The Fifth Sacred Thing

This book tells the story of a solarpunk oasis in a very dystopian world. It shows the power of non-violent direct action and peaceful resistance. It was inspiring to see