The Sacred Cycle
Discussion Questions
Includes novel and all Select Edition extra stories.
Serious Spoiler Alert!
Reveals important developments, multiple twists, and even the ending.
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This page is for book clubs, students, or friends who like to argue!
You can keep it simple and use the questions for the entire book, or for longer and more-contentious discussions, dive into the questions for each part.
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The Sacred Cycle Info Links
The Sacred Cycle
Questions for the entire book
1.
Teppi's journey from mummy to British citizen is a tale of culture shock and adaptation.
- What did you find relatable in her struggle to reconcile ancient Egyptian life with modern expectations?
2.
Teppi is the catalyst for a family developing at the British Museum, while Crindi is the focal point for the family in their block of flats.
- How do their methods for creating a found family in each setting differ?
3.
The Professor is Teppi’s mentor who gradually becomes a father figure.
- Who in your personal or professional life has guided you toward a deeper understanding of the world?
4.
Teppi is finally able to find closure to her interrupted relationship with Shinōn.
- Have you ever experienced an uncrossable rift of time or distance between you and someone you loved?
- Did you find closure?
5.
In the end, Teppi can’t resolve her seemingly unsolvable problems on her own, so she attempts to remove herself from them and is saved by Crindi.
- Do you think Crindi could have acted alone before she met Teppi?
- How did Crindi change from the beginning of the story to the end?
6.
Teppi talks a lot about beer.
- Did the amount consumed in the ancient world surprise you?
- How about the preferred flavors?
7.
Did you find a favorite beer marketing slogan?
- Tastes better than water! ( )
- Purifies you inside and out! ( )
- Good for the outside, great for the inside! ( )
- Helping you cope since 10,000 BC! ( )
- The ancient answer to everything! ( )
- No matter how bad the first sip tastes, it always improves from there. ( )
Or perhaps you prefer the slogan for the ivory tower demographic:
- The recipe for high-class mixed metaphors: open two beers and stir in a graduate student. (Or vice versa.) ( )
8.
The fact that Europeans ate ground up mummies for six centuries to cure illnesses is a small (and disgusting) taste of how horrifying the practice of medicine was before the modern era. By comparison, Teppi assuming she would swallow a small stone engraved with a spell to cure her parasites and washing her hands with beer was almost scientific.
Chapter 31: Conquest and Pizza ( )
Medical treatments didn’t make much progress for thousands of years until the Enlightenment started to transform the sciences.
- I can’t think of a good question related to this, but I wanted to bring it up because Teppi was horrified by European mummy consumption, plus I’m interested in unsettling, arcane trivia. So, uh, discuss, I guess?
9.
Teppi ends up conflicted about the British Museum’s possession of artifacts from other countries. The Professor advocates for sending artifacts from the UK abroad.
- If you could snap your fingers and move every artifact in every museum in the world back to its country, tribe, or village of origin, would you?
- Do you think the curious Teppis of the world would benefit from more exposure to historical artifacts that are foreign to them?
- Does that include Western artifacts?
10.
Teppi displays a transactional relationship when it comes to gods. Gods want offerings, followers want results—play along and it’s win-win.
- Do you think that gods who work for offerings might tend to create these kinds of pragmatic believers?
11.
I devised a content rating system that I plan to apply to all of my books going forward. Look at the back cover, where I advise the book is for people aged fifteen and above, then use the QR code to view the details of how I arrived at that decision. (Or go to saw13.com/cycle-rating)
Think of this through both an individual and parental lens.
- Is such a thing helpful/necessary for books?
- How about when cover art doesn’t accurately convey content or target audience?
- Are the categories of “peril” and “complexity” helpful to your decision-making process?
- Do you think I accurately rated The Sacred Cycle without crossing a line into spoilers, trigger warnings, or moral judgments about subject matter?
12.
Here’s a list of all the fifteen different shows Teppi streams, with her descriptions. Are there any you’d watch if they really existed?
