Book-It '10! Book #6
The Fifty Books Challenge, year two! This was a library request under the subject "Pagan fiction".
Title: Ceremony in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D Robb
Details: Copyright 1997, Berkley Books
Synopsis (By Way of Inside Cover): "Even in an age of cutting-edge technology, old beliefs die hard...
Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own beliefs of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil..."
Why I Wanted to Read It: On a search for "Pagan+fiction" at my local library lending system, this was one of the few offerings that isn't Mists of Avalon or a knockoff thereof.
How I Liked It: Ugh, another "where to begin". While this beats the last crime "thriller" I read involving Paganism, it doesn't by much.
This book is in a series, and, to be fair, I'm coming at it in the middle. However, it can be a stand-alone book fairly easily (identifiers are put in place and the backstory is given briefly on nearly everything).
I do not generally care for works of fiction set in the future since almost nothing dates it faster and renders the work unintentionally hilarious. In Nora Roberts's (or pardon me, J.D. Robb's) 2056 (in this book, published in 1997), "droids" abound, as do "automatic" cars and chefs (the particulars are never really discussed). Guns are called "zappers" for some reason and women are called "sir" (perhaps an evolution of sorts of "you guys"?) instead of ma'am. Phones of course have video (and are called "'lines" despite the fact they are apparently identical to telephones including the fact there's "pay 'lines") and apparently knowledge of Paganism is still in the dark.
Our protagonist is fighting a "witch war" (fun fact: Satanists aren't Witches, unless you are terming "witch" to be strictly "magic-maker"; "witch" is a term that predates Christianity and thus, Satanism) between Wiccans (moral if completely impotent and ineffectual fluffy bunnies) and Satanists (out of every lame horror movie you've ever seen with a dash of self-involved "raver" culture). They're given equal footing and treated the same as cults (not just by the protagonist in her "learning" stage; the author resists giving it the distinction of a religion). Many of the facts are wrong (surprise) and plenty is (again, surprise) over-sensationalized.
While stock characters come blessedly fewer in this book (versus the other dreck), that's not coming very far. The knowledge of crime is shaky (maybe that's dismissed by the techniques of the "future"?) and it shows.
The end is a farce: the villain confesses to all crimes ala a bragging monologue whilst preparing to assassinate Our Hero (haven't they learned by now that's generally not wise?) who is saved by her big strong (civilian) husband. The reader is attempted to be saved by a "helpless female waif rescued by strapping male" narrative by the fact Our Hero was sort of fighting the villain (kinda) when she is ultimately rescued. No barf bags are included in the book, unfortunately.
Threads of worthy storytelling lie in what is I'm sure the greater stories that occur over the series: the protagonist's relationship with her husband (and learning to trust after abuse) shows needles of the kind of progress that has the capacity to captivate. Of course, that's dampened by the fact she and her husband are chucked into rather stock sex scenes (thankfully, we are spared weepingcock prose, for the most part) with smarmy dialog in their almost every interaction in the book.
It's a shaky story, even if it had its facts straight which it does not. And that's everything from Satanism to Wicca to basic crime psychology and procedure.
Notable: While I was irked for the fact that "witch" is used for both Satanists and Wiccans (and that Wiccans are largely portrayed as fluffy delusional new-agers) alike, there's misinformation about Satanists as well. Although Satanists (at least, according to the Church of Satan's literature) claim to eschew all authority and therefore a statement such as "a Satanist wouldn't do that" is precarious, it's fair to say that most Satanic ceremonies do not end with a free-for-all orgy numbering in the hundreds (at least) nor do they routinely sacrifice children or small animals (an "official" Satanic site I read once discussed how Satanist view children as untainted of the "stupidity" that can overtake adults and so therefore it would be against their world view to harm them). The self-righteousness of Satanists, along with their views on Wicca I've sadly encountered with almost every Satanist I've met, but that doesn't necessarily assure that all react that way.
A passage that's particularly glaring in inaccuracy manages to get wrong both Paganism and Satanism in the same sentence. Our protagonist is consulting resident psychologist and profiler for the NYPSD (New York Police and Security Department-- for some reason this changes in the future; kinda eerie when you think that this was published pre-9/11), Doctor Charlotte Mira:
"'Your young [victim], Eve, was likely drawn in first by the intellect. Satanism is centuries old, and like most pagan religions, predates Christianity.'" (pg 180)
Where to begin? First, Satan is a construct of the Islamic and Christian faiths. While adherents to the new religions were eager to cast the practitioners of the old as "devil-worshipers" (the offer of salvation from certain eternal damnation is an excellent conversion tactic), that does not make them Satanists. The fact that the Christian devil took on characteristics of the Pagan Pan (this was largely after the Romantic period when Pan was experiencing a renaissance in literature; Satan had heretofore been largely portrayed as having the lower half akin to a bird) does not make the God Pan Satan. I cannot say this enough: SATANISM IS NOT A PAGAN RELIGION. I'm fairly sure Satanists would be just as offended as Pagans.
The kicker is that at the end of the visit, Mira reveals that the source of her vast knowledge on the subject (or so believed by our heroine) is that her daughter is a Wiccan.
In a non-religious vein, Robb (or Roberts, take your pick) manages to offend yet again. While witnessing Halloween party-goers:
"She glanced over as a ghoul, a six-foot-pink rabbit, and a mutant transsexual crossed the street in front of her car." (pg 294)
Did the author mean "transvestite"? Would we have come along a little more in the trans movement in the future? How exactly did she know the person was a transsexual? The more one thinks about it (I don't advise it) the more offensive it gets.
