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One Nation Under God is a chilling book that reads more like something right out of today's headlines than an imaginative work of fiction. Author Vincent M. Wales, founder of the Freethought Society of Northern Utah, captures the danger of theocracy and our current government's abuse of the separation of church and state in a very unusual book that combines suspense with elements of social commentary. And he does so in a highly unique and entertaining way. I simply could not put this book down.
The book may throw some readers off at first, with its unconventional structure and style. The story, which takes place in the not-too-distant future and centers on the President's daughter, Mary, is told in a series of emails, web pages and diary entries, all from the points of view of the key players involved. Those key players include a righteous right wing President, Paul Christopher, who wants to Christianize the nation; his equally right wing wife, Sarah; Mary, the key protagonist, who is not just the Prez's daughter, but a newfound bi-sexual and Wiccan who turns away from her father's policies; Mary's Uncle Gene Sisco, who is so far to the right he makes Hitler look like Paul Wellstone; Vicki, Mary's lover; reporter and muckracker J.E. Cooper; and a mysterious entity who goes by the name Jefferson Paine (in reference to two great Thomas's???) and who runs a website called Voice of Reason, dedicated to uncovering the evildoings of the Christopher administration.
As Mary learns more about her sexual orientation, she also is challenged by her transforming religious beliefs, and finds herself becoming more and more vocal as she dares to speak out against her father's administration and his dangerous policies of creating a theocratic state. And as she becomes more and more prominent in the public eye, she becomes a bigger target for right wing Christian extremists, including her own family members, who want her taken down once and for all. Taken down, as in silenced, even if it means murdering her in the name of Jesus.
One Nation Under God doesn't just give us Mary's story and perspective, though. Its dynamic and jarring style of telling the story in email/diary/web format offers the reader glimpses into the minds and personas of all the lead characters, and does so in a way that is just as effective as including their POV's in the narrative in the usual novel style. At first, I found this format jarring, but once I got used to it, I quickly realized that I was not only hooked, but deeply effected by the rapid-fire bouncing from one person's thoughts to another, giving the whole book a breathless, critical feel.
And critical this book is, for it takes today's threats and makes them real, and though it is set about 25 years into our future, it won't take us that long to see this story become reality...for it already is. One Nation Under God reminds us of the evils of forcing one narrow set of religious beliefs down the throats of a free society, and it warns us to stop it in its tracks...before we all become the next Mary Christophers. Kudos to author Vincent M. Wales for having the courage to write about this very sensitive subject at a time when just criticizing the current administration could get you labeled a terrorist. Long live Democracy and freedom- freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Isn't that, after all, what our Founding Fathers intended?
This is an excellent book. Told through a series of diary entries, emails, and web pages, it creates the frightening downward spiral of American society in a future where today's popular mixing of religion and government have grown immeasurably worse. To the Christopher administration (and the strong fundamentalist base that supports it), there is no such thing as separation of church and state. There is no such thing as freedom of religion, or even freedom of speech.
This is the story of a nation, but it is more the story of a young girl forced to grow up too fast in times that are frightening both personally and nationally. Mary is highly intelligent, loving and fiercely loyal. These things all come into conflict as she comes of age in a White House governed by a narrow definition of God and His will. There are a few sections (which I won't describe to avoid spoilers) where her personal growth comes with surprising speed, but beyond that it is well done. There were also a few decisions made by her parents that were, while intellectually understandable, a little more difficult to grasp emotionally.
Wales is a talented writer, easily calling forth the wildly disparate voices of the book. Paul Christopher, Sarah Christopher, Mary Christopher, Jefferson Paine, Jude and Vicki each have a distinctive voice. Even Mary's voice changes radically as she grows from a naive child to the young woman that she must become. For anyone to write a convincing young girl is difficult. For a grown man to do so is astounding. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in our society, in the separation of church and state, in freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, or even personal growth. This book covers all those things while remaining a highly entertaining and smooth read.