- Crimes and Desperation: Las Vegas ( )
- About a two-faced lawyer who thinks she’s all that fashion-wise, but couldn’t hold a candle to Crindi
- Forgiveness is Forever: My Life, My Love, My London ( )
- Upper-crusty British drama featuring Mindy, a back-stabbing schemer
- Agent Rudloe: ET Hunter ( )
- A historically-accurate documentary about government agents experiment on aliens, who, strangely, don’t look all that different from humans
- Marriage or Mi$ery? ( )
- Socioeconomic theory
- Celebrity Pences and Consequences ( )
- More socioeconomic theory
- High Stakes Earthquake ( )
- Yet more socioeconomic theory
- Crash Course Cupcakes ( )
- Toddler tricycle death race and bake-off show
- In/Edible: Vegetable Challenge ( )
- Turning certain types of animal fodder into actual food fit for humans
- Evil in Iceland ( )
- Stopping volcano-based terrorism
- High Andes Anarchy ( HandArchy to true fans) ( )
- Chilean special ops mountaineers
- Danger Date: Sur Del Ecuador ( )
- Emilia trying to land the hottest bush pilot in Argentina before they all fly into the side of a mountain
- My Perilous Penguin Pilgrimage ( )
- Intrepid British veterinarians bringing healthcare to the flightless residents of the South Sandwich Islands
- Boatloads of Belly Laughs ( )
- Wacky cruise ship comedians
- Celebrity Clown Curling: Last-Chance Comeback ( )
- When she visits the museum in her “high-end track suit,” Floris looks like the coach on this B- or C-list celebrity show
And, of course:
- SymSquad International ( )
- Telinda, Jaqueppi and other crack commandos with cyber-mods saving the world from injustice, while looking good doing it
13.
And finally…
- If you could have every one of your friends read one passage from The Sacred Cycle, which would it be?
- How about your family? Which one would you have them read?
Questions for Part 1: Resurrection
14.
Warmup questions:
- What was your initial reaction to the premise of a woman awakening after 4,600 years of mummification?
- At the end of the opening scene in the museum basement, did Crindi’s and Teppi’s “odd couple” dynamic make you want to see more of them together?
All of Chapter 1: Awakening ( )
- Did anything about the Great Pyramid construction site surprise you?
Chapter 5: Slipping ( )
Chapter 6: Shinōn ( )
15.
Teppi struggles with guilt over the unfinished business of her past—things she put off until it was too late.
Chapter 6: Shinōn ( )
- Have you ever had unfinished emotional business that hung over your head for too long?
16.
Crindi pulls out all the stops to help Teppi survive. When this doesn’t work, it hits her hard.
- Is there a parallel between Teppi’s lack of response to Crindi’s care and the history of Crindi’s grandmother that explains her reaction?
17.
We learn much about daily life in ancient Egypt in Part 1. It’s filled with beatings, illness, slavery, and frequent death.
For example, Chapter 6: Shinōn ( )
So, when Teppi awakens in Crindi’s flat, she thinks it’s paradise compared to her past life.
Chapter 2: Paradise ( )
- Would you consider the worst living conditions of the modern world “paradise” compared to the lives of ordinary ancient Egyptians?
- Is that a valid way to measure such things?
18.
Teppi has a cavalier attitude about nudity.
Chapter 4: Remembering ( )
- Could you shed our nudity taboo if you found yourself in ancient Egypt?
- Even in August? Would scorching heat and and no air conditioning affect your decision?
19.
Teppi interacted with every culture and race found along the nearest shores of the Mediterranean Sea and much of the Nile River while working on the docks at the Great Pyramid project. She finds Crindi to be beautiful, even royal in appearance, and her features to be ideal.
Chapter 3: Teatime ( )
- Does this tell us anything about Egyptian society during her era?
- Does it tell us anything about Teppi herself?
20.
Teppi has a very strong opinion about forced marriages.
Chapter 6: Shinōn ( )
International law and United Nations human rights conventions recognize forced marriage as a practice akin to slavery or servitude since it involves:
- loss of autonomy and control
- exercise of ownership-like powers
- inability to leave
- exploitation
- Consider:
- Marriages that are "arranged" can still allow the informed consent of both parties. Marriages that are "forced" do not.
