Starhawk

This is a dystopian versus utopian novel with a difference because it is not straight science fiction - at least, the story relies upon the use of alternative medicine and manipulation of ch'i/qi, the body's energy field, by people who have psychic abilities. But I decided to treat it as a blend of science fiction and fantasy and just accept it. There is a very serious polemical intent behind this book: it is quite prophetic in its warning - published in the early 1990s it shows a California beset by drought as well as pollution and disease and uses the term 'climate change' in at least one place. But it is also a character driven story.

The story is set in 2048. Twenty years previously the United States of America collapsed and a political regime was set up in the southern part, run by the Stewards, a military tyranny backed by an extreme religious cult, the Millenialists, who teach that at the second coming of Christ, Jesus decided humanity was too sinful to redeem and went away again. They have used this as a justification for an appalling reign of repression and murder in which large numbers of the population are declared souless and are used as breeding animals for racing, sex slaves and war, and the rest are kept in line by rationed access to water and to drugs which are essential to survival against deliberately engineered viruses, though at a cost to the subjects. The regime is white supremacist and misogynistic.

Meanwhile, in San Franscisco and the bay area, an alternative society was created after the people rose up twenty years before and did not allow the Stewards to impose their rule. This has thrived, powered by collective hard work, and has preserved the scarce water and other natural resources, while seeking to develop techniques to clean up the toxins in the environment. The mantra they have developed is that there are five sacred things: earth, air, water, fire and spirit, none of which can be owned by anyone.

Their society is unashamedly utopian in its collectivism, lack of racism/sexism/ageism and other prejudice, and its complete religious tolerance and in fact mingling of religions. There is also not even any serious jealousy arising from a fairly free and easy attitude towards sex with multiple partners of all genders, and apart from a few incorrigibles who are banned to the outskirts to live off wild pigs, everyone is happy to work in return for a share in the food, water and other resources. The arising of psychic powers has also resulted in 'Witches' as they are known: people who can cure by laying on of hands, or who can manipulate electrical devices - even the computers, which are used for specialist tasks, are based on a crystal technology worked by the mind. But everything is not well in 'utopia' for plagues have reduced the population and the suspicion is that these are artificially engineered and originate from the south.

Naturally the Stewards, living in an area baked by heat and lacking in resources - most of the population there has to work for water and drugs to protect them from the same engineered viruses that have been sent north - and feeling the need to assert their authority over 'Witches' and 'devil worshippers' - decides to invade the north. The story therefore is split between the community in the north and the repression in the south, with the south seen first through the eyes of Bird, a San Fransican who was captured and spent ten years in a prison, and then his lover Madrone, a psychic healer who eventually travels there to try to help the meagre resistence movements. Eventually the enemy makes its move, which results in a harrowing portrayal of the attempts by the San Fransicans to resist non violently against murderous tyranny.

The story does become a bit heavy handed at times in the polemic and also the need for one character to explain to another, and hence the reader, what is going on. There is quite a lot of internal dialogue and scenes do feature head hopping between characters. Some readers probably would find the paganism and ecofeminism a bit over emphasised or the same with the group sex and other sexual scenes. There is also quite a bit of violence. But I found it an interesting story even if the characters were sometimes a bit irritating, or the issue of how the north eradicated racism and sexism etc rather glossed over. A solid 4 star read.… (mais)

I'm really not sure where I got this book from, but when I picked it out of my book case I thought I would be getting a feminist sci-fi along the lines of The Handmaid's Tale. Instead I very quickly discovered I'd committed to reading a (gasp) literary novel.

I am not a spiritual person. At all. It's just not in my nature. So I found it really difficult to identify with Maya's struggle - she's lost her spiritual mojo and she's walking through Nepal with her mother's ashes in the hopes of finding it again.

As she moped through the mountains I found myself getting increasingly annoyed with her. You're in one of the most beautiful places in the world and you want something more? Just exist in the world. That is what there is. That is enough.

I wavered on the edge of giving this book three stars until the very end, where Maya finally faces the tangled relationships of her past and begins to put things right. This is where this book really wins. The relationships it depicts are raw and real and powerful, and I have to admit I spent much of the conclusion in tears.… (mais)