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The Furies

Book Three of 'The Holdfast Chronicles'

Orb Books, September 2001
ISBN: 978-0-312-86606-8, ISBN10: 0-312-86606-2,
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 384 pages,
Trade Paperback, $15.99

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Categories and Subcategories

See All Categories Gender Studies Women's Studies Literature Fantasy Literature Science Fiction

The Furies is the third book in the four-volume Holdfast Chronicles, a series of novels celebrated by feminists and science-fiction enthusiasts alike.

Alldera the Messenger was a slave to the Holdfast, where women are not women but fems, and all fems are the slaves of men. As Alldera the Runner, she escaped across the mountains to the grassy plains of the Riding Women (where men are unknown, except as a shadowy threat in the foothills).

Now, the Free Fems are coming back over the mountains to reclaim the Holdfast. And Alldera the Conqueror, leading this army, must faces new and frightful challenges on all sides. Eventually, Alldera discovers that—especially in war—friends can become enemies, and vice versa.

Praise

"[This] may be the most important feminist novel published this year . . . [The Furies] plumbs, among other essential questions, the conundrum that has subverted many a revolution: What do we do with the anger?"—Feminist Bookstore News

"Well worth the wait . . . Charnas's clear thinking and exposition avoid most of the pitfalls that a nakedly political and allegorical book like this risks; her fems are complex, varied, and flawed human beings, and her depiction of the gender wars is perceptive and intelligent. A moving, thoughtful feminist novel set in a gritty and believable dystopian future."—Kirkus Reviews

"Powerful and poignant . . . One of the five best science fiction books of the year [1994]."—Publishers Weekly

About the Author(s)

Suzy McKee Charnas

Suzy McKee Charnas lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her other novels include Walk to the End of the World, Motherlines, and The Conqueror's Child.

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Excerpt

A Maiden Raid

Four Women on foot and lightly laden hid in a dusty dip where sharu came at another season to roll. The Women watched Red Sand Camp, whispering scurrilous comments to each other about the activities of the inhabitants.
Sheel could hardly believe their good fortune. In addition to the well-known raiding and hunting mounts they had come for, a certain Hayscall Woman from Waterwall Camp was visiting.

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