- Minors below the legal age of consent cannot give full and informed consent, even if they verbally agree.
- Arrangments that are agreed to because of family and societal pressure are forced in all but name, regardless of age.
- When women are treated as property to be sold or exchanged for status, they are being dehumanized.
- Given this context—and Teppi's own experience—do you feel that the term she uses, "marriage slavery," is an appropriate description of the practice?
21
And finally, a time-related question you can use as a segue to cut an overly long group discussion short:
- Teppi finds the clock’s constant reminder of the passage of time disturbing.
Chapter 7: Ollie ( )
- On days when you have no commitments at all, do you still feel the need to know the exact time at a glance?
- Do you follow a schedule, even if you have nothing scheduled? (No judgment if you do! This is exactly how I run my own life.)
Questions for Part 2: Renewal
22.
Warmup questions:
- Do you ever use the Socratic Method at home or at work?
- Did you like Angela when you first met her?
- How about by the time of her opening up to Teppi about her internal struggles, after she’s been consistently frosty to Crindi?
- And after the “stayover?”
Angela introduced in Chapter 13: The Students ( )
Angela opens up in Chapter 24: The Ball ( )
The stayover occurs in Chapter 25: Floris ( )
23.
Teppi thinks Crindi’s skin color is beautiful and even “divine.”
Chapter 12: Rituals ( )
- Does it surprise you that some cultures have assigned different values to the colors black and white than you are accustomed to?
- Look up the meanings associated with these two colors in East Asian cultures for more examples.
24.
After the London Eye, Teppi says Crindi is the center of gravity that keeps the lives of her and Ollie stabilized. But later, Ollie is referred to as the “big sister” of their found family.
We were both wobbly planets that revolved around the gentle gravity of Crindi’s personality. With our orbits stabilized, all became right in our little universe.
Chapter 20: The Queen's Walk ( )
I realized somewhere along the way that I’d gone from being the middle sister in my past life to being the youngest one in my current life.
Crindi had moved into the middle-sister slot and taken on the mission of round-the-clock management of me, the impulsive, naïve, rebellious—and scrappy-cute—baby sister.
(…)
Ollie, the surrogate oldest sister, looked after both of us and never missed a clue that something was off.
Chapter 23: Breakdown ( )
- Shouldn’t the big sister also be the center of gravity?
- How do the roles differ?
25.
We are introduced to Mr. K, the beetle Teppi considers a “low-res incarnation” of her village’s favorite god, Khepri.
Chapter 10: Starting Over ( )
- Why might Teppi want to keep a tiny version of her god as a pet? She never mentions doing so in the past.
26.
Crindi uses family meetings as a structured way to slowly mold Teppi into a functioning member of modern society. Crindi isn’t comfortable with direct confrontation, so she’s being strategic: Holding meetings to decide things makes it seem like they agree regardless of who prevails—which, of course, is Crindi 99% of the time.
- What does it tell you about their relationship at this point that Teppi generally goes along with everything Crindi says, despite her grumbling?
27.
Crindi carefully and thoughtfully guides Teppi through the modern world, never rushing her, but also never relenting on her need to adapt.
- Would you have approached this task differently?
- Why is Crindi able to pull it off as effectively as she does, despite numerous setbacks?
28.
Teppi's experiences as a slave, including branding, lashing, and rape, are recounted in this Part. These events are referenced, but the reader is not walked through reliving them moment-by-moment.
Chapter 22: Marked ( , )
- Do you prefer this approach to violence or traumatic events, or do you think it blunts the emotional impact too much?
- Teppi was fifteen years old when her abuse started. By our modern standards, she was a minor.
- Given the norms of her society—ever-present violence, illness, and constant exposure to death—and how they would harden anyone’s perspective, do you see her as a minor in the context of ancient Egypt?
- Is abuse of a teenager—even in that ancient context, and even without explicit details—something you’d rather wasn’t included in a story? No matter how realistic a depiction of daily life it was?
29.
