Lost Ark Dreaming
Novella Recommended by 3 award/anthology sources
Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region’s survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers’ most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level.
Content warnings 2
death-of-a-loved-oneviolence
Quasar links out; the story lives on Tor Novella, where the author gets the click.