LINKDING

excerpt: Fig. 1. Gold coin, 356 P.F. (post-foundation). Obverse: profile of Auréle, right-facing. Legend: REGENT ETERNAL. Reverse: Tree, fruiting (symbolizing prosperity). This five-sorel piece is in fine condition. The design is sophisticated, improving upon the bronze Auréles minted throughout the 340s. Trees were a common peacetime motif and recur in coinage from Auréle’s accession in 339 onwards. They cut off Auréle’s head and they put it on a pike above the city’s third best bridge. To me, that seemed a shame. I had only just got his nose right. // ➜ SFF short story telling of a year of political upheaval through the eyes of someone who works in the minting of coins ➜ and through the coins' archaeological analysis, in the far future ➜ I love this double-vision on events, what the historians can and can't know through the coins, and the struggles and lives of the people who were just trying to get through those times, the desperation and the personhood ➜ 3.6k words

Summary: <blockquote>He could see some of those flies as he came level with the glass-paned door. That Mask-damned cuff just left his wealth strewn about, jewelry box open, silk neck-cloths on the bed. Once, Tseges would have considered those neck-cloths alone a splendid haul... but now he wanted more. These people owed him more. First, though, he had to get inside.</blockquote> ➤ an original story that I believe to be set in the same world as Carrick's Rook & Rose trilogy, which I haven't read yet but which is on my tbr list ➤ having read this story and enjoyed it definitely increases my interest in that trilogy! ➤ this one's about a thief who gets talked into helping a legend steal information to get back at people who misuse their positions of power ➤ the importance of public infrastructure! the usefulness of recordkeeping! the will to carry out audacious crime! ➤ fun and interesting and I want to know more about this world ➤ 9k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>In your head, the dead man wakes up crying. He stutters into awareness just as you manage to stanch the tears welling in your eyes, a response to the pressure of his presence on your limbic system. Your fingers brush, irritated, against the port at the back of your neck, catching at the ridges of the drive that carries his consciousness. He’s confused, lashing out to wrest temporary control of your limbs from you in quick staccato bursts before you can yank them back. “Stop that,” you snap, and then, remembering your client, soften the message with a “please.” Your right pinky twitches and you lasso it in, exerting your will over its movement. You splay your hands on your desk and watch them carefully, pay attention to your toes lest they start off on unwelcome dance routines, but in your head the dead man quiets, and you know he’s beginning to understand.</blockquote> ➤ sci-fi story about a woman with a port-drive into her brain that allowed her to be a great child actor when she was young, and gives her a career as an adult of plugging in the mental backup of a dead person to visit bereaved families who want their beloved dead back again ➤ about identity, embodiment, and not knowing how to want things ➤ also about body-sharing ➤ in second-person pov which works so well for the things this story is about and the things it's doing! the main character is someone who spends most of her time being someone else, after all ➤ it's so compellingly written! ➤ has the perfect ending, which can be so hard to pull off right ➤ 7k words in length ➤ this is the first published story by this author, and something this great is her first; I am excited to think of where she might go from here!