@richardgoodness ooh i like this
i read one china mievelle short story a long time ago i always thought he did cyberpunk/futurist stuff, not fantasy. i might have to pick it up
i had a concept for a sentient golem once; it was not smart like other golems at first but could slowly learn, but was really cool in that it was really just a magical bauble that when surrounded by a diffuse material could absorb it and compose a golem-like body
i called it "the elemental sieve"