[1] In a later scene, Nyr violates the principal role of anthropology and tells Lyn and Esha the truth about the history of Sophos 4.

Nyr tells stories of humans arriving from Earth, then adapting to their new planet, engineering body modifications for humans and the native livestock, as well as the machinery used in the colonisation process, but all Esha and Lyn hear is that the Elders used “magic” to travel from the “otherworld” (111) and began “teaching the beasts and plants their place, naming them and giving them their roles,” and about the “monsters” that did the will of men (112).

Nyr tries his best to remove magic from the conversation, but once he is finished, Lyn simply states, “yes, that is how we tell it,” unable to grasp the concepts he has tried so delicately and desperately to explain (115).

[1] Nield concludes by stating that Tchaikovsky uses these juxtapositions to explore ideas including Arthur C. Clarke's well-known adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Furthermore, Tchaikovsky uses the language and cultural barriers to draw distinctions between science fiction and fantasy genre tropes.

[1][2] Lucy Nield of the Science Fiction Research Association praised Tchaikovsky as a "commanding, imaginative writer, who can master and manipulate genre is any way he sees fit".

[1] Writing for Locus, Russell Lesson called the book a "tale with a lot of heart" and praised its mashup of the science fiction and fantasy genres.

[3] Publishers Weekly called Tchaikovsky a "master of the genre mash-up", writing that he "wows with this inventive and empathetic story of courage, science, and magic".

[4] A review for Tor.com called the novella's conclusion "unexpectedly moving" and praised the growth of the relationship between Lyn and Nyr over the course of the story.