You know the saying: no two people in the contacted world are more than six social connections apart. Inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite And Best, I like to apply this notion to books and challenge friends and authors to find interesting ways to hop from one book to another based on a shared author, theme, award win and so on. Today, I’m delighted to welcome AJ Hackwith, author of the Hell’s Library trilogy, to take the Six Degrees challenge.
AJ Hackwith is a queer writer of contemporary fantasy and (as Ada Harper) of sci-fi romance, who lives in Seattle with her husband and her ghosts. She is a graduate of the Viable Paradise writer’s workshop. Her work appears in Uncanny Magazine and assorted anthologies.
In the spirit of the Six Degrees of Separation challenge, I decided to start with a book in the same general genre as my own and take a wandering journey through fantasy of other books readers of my book are likely to enjoy (or vice versa) before bringing it back home to THE GOD OF LOST WORDS and the Hell’s Library series. Buckle up, and let’s go!
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
I’m going to start with another fantasy book about a library, this one the Great Library of Alexandria, in a fantasy world where the library never fell and history took a very, very different shape because of it. The main character, Jess Brightwell, comes from a family of smugglers, much like the band of thieves in…
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Kaz Brekker and his crew will have to risk their hard-fought lives on a impossible heist…if they don’t kill each other first. Whether you assemble it from criminal associates or swear to it, family is your strength. Learn that in..
Jade City by Fonda Lee
…where the Kaul family, wielders of magical jade that enhances their martial abilities, must prepare to protect their clan. The magic’s in the motherfuckin’ earth, just ask…
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
The world is breaking apart, and it might be up to the stone-ringed orogenes if anyone is going to survive it. Speaking of apocalypses, let’s look for some…
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Welcome to the end of the world, but not if Aziraphale and Crowley have anything to say about it. And then there’s Agnes Nutter’s prophecies wrapped up in it, much like the unhelpful prophecies in…
The House of Always by Jenn Lyons
Kihrin’s destined to destroy the world…or something? Details unclear. He’s got to get his shit together, fast, or watch everyone he loves die in a lighthouse outside time. And this house is breaking apart and reality is going pear-shaped, just like…
The God of Lost Words by A.J. Hackwith
The magical halls of the Unwritten Wing are under assault. We come full circle to the fantasy library of my series, Hell’s Library, where Claire and the rest of the Library’s unlikely defenders will have to gather all the library’s allies and fight to prove the fall of the library isn’t the end of the story…
AJ Hackwith had me at hello when I heard the pitch for The Library of the Unwritten – an afterlife for unfinished books, and chaos when a character escapes the pages intent on hunting down his author – and this glorious debut delivered everything it promised. The sequel The Archive of the Forgotten pushed the world and characters to places that broke my heart (if books have afterlives, do they have souls?). And now everything is threatening to fall apart in The God of Lost Words…
The God of Lost Words
To save the Library of the Unwritten, former librarian Claire and her allies may have to destroy it…
Claire, rakish Hero, angel Rami, and muse-turned-librarian Brevity have accomplished the impossible by discovering the true nature of unwritten books. But now that the secret is out, in its quest for power Hell will be coming for every wing of the Library.
To protect the Unwritten Wing and stave off Hell’s most bloodthirsty general, Claire and her friends will have to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice to keep their vulnerable corner of the afterlife. Succeeding would mean rewriting the nature of the Library, but losing would mean obliteration. Their only chance at survival lies in outwitting Hell and writing a new chapter for the Library. Luckily, Claire and her friends know how the right story, told well, can start a revolution.
The God of Lost Words is out now from Titan Books in paperback (ebook to follow on February 22nd). I’ll be back next week with my review – in the meantime, many thanks to AJ Hackwith for accepting the challenge and to Sarah Mathers at Titan Books for co-ordinating.
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