Sibley is the only person who can hear in a village of deaf people, though the trauma of a childhood accident and growing up there have made her mute. Every year, the mysterious but generous Silversack visits their village and brings gifts for the children. But when Sibley asks for her voice, Silversack has to abandon his own myth.
This story starts out promising as a look at the friction between myth and reality, seen through the lens of a Santa Claus analog. However, the story soon abandons this concept and turns into a rather formulaic love story. Even though it remained well written, it lost my interest at that point. I was also confused about why all the children were deaf, unless all genes causing deafness are recessive in this fantasy world.