Think forward to Teppi’s and Crindi’s escape from the kidnappers in Part 4, which does include moment-by-moment descriptions of violence. (Teppi beats one kidnapper and Crindi strangles the other one.)
Chapter 46: Poison ( )
- Are there certain types of violence that you think are more acceptable to depict explicitly?
30
I chose to use only mild swear words (crap, arse, hell) with two instances of moderate swear words (damn, bastard) in both Teppi’s narration and character dialogue.
- In your view, does cursing in a book add realism?
- Or—even if realistic—does it put you off?
- Did The Sacred Cycle cross a cursing line for you?
31.
Teppi goes into detail about the rigors of daily life in ancient Egypt.
Chapter 18: Beer and Pharaohs ( )
Teppi is twenty-eight. She says she expected to die by the age of forty—just twelve more years if she had normal luck, less if her luck was slightly worse than average.
- How would knowing you had such a short life expectancy affect the decisions you make about living?
32.
Teppi stands in the basement of the British Museum with her scarred breast fully exposed to her fellow students. In her narration of the incident, she draws a comparison between what happened to her 4,600 years ago and what still happens today with female genital mutilation (FGM).
Chapter 22: Marked ( )
In both the past and the present, she states, girls’ personal experiences—including their pain—is ignored, and the consequences for their lives dismissed.
Her accusation: People find it easier to look away than to intervene because girls aren’t important enough to stick one’s neck out by agitating against a cultural practice of torturing them.
- Do you think there is ever a valid cultural or religious argument for excusing or ignoring mutilation of female genitalia?
Currently, in both the United States and the United Kingdom, discovery of genital mutilation of a minor should trigger the mandatory reporting to law enforcement of the incident by a wide range of professionals (medical, teaching, counseling, social work, and others). Despite these laws, prosecutions for female genital mutilation remain rare in both the U.S. and the UK, even as the practice continues to occur.
- Where do you think the responsibility for lack of enforcement lies—with those who should report it or with the legal system?
- Who should be held legally responsible and punished once genital mutilation is brought to light?
33.
For deep thinkers:
In some species—all are insects—keeping slaves developed through evolutionary pressures to survive. In other words, it’s in their DNA, and keeping slaves is a survival trait.
Humans are the only species that practices slavery as a social construct rather than an evolved biological trait… is what evolutionary biologists or cultural anthropologists would say.
But slavery existed in every early human civilization once agriculture became established, in the majority of societies since, and still exists in a variety of forms to this day.
- Is this an argument that taking slaves actually is deeply rooted in our own species’ DNA in some way?
Consider:
Humans have developed cultural practices that far exceed anything seen in other primates, organizing entire societies and economies around exploitation. Examples of pre-existing-and-now-intensified behaviors include:
- Pre-human territorial skirmishes > Modern human conquest and subjugation
- Pre-human sexual exploitation of captives > Modern human prostitution and trafficking
- Pre-human dominance hierarchies in groups > Modern human caste or class systems
These things are nearly ubiquitous across human societies to one extent or another.
So, it does seem like we are instinctively compelled toward dominating each other across a broad spectrum of activities.
If that trait had no evolutionary advantage for survival, we would have lost it over time. But we didn’t, and here we are.
Dominance through outright slavery and systems that are akin to slavery (such as guestworker abuse, forced labor, debt bondage, or domestic servitude) is so widespread that one could easily argue that it couldn’t be entirely from nurture.
So wouldn’t that mean its our nature… i.e., in our DNA?*
*Yes, I know I’m leaving out nuance that professionals would scream at each other about during a panel discussion at an anthropology conference. Calm down. We’re just having an interesting discussion, not writing a textbook.
Questions for Part 3: Remembrance
34.
Angela’s relationship with Teppi has changed a lot by the time of their shopping trip in the West End. But while Angela becomes very considerate of Crindi’s feelings, she never tempers her sharp tongue with Teppi, lecturing her and speaking to her in much the same way she does to Ravi.
Chapter 32: Girls' Day Out ( )
- Why this difference, even after all that Teppi does for her thesis?
