On the Merits of Unnaturalness (6 page)

AN
AFTERWORD

I use this Afterword to express my fond Hope that
my Research has enlightened all those Clairvoyants who have never thought to
distinguish themselves from the great Mass of us that roam the Citadel. It has
been an arduous Decade, but in this Pamphlet, my Wish for a more hierarchical
and organised Society may yet be granted. We must fight Fire with Fire if we are
to survive this Inquisition. We have the Strength, Diversity and Malleability to
survive, as we always have. The Merits of Unnaturalness are simply too great to
be crushed by the Cruelty of the Anchor, though we may yet live for ever in its
Shadow. And on that Subject, I have nothing further to say.

Regards,

AN OBSCURE
WRITER

A NOTE FROM
SAMANTHA SHANNON

This pamphlet was written by the mime-lord Jaxon
Hall, also known as the White Binder. At the time, he was not known by either
name.

On the Merits of
Unnaturalness
, published
illegally by the Spiritus Club in 2031 after being discovered by a psycho-scout,
is referenced in
The Bone Season
as one of the most important pieces of
clairvoyant literature of the twenty-first century. The release of the pamphlet,
which was written anonymously, brought widespread knowledge of the Seven Orders
to London and eventually spread to other citadels in Europe. However, it also
caused a spate of brutal gang wars between the newly identified categories and
the imprisonment of the so-called vile augurs in the slum of Jacob's Island,
Bermondsey.

Jaxon Hall went on to become the most renowned mime-lord in the central cohort
of London. By 2041 he had possession of the sought-after Seven Dials district,
and by 2059 he had six dependants, including the famous Pale Dreamer – none of
whom were from what he defined as the two lowest categories of
clairvoyance.

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Also available by Samantha Shannon

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Also available by Samantha Shannon

The
New York Times
and
Sunday Times
bestseller

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...

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First published in Great Britain 2015

This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Copyright © 2015 by Samantha Shannon-Jones

The moral right of the author has been asserted

 

e-ISBN: 978-1-4088-8190-3

 

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