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Several friends recommended this novel to me. As science fiction it
was prescient and has aged remarkably well since 1993. I really
appreciated this books serious exposition of pacifism in action. I
read this in three days as an escapist immersive experience and did
not take notes.
The story is a curious blend of Utopian and dystopian fiction. North
America has devolved into an incohesive society akin to the movie
Idiocracy. The left coast from Northern California up has separated
into a loose confederacy of earth-based societies. The main
characters are witches from the Bay Area. Most of the country is
governed by the Stewards who are tightly aligned with the
Millenialists. Together they represent a bizarre social mutation
that is easy to recognize as a projection of American-style
capitalism and Christianity. The Stewards exacerbated socio-economic
class division almost to the point of a caste system. All of the
characters seem hyper-sexualized including the witches, the Stewards,
and the rebels who barely eke an existence outside of Steward society.
The main characters are Maya (a matriarch), Madrone (a healer), and
Bird (a warrior). All of the main characters are magic-using
witches. The witches are all bisexual and polyamorous with no
exceptions. The author is NOT afraid to use the literary device of
Deus Ex Machina. In one scene Bird performs a little ritual on the
computer that draws lots for prisoners to be sent outside on work
parties, and consequently it draws lots for him and his friends,
literally invoking a machine and divine fate.
I appreciate the creative and hopeful vision of an Earth-based
spirituality thriving in a separated Bay Area society, an humane
oasis within a grim post-apocalyptic world. I saw parallels between
their isolation and how i imagine life in a remote tribal reservation.
I found it interesting that Madrone and other witches were sexually
attracted to the genetically engineered athletes and "picture
perfect" sex workers in the Stewards society. This contradicts my
personal experience where i am repelled by that which feels false and
unnatural.
I appreciate the author's reverence for the land. A friend tells me
that the author personally wandered the terrain of Northern
California as research for this book.
author: Starhawk |