- Do her actions match her words?
35.
Outside Westminster Abbey, Floris and Angela meet Ollie for the first time.
Chapter 28: Westminster ( )
- What is it about Ollie that makes her a good fit to become friends with Angela?
- How would you define Angela’s relationship with her mother after reading The Sacred Cycle?
- Did your opinion change at all after reading Broken Chords?
36.
Teppi relies heavily on popular culture to shape her modern identity. She ultimately forms a deep parasocial relationship with the character Telinda from SymSquad International—not the actress herself, but the character she plays in the show.
- Do you think this kind of character-based relationship is common in our current society?
- What’s the attraction over forming a similar parasocial relationship with the human actor involved?
- Do you think readers used to form similar relationships with characters from novels before the advent of movies and TV?
- Has the internet made such things more common or more intense?
- If so, why?
37.
The women make a stop at the British Museum before meeting up with Angela to go shopping.
Chapter 32: Girls' Day Out ( )
- Why do you think Teppi wants the Professor to meet Ollie?
- The Professor sees Crindi every day. Why does Teppi want him to see Crindi dressed up in something besides her mummy-wrestling clothes?
38.
The friends’ clothes shopping trip ends with this passage:
We set off down the narrow, stone-paved lane of Saint Christopher’s Place in search of food. My friends were laughing in the brilliant sunshine of a warm September day, and it was like the entire city of London had been built just for us.
Chapter 32: Girls' Day Out ( )
The group is composed of two Egyptologists from big cities on different continents, a security guard from a small town, and an unemployed refugee from the ancient past.
- Have you ever belonged to a friend group as unlikely as this one?
- Would you like to spend a day in London with these characters?
39.
The Professor and Teppi take a final walk through the museum, which she considers to be an oral exam for her graduation from “the University of Halifax, London Campus.” She knows it’s their final tour of the galleries together.
Chapter 38: Last Tour ( )
- Have you ever experienced a special event with someone when you knew in the moment that it was the last time it would ever happen?
Questions for the truly brave
Is your discussion group willing to ignore the excellent advice to never discuss politics or religion at social events? The following questions are for the brave souls who dare to abandon proper etiquette and good judgment in group settings.
First, let's touch on politics
40.
Consider these three factors:
- Factor one: It’s understandable that Teppi is unsparing in her disdain for Stonehenge and its builders, given her background.
Chapter 29: Pride and Prejudice ( )
- Factor two: In contrast, neither you nor anyone else alive today has worked on any ancient historical artifacts and are hardly in a position to be the ultimate judge of their value to anyone in the present.
- Factor three: Teppi adopts the UK as her home, feeling more British than she does Egyptian by the end. Aside from Stonehenge, she feels protective of British landmarks, not wanting any of them to be sacrificed to the Professor’s desire to share parts of England with the world.
Chapter 33: Darjeeling ( )
Now discuss these questions:
- When is someone “allowed” to become proud of the past accomplishments of a society that nobody in that current society has had a hand in creating?
- Can a recent immigrant be just as proud as a longtime resident, and can their pride be considered just as sincere? How about a second-generation immigrant? Third-generation?
- Consider all countries, not only Western ones, and their landmark treasures from the past. Things like the Great Wall of China or the Mayan pyramids. Putting aside citizenship status, do you have to be a certain race or have a certain skin color to claim pride in the accomplishments of a nation?
41.
Every society has done terrible things in its past, some worse than others, depending on who’s judging. Teppi learns of England’s worst deeds.
Chapter 31: Conquest and Pizza ( )
Yet she falls in love with London and is thrilled to become a British citizen by any means, even illegal ones.
Chapter 40: A Name ( )
- How could she feel this way even after acknowledging the sins of European colonization?
- Are there parallels with how we feel about our families?
And now, it's time to discuss religion
Teppi’s overly familiar relationship with Khepri obscures the fact that, in her own way, she is deeply religious. This is to be expected since she comes from a culture where religious belief permeated every aspect of daily life.
42.
