This story opens with a middle-aged weaver named Uiziya sitting in her tent resentfully waiting for her Aunt Benesret to return and teach her the fourth of the Profound Weaves.
A nameless man in the same encampment is upset when his grandchild sells their first weave to minions of the Collector, who will lock it away from the world. This nameless man, recently transformed by magic, decides Benesret can give him his name, and talks Uiziya into traveling with him to find her aunt.
The story sweeps from the Great Burri desert to the city of Iyar, where the Khana minority live rigidly divided by gender. The author doles out the backstory of the two POV characters, Uiziya and the nameless man, as the story unfolds. The nameless man was once part of a trading trio forced to live as a woman. We soon learn that Uiziya’s relationship with her Aunt Benesret is complicated and deeply troubled.
The magic is fascinating, if a bit obscure. It’s a wonderful parable exploring transgender experience in a secondary world. And the ending is pitch-perfect. I read it, then immediately reread it to savor every nuance.
A nameless man in the same encampment is upset when his grandchild sells their first weave to minions of the Collector, who will lock it away from the world. This nameless man, recently transformed by magic, decides Benesret can give him his name, and talks Uiziya into traveling with him to find her aunt.
The story sweeps from the Great Burri desert to the city of Iyar, where the Khana minority live rigidly divided by gender. The author doles out the backstory of the two POV characters, Uiziya and the nameless man, as the story unfolds. The nameless man was once part of a trading trio forced to live as a woman. We soon learn that Uiziya’s relationship with her Aunt Benesret is complicated and deeply troubled.
The magic is fascinating, if a bit obscure. It’s a wonderful parable exploring transgender experience in a secondary world. And the ending is pitch-perfect. I read it, then immediately reread it to savor every nuance.