Wales takes us on a journey down the path of theocracy in the United States. The book only uses pages from diaries, emails, and web pages, as well as clippings from news reports to tell his saga. This distinctive approach to storytelling is vital to getting closer to the characters; it makes the story more personal as you submerge deeper into the personal turmoil and triumph faced by the characters. You won’t want to put the book down because you must know what happens next to each character as the plot thickens and the drama plays out in front of you. I found myself finishing a chapter and glancing at a clock to see that it was three in the morning. Wales takes us into what a possible theocracy in the United States will look like and how it will affect people through the writings of those creating the theocratic policies and those affected by them. One of the main characters affected by these policies is the daughter of the very theocrat pushing his religion upon the citizens of the United States, even if he is nothing more than a marionette in the hands of another power-hungry theocrat. Historic theocracies have turned corrupt and such holds true in Wales’ story. Wales looks at numerous issues that are at the heart of social debate today and weaves them into his story seamlessly. When you finish reading the book you’ll find yourself pondering these issues and thinking about people affected by such issues. You may not change your mind or stance, but at least you’ll be thinking about it. A sign of a good book is not just a good story, but a story that makes you think and ponder the issues; a story that makes you consider things with a different perspective and perhaps, just perhaps, persuades you to be more accepting of people that are different than you. Wales’ book should appeal to a wide audience, from all ranges of life, regardless of their religious affiliation, sexual preference, political position, ethnic background, or social belief. If more people understood the ramifications of theocracy there might be fewer people desiring one in the United States.
I have to admit, when the publicist approached me and asked me to review this book, I was somewhat cautious. I don't normally review fiction, nor do I review books that don't talk about Paganism in general. I have made a few exceptions for one reason or another. This time I'm very glad I did.
This book is a dystopian look at what could happen if the current policies in America are continued forward into the 2020's. There are only a few characters, the President's daughter, a man named Jude and another named "Thomas Paine". The President is a fundamentalist Christian, and his family is as well. Their best friend is Gene Sisco (a copy of Jerry Falwell) who blames the current state of America on Pagans, Gays, Satan and any other scapegoat he can find. Additionally, Congress is Conservative and Christian, and the Supreme Court is also ultra conservative and ultra Christian.
So, as one may surmise given this setup, there starts a chain of events that affects everyone in the book, and the nation as well.
There is NO narrative storyline. There is a plot, but instead of this story being narrated by a single coherent voice from either the first or third person, you read the story in personal journals, emails, chat logs, interviews, speeches and other written or broadcast media for all the characters. This is my first experience with this particular style of writing and I found it effective as it lets the reader see inside the head of every character.
Because of this the narrative skips about. Entries are dated (for example, letters have the date they were written on them.) so they can be followed in sequence, and the chapters are broken down by years. The story flows very well.
Because of how the story is written, there are some odd mechanisms used to tell the story. For example, an investigative reporter (ala Geraldo) does a live broadcast containing information crucial for the reader to know. The entries that are shared are incomplete. For instance, when we look into the President's journal entries, there is no mention of problems in the world, foreign policy, the economy and all the other situations that a President has to deal with. The only things told to us are pieces of information regarding the story, and any ancillary information that affects the plot, but only IF it has an impact on the story itself.
It took me some time to get into the story. About half way through the book it started picking up for me, and I was able to become involved enough to lose myself. After that, I couldn't put the book down.
This book was also presented to me as a "pagan friendly" book and it is a friendly book in that it is not critical of paganism or Wicca in specific. It covers topics like parental relations, lesbianism, polyamory, Wicca and paganism, American life and laws.
The plot is predictable. I say this in a good way in this case. It should be predictable and the situations flow logically from one point to another, each building off the previous. There are no last minute surprises that mysteriously appear out of thin air, and very few red herrings to confuse the reader.
One thing that is made absolutely plain is that our inaction now has desperate effects in the future, and those effects may be impossible to rectify later.
Because there are so many characters, it is somewhat confusing to keep track of who is talking when, but the author fixes that through the use of different font faces for different speakers. That got me a few times as the specific typeface used for the President’s writing makes the "I" look like a "J". But that is a minor qualm.