The Nile River’s flooding was a massively impactful event that occurred like clockwork every year—unlike, say, the intermittent eruption of a volcano—and was witnessed first-hand by every single Egyptian—unlike, for example, second-hand reports of a man being swallowed by a whale.
- How could such a predictable and obvious “miracle” be used to maintain a religion over so many thousands of years with relatively little change to its core tenets?
43.
Teppi questions the practice of Christianity during the Middle Ages when speaking with the Professor in the museum gallery.
Chapter 27: Morning Tea ( )
Then she pushes Angela about the details of her beliefs in Westminster Abbey.
Chapter 28: Westminster ( )
- Did you find Teppi’s questions, such as the same god being on both sides of wars, reasonable?
- Do you think Teppi was respectful or disrespectful of others’ beliefs?
44.
In Westminster Abbey, Angela says this to Teppi:
“I’ve spent quite a bit of time studying the language of faith across multiple cultures. One thing I know for certain is that no matter what holy books say, no matter what priests say, every person has a unique relationship with their god. In that sense, every god is a collective presence of infinite manifestations of personal deities.”
Chapter 28: Westminster ( )
- Given human nature—which can tend to be self-centered—do you think most worshippers of most religions essentially form their own, personal deities?
- Or is even considering the concept sacrilegious?
45.
Historical records indicate that the religion of ancient Egypt had no prohibitions on worshipping other gods. Today’s main monotheistic religions hold that other gods don’t exist and forbid the practice of worshipping them.
- What is it about polytheism that might make it open to the concept of the existence of gods from other cultures’ pantheons?
- Why would monotheistic religions take the opposite stance?
Is everyone in your group still friends? Or at least still biting their tongues? Good! Take a breather before you dive into the next part.
Questions for Part 4: Reckoning
46.
Her involvement with the Great Pyramid was a very important part of Teppi’s youth. But she lacks any desire to get close to it when she returns to Egypt with Crindi.
Chapter 42: Giza ( )
47.
Consider this:
- Crindi’s devotion to Teppi and her needs is unwavering in Part 4, no matter what that requires or what happens to her.
- She breaks UK law by transporting artifacts, is assaulted but refuses to reveal personal contacts, chokes a kidnapper without any regrets, steals tools, and breaks Egyptian law by excavating a ruin.
- She is not the same Crindi who resurrected Teppi in Chapter 1: Awakening ( ).
- She breaks UK law by transporting artifacts, is assaulted but refuses to reveal personal contacts, chokes a kidnapper without any regrets, steals tools, and breaks Egyptian law by excavating a ruin.
- Teppi is also unwavering in her devotion to Crindi.
- She doesn’t hesitate to charge men with guns, she breaks her hand to enable their escape, she rallies in the desert, and (mistakenly) tries to end her own life to spare Crindi more trauma.
- She is not the same Teppi who lay immobile for weeks, wasting away because she could find no reason to live in Part One: Resurrection ( ).
- She doesn’t hesitate to charge men with guns, she breaks her hand to enable their escape, she rallies in the desert, and (mistakenly) tries to end her own life to spare Crindi more trauma.
- The official hero of the story is Teppi, the narrator. But—all things considered—who changes more, Teppi or Crindi?
48.
During the kidnapping, Crindi elaborates on her reason for telling Teppi about her feelings.
“Teppi, I think people deserve to know when they’re loved. No matter how they feel about it, everyone deserves to know that they are worthy of being loved just as they are. It’s cruel to keep it from them (…) because it’s something they’ll always remember for the rest of their lives. No matter how bad things get, no matter how hard their life becomes, they’ll always be able to say to themselves, ‘someone loved me.’ That could save their life one day.”
Chapter 44: The Truth ( )
Crindi is a soft-hearted person who has thought a lot about love throughout her life, so she may be biased.
- Do you agree with her position on sharing feelings of love in all situations?
- Even feelings that the speaker knows won’t be reciprocated?
- Does your answer change if the love a person feels is “at first sight” instead of developed after getting to know someone? In other words, insta-love vs. slow-burn?
49.
