Starhawk - The Fifth Sacred Thing

Pros: Wonderful moral treatise about caring for the survival of the planet, and each other.
Cons: Characters are too-contrived, the diversity feels forced upon you.

Starhawk has created a utopian fantasy about 21st century California, which is sure to inspire, if not entertain. While I enjoy Starhawk as a feminist and pagan writer, I'm afraid this venture into fiction has left me a little flat.

The...

Pros: an absorbing story, lots of detail, rich imagry, great cast of characters
Cons: for me, none -- some subject matter may be offensive to some

Imagine you live in a city.

There is no lack of opportunity. If you are willing to learn and work hard, you really can be anything you want to be.

Everyone's work is valued the same. It's all necessary for the society to...

Pros: Interesting view of post-apocalyptic California, beautiful concept of a utopian society
Cons: Hard to believe, may scare away some due to religious and sexual content

Were it not for a friend of mine, I would not have found this book. I have seen it in a few bookstores since, but it is not commonly found in sci-fi or fantasy sections around Southern California, anyhow. I have found it, however, in the New Age sections...

Pros: Starhawk's vision of a possible future shows the growth of a new age culture.
Cons: Starhawk's personal views of a new age culture are unique to Starhawk.

I feel it's on topic to talk about the author as well as the book. Starhawk is one of the prominent American philosophers of our time. Sidelined at times almost totally into the pagan and feminist communities, this author consistently asks more questions...

Pros: Uplifting, exciting, great characters
Cons: None

The Fifth Sacred Thing is written by Starhawk, a preeminent author in the Pagan community. It is a novel of rites of passage, of change and how we deal with our fears of change, and also about diversity and acceptance.

The story takes place in...

Pros: Very creative futuristic vision.
Cons: Some areas a bit slow to read.

Fifth Sacred Thing is Starhawk's first novel, and she comes out of the gates at full speed. It's a novel with a vision of a futuristic world that exists at opposite ends of a spectrum.

This story is about a two west coast cities - San...