You can now read this for free over at Clarkesworld, and it’s also in the collection Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight.
As with our last book, Two Sisters in Exile, we’re once again visiting death. This time it’s not the death of a mindship but the deaths of the humans in a long-lived mindship’s life. Imagine that you knew you would live for centuries while all the people you know and care for would only have decades.
We’re also introduced to the idea of having a person’s memories condensed and inherited by their next of kin who then has them implanted, and how the powers that be will, when it suits them, take and use those memories as they see fit. Consider also that the person whose memories you just inherited may have also inherited memories of their forebears who have also inherited memories or their forebears.
To be honest, i can’t imagine anything much worse than having your ancestor’s floating around in your head, pestering and badgering your every decision. I could have a big long rant about this but i won’t. Read it yourself and draw your own conclusions. Suffice it to say, i’m with The Tiger in the Banyan in that i wouldn’t want them even if you offered.
And so…
…coming soon: In Blue Lily’s Wake.
