6 Degrees of Separation – Fates and Furies

Six Degrees of Separation is a meme run by Books are my Favorite and Best. You are given a starting book and then you link it to six others using whatever stream of consciousness reasoning that pops into your brain.

The starting book this month is Fates and Furies.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

“Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At the core of this rich, expansive, layered novel, Lauren Groff presents the story of one such marriage over the course of twenty-four years.”

I had never heard of this book. My first thought was “That’s a really blue cover.”

A Really Blue Cover

The Reader by Traci Chee

“Sefia lives her life on the run. After her father is viciously murdered, she flees to the forest with her aunt Nin, the only person left she can trust. They survive in the wilderness together, hunting and stealing what they need, forever looking over their shoulders for new threats. But when Nin is kidnapped, Sefia is suddenly on her own, with no way to know who’s taken Nin or where she is. Her only clue is a strange rectangular object that once belonged to her father left behind, something she comes to realize is a book.”

The Reader was fantasy written by an East Asian author.

Fantasy written by an East Asian Author

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

“At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…”

This has magic and British people and class, race, and gender politics.

More Magical British People

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

“A sixteen-year-old governess becomes a spy in this alternative U.S. history where the British control with magic and the colonists rebel by inventing.”

As I was looking at this, I realized that there is a sequel out. I can’t rush to read it right now because I put myself on a library ban until March 1. The sequel will be on the library request list on March 1.

I WANT THE SEQUEL

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

“From the bestselling author of Thursday Next — a brilliant novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see”

This is one of my all time favorites. It is the start of a series. The rest hasn’t been written. It’s been years! It says on his website the sequel comes out in 2018. I’ll believe it when I see it.

All the pipes on the cover reminded me of the next book.

Pipes

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway

“There couldn’t be a fire along the Jorgmund Pipe. It was the last thing the world needed. But there it was, burning bright on national television. The Pipe was what kept the Livable Zone safe from the bandits, monsters and nightmares the Go Away War had left in its wake. The fire was a very big problem.

Enter Gonzo Lubitsch and his friends, the Haulage & HazMat Emergency Civil Freebooting Company, a team of master troubleshooters who roll into action when things get particularly hot. They helped build the Pipe. Now they have to preserve it—and save humanity yet again. But this job is not all it seems. It will touch more closely on Gonzo’s life, and that of his best friend, than either of them can imagine. And it will decide the fate of the Gone-Away World.”

I don’t remember anything about this book. I only remember that I absolutely loved it. I should reread it.

Why Don’t I Remember? I Need to Reread.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

“Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…”

I read this a long time ago. It freaked me out. It was one of the most influential books I’ve ever read and I don’t remember much about it at all. I should reread it. I have a copy of it. I’ve never been able to make myself re-read it. Now it is way too close to reality. I need to make myself reread it.