Title: Ceremony in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D Robb
Details: Copyright 1997, Berkley Books
Synopsis (By Way of Inside Cover): "Even in an age of cutting-edge technology, old beliefs die hard...
Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every step she takes makes her question her own beliefs of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil..."
Why I Wanted to Read It: On a search for "Pagan+fiction" at my local library lending system, this was one of the few offerings that isn't Mists of Avalon or a knockoff thereof.
How I Liked It: Ugh, another "where to begin". While this beats the last crime "thriller" I read involving Paganism, it doesn't by much.
This book is in a series, and, to be fair, I'm coming at it in the middle. However, it can be a stand-alone book fairly easily (identifiers are put in place and the backstory is given briefly on nearly everything).
I do not generally care for works of fiction set in the future since almost nothing dates it faster and renders the work unintentionally hilarious. In Nora Roberts's (or pardon me, J.D. Robb's) 2056 (in this book, published in 1997), "droids" abound, as do "automatic" cars and chefs (the particulars are never really discussed). Guns are called "zappers" for some reason and women are called "sir" (perhaps an evolution of sorts of "you guys"?) instead of ma'am. Phones of course have video (and are called "'lines" despite the fact they are apparently identical to telephones including the fact there's "pay 'lines") and apparently knowledge of Paganism is still in the dark.
Our protagonist is fighting a "witch war" (fun fact: Satanists aren't Witches, unless you are terming "witch" to be strictly "magic-maker"; "witch" is a term that predates Christianity and thus, Satanism) between Wiccans (moral if completely impotent and ineffectual fluffy bunnies) and Satanists (out of every lame horror movie you've ever seen with a dash of self-involved "raver" culture). They're given equal footing and treated the same as cults (not just by the protagonist in her "learning" stage; the author resists giving it the distinction of a religion). Many of the facts are wrong (surprise) and plenty is (again, surprise) over-sensationalized.
While stock characters come blessedly fewer in this book (versus the other dreck), that's not coming very far. The knowledge of crime is shaky (maybe that's dismissed by the techniques of the "future"?) and it shows.
The end is a farce: the villain confesses to all crimes ala a bragging monologue whilst preparing to assassinate Our Hero (haven't they learned by now that's generally not wise?) who is saved by her big strong (civilian) husband. The reader is attempted to be saved by a "helpless female waif rescued by strapping male" narrative by the fact Our Hero was sort of fighting the villain (kinda) when she is ultimately rescued. No barf bags are included in the book, unfortunately.
Threads of worthy storytelling lie in what is I'm sure the greater stories that occur over the series: the protagonist's relationship with her husband (and learning to trust after abuse) shows needles of the kind of progress that has the capacity to captivate. Of course, that's dampened by the fact she and her husband are chucked into rather stock sex scenes (thankfully, we are spared weepingcock prose, for the most part) with smarmy dialog in their almost every interaction in the book.
It's a shaky story, even if it had its facts straight which it does not. And that's everything from Satanism to Wicca to basic crime psychology and procedure.
Notable: While I was irked for the fact that "witch" is used for both Satanists and Wiccans (and that Wiccans are largely portrayed as fluffy delusional new-agers) alike, there's misinformation about Satanists as well. Although Satanists (at least, according to the Church of Satan's literature) claim to eschew all authority and therefore a statement such as "a Satanist wouldn't do that" is precarious, it's fair to say that most Satanic ceremonies do not end with a free-for-all orgy numbering in the hundreds (at least) nor do they routinely sacrifice children or small animals (an "official" Satanic site I read once discussed how Satanist view children as untainted of the "stupidity" that can overtake adults and so therefore it would be against their world view to harm them). The self-righteousness of Satanists, along with their views on Wicca I've sadly encountered with almost every Satanist I've met, but that doesn't necessarily assure that all react that way.
A passage that's particularly glaring in inaccuracy manages to get wrong both Paganism and Satanism in the same sentence. Our protagonist is consulting resident psychologist and profiler for the NYPSD (New York Police and Security Department-- for some reason this changes in the future; kinda eerie when you think that this was published pre-9/11), Doctor Charlotte Mira:
"'Your young [victim], Eve, was likely drawn in first by the intellect. Satanism is centuries old, and like most pagan religions, predates Christianity.'" (pg 180)
Where to begin? First, Satan is a construct of the Islamic and Christian faiths. While adherents to the new religions were eager to cast the practitioners of the old as "devil-worshipers" (the offer of salvation from certain eternal damnation is an excellent conversion tactic), that does not make them Satanists. The fact that the Christian devil took on characteristics of the Pagan Pan (this was largely after the Romantic period when Pan was experiencing a renaissance in literature; Satan had heretofore been largely portrayed as having the lower half akin to a bird) does not make the God Pan Satan. I cannot say this enough: SATANISM IS NOT A PAGAN RELIGION. I'm fairly sure Satanists would be just as offended as Pagans.
The kicker is that at the end of the visit, Mira reveals that the source of her vast knowledge on the subject (or so believed by our heroine) is that her daughter is a Wiccan.
In a non-religious vein, Robb (or Roberts, take your pick) manages to offend yet again. While witnessing Halloween party-goers:
"She glanced over as a ghoul, a six-foot-pink rabbit, and a mutant transsexual crossed the street in front of her car." (pg 294)
Did the author mean "transvestite"? Would we have come along a little more in the trans movement in the future? How exactly did she know the person was a transsexual? The more one thinks about it (I don't advise it) the more offensive it gets.