(TXT) View source # 2018-11-23 - The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk (IMG) 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 (TXT) detail: gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/The_Fifth_Sacred_Thing LOC: PS3569.T33565 tags: book,fantasy,fiction,sci-fi title: Fifth Sacred Thing # Tags (DIR) book (DIR) fantasy (DIR) fiction (DIR) sci-fi