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       # 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