people The final section is when the two main characters start to rebel; go on a simple mission of kindness and then find themselves up against the power of authority. Extremely tense as we realise their fates are on a simple knife-edge and they appear alone, but empathy can be a powerful force in itself.

Novellas can be criticised for not showing us the wider story and The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain does leave the reader to imagine what happens next, but the beauty of the novella is to explain a key moment in detail. Samatar’s tale makes you understand this world; what it means for our own and we get to the moment something powerful awakens and changes. Beautiful thought-provoking science fiction. What more does anyone need? Strongly recommended!