By the time of Crindi’s confession of love, her feelings for Teppi have been obvious to everyone for some time—except for Teppi. Setting aside Teppi’s personal experiences with a forced union, in her era, marriage among common people was generally an informal affair built on simple cohabitation… exactly what her and Crindi are doing.
There is no historical indication of either acceptance or rejection of same-sex partnerships in Old Kingdom ancient Egypt, and no formal decrees or laws about such unions have ever been found. So, we can reasonably assume for this question that Teppi doesn’t harbor any cultural biases against a lesbian relationship.
- So why do you think Teppi is unaware of the nuances of her developing relationship with Crindi?
- Is it the entire context of her life being upended? Past trauma related to marriage? Or just individual cluelessness regarding matters of love?
50.
The two women are small—Crindi is about 5 feet (152 cm) tall and Teppi is shorter than her. They are not hardened criminals. The two kidnappers are armed men who are accustomed to inflicting violence. And yet, the flatmates manage to gain their freedom.
Chapter 46: Poison ( )
- Given the women’s disadvantages, did you think the escape sequence was believable?
Questions for Part 5: Renaissance
51.
Did any of the Epilogue surprise you?
52.
Would the book have felt as satisfying if the story ended in the collapsed cavern?
53.
Would you buy an Egyptologist doll with mummy-dissection accessories?
Select Edition extra stories
The following stories are found only in the Select Edition of the book.
Message in a Bottle
54.
As you know from The Sacred Cycle, a found family develops in the block of flats.
- After reading the prequel story Message in a Bottle, who would you say started it, Crindi or Ollie?
55.
In The Sacred Cycle, the Professor gives Teppi a label that applies to Crindi in Message in a Bottle.
- What is it?
- Hint: mollusk
56.
In The Sacred Cycle, Crindi makes a significant, but short, statement in the collapsed cavern to Teppi that could apply to Ollie in Message in a Bottle.
The Sacred Cycle > Chapter 50: The Sacred Cycle ( )
- What is it?
- Hint: six words
Broken Chords
57.
Angela and Floris never fully split apart in Broken Chords like Ravi and his family did in Storybook Heart. But their bond is tested before becoming stronger than ever by the end.
- Does this count as a found family?
- If not, is there a similar trope involved?
58.
Crindi is the only character who appears in the novel and all three extra stories.
- Considering all the roles she plays in four different stories, if she was a superhero, what would her superpower be?
59.
1. Angela's journey through each of the seasons mirrors her movement through the stages of recovering from the grief of losing her established life.
- How do passages used in the different chapters reflect these stages?
- Chapter 1: Spring ( )
- Denial
- Chapter 2: Summer ( )
- Bargaining
- Anger
- Chapter 3: Autumn ( )
- Despair
- Chapter 4: Winter ( )
- Acceptance
- Which season's portrayal resonated most with you?
60.
The novella's title, Broken Chords, carries a double meaning, one musical and one interpersonal.
- What are they?
- Yes, non-musicians may look this up, since we both know you’re going to anyway.
61.
Angela finds connection and solace with NileKat13 in the ThothNet forum.
- Growing up, did you find deep connection in an online space that you couldn’t find in real life?
Storybook Heart
62.
Ravi reconnects with his existing family in this story.
- Would you consider this to be a found family story?
63.
Priya’s data analyst/consultant career is different from that of her parents (engineers), and different from Ravi’s (historian*).
- How do her specific skills allow her to bring her family back together, when her parents and Ravi haven’t been able to bridge their divide on their own?
- Have you ever played the role of Priya in your family? Or among friends?
64.
Teppi appears frequently in Storybook Heart.
- Did your opinion of Teppi’s character change at all when you saw her through Ravi’s point of view, rather than listening to her own narrative about herself?
* Simplified for the question. “Historian” under-describes Egyptologists, who work in a specialized field that combines elements of history, archaeology, linguistics, art history, and other specialties. Basically, an all around danger-smart discipline.
Congratulations!
If you actually answered—or at least argued about—every question, you may award yourself a gold star.