Clockwork Phoenix 2, part two
(Review of the first two stories here.)
The third story in the Clockwork Phoenix anthology is Marie Brennan's Once a Goddess.
The fact that Marie Brennan had a story in this anthology was one of the reasons why I wanted to read it; I have read several books by Brennan already and greatly enjoyed them all. She has published a duology of fantasy books, from a fictional world, called Warrior and Witch, with a beautiful song-based magic system, and two books about fairies in historical England, Midnight never Come (briefly reviewed here) and In Ashes Lie. The latter is only recently released and I haven't gotten hold of it yet - looking forward to it, though.
Once a Goddess is set in a desert inspired by ancient Egypt, and is about the girl Nefret, who has lived a luxurious life in the temple as the avatar of the goddess Hathirekhmet for eleven years. Now the goddess's presence has left her, and she is sent back to live with her mother, who she doesn't remember. So what now? Marriage? Or something else entirely?
I particularly like this story for its simplicity. Brennan paints a society and a religion through the simple story of Nefret. I also really like what seems to me to be the philosophy behind it, because I agree with it: a human life is valued and should be treasured in spite of its imperfections. And I realise I'm putting this very naïvely, but it really isn't when you read the story.