I've been thinking of what rating to give this book, and after considering all the factors, I'm going to give it 4 stars of 5. As I said, it's slow to start, and there are some things I think could have been included to make this a richer story.
This dystopian novel of the near future is fascinating. Set in the 2020s, it depicts a U.S. government running over the rights of the citizens, with a fundamentalist Christian president being elected on the platform of restoring values to America. When I first sat down to read and review this book, I impatiently flipped through the first few pages, wanting them to stop setting the scene and start the story. Then suddenly, I had an epiphany and flipped back to the beginning to start again. What I hadn't understood was that the entire book is written in an unusual style.
The book begins with a journal entry from the president's daughter when he is first elected. Then there is a transcription of a speech. Then a web page about the event, and so forth. The entire book is written in this fashion. While it is disconcerting at first, it quickly catches your attention and then the book is very hard to put down. I am in the middle of a second reading of the book a few months later, and it is still enthralling.
The book is organized into the years of President Christopher's reign. Each year contains journal entries from three main characters: his daughter Mary, his wife Sarah and Paul Christopher himself. Web pages, newspaper clippings, and transcriptions of speeches and TV shows intersperse the e-mail correspondence that Mary starts having with, of all people, an atheist. As you can imagine, the writings of 12-year-old, sheltered, fundamentalist Mary with 19-year-old atheist Jude are different from the writings of 15-year-old Mary to 22-year-old Jude. Watching her grow in her ability to think, even in the style of her e-mail, is amazing.
If you are looking for the polyamory in the book, you will have to wait until near the end of the book. Although it becomes obvious to the reader that Mary loves Jude, as well as someone else that she gets involved with, it is not obvious to Mary herself for a long time. While polyamory is finally mentioned and explored in the correspondence included in the book, it is more of a theoretical nature rather than a physical, daily living presence.
However, I do recommend this book to all. It is nonviolent, and brings up many topics that we as polyamorists should consider. It is my personal belief that reading a book like this will help all of us who are different to draw together, and to remember what we have in common. We must guard our liberties lest they be lost to us. The book is sufficiently realistic that it could scare many of us, myself included, who need a good awakening.
This was by far my favourite read of 2006 and one that made my everyone must read list, which I don't often add books to.
First, this was one of the most unique (to me at least) and brilliant ways to put together a book. We are guided through the tale via journal and blog entries, news articles, emails between people, radio interviews, speeches and so on. At first glance. I admit I held a slight expectation that this book would be a little slow to read because of that fact. Boy was I ever wrong. I practically inhaled this book, couldn't put it down and fell in love with it instantly.
I also had the misconception that this would be a non-fiction then learned otherwise after reading the cover. When you read it though, it is positively scary how close it feels to something that really could be a part of our future and I don't just mean the USA (I am in Canada). This could happen anywhere in the world. I loved the way the author takes current events and brings them forward to a conclusion that is all at once chilling and enlightening.
Imagine a world in which one religion becomes the accepted way and all others, along with all alternative ways of life (sexual and otherwise) become outlawed. This book guides you through such a world and brings you the insiders view from many aspects. The characters are complex and stunningly written and the plot mainly revolves around an eleven year old girl named Mary Christopher. Mary is the daughter of the latest President, a President who along with Mary's mother (crusader for family values) and "uncle" Gene (evangelical leader) are determined to lead America to a better way of life. Things aren't so cut and dried for Mary though after she meets an aetheist online who constantly gives her much to think about and other vivid characters who help her to realise that it is possible to unlearn everything you always thought was right and change your way of thinking.
This book has so many ways of being defined, like coming of age story, dystopia and many more but to me, in all honesty, it's beyond definition. (other than great, of course).
Everyone should read this book at least once. Whatever your preferences are in life (and not just religiously), this book will give you one hell of a wake up call when it comes to freedom and intolerance. Speaking personally as someone who is into alternative lifestyles and religions this book brings a lot to light and shockingly, to me, even taught me a lot more about acceptance of others ways of life and choices, not just tolerance.