Any magician worth their mana can tell you about the power of names. Know something or someone's name, and you have power over them. Even in a world where magic is, by and large, discredited, names are tightly bound up with identity and self-determination. Changing your name changes who you are.
My writing prompt, a bouquet of random words and phrases, included "kangaroo court," "barter," and "annihilated metropolitan." I don't often think to write about currency-free post-apocalyptic tyrannies, but that's what writing prompts are for.
Cover art incorporates vulture photograph by Daniel Daley (CC BY 2.0)
YOU ARE READING
What Your Name is Worth (excerpt)
Storie breviIs it worth dying to keep it? Is it worth living without it?
