The premise of the story, of people turning into buildings and other constructs, reminded me of Cassandra Khaw's In the Rustle of Pages, PC391. But this story, with its themes of exploitation, war, sacrifice, and self-sacrifice, the sadness of abandoning one's dreams and homeland ties to try to find survival elsewhere, was really moving. I was so glad that the solution at the end made the story bittersweet rather than just tragic, and I hope that even if the people find a new place to settle, some of them will stay with the protagonist in her new form and have some nice adventures with her. (And that made me think of Robin Hobbs' Liveship Traders...) This is a beautiful, moving story that stirs a lot of intriguing speculation.