/~bencollver/log/2018-11-23-the-fifth-sacred-thing-by-starhawk on tilde.pink

	View source

	# 2018-11-23 - The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk

	Fifth Sacred Thing by Jessica Perlstein

	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
	detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/The_Fifth_Sacred_Thing
	LOC: PS3569.T33565
	tags: book,fantasy,fiction,sci-fi
	title: Fifth Sacred Thing

	# Tags

	book
	fantasy
	fiction
	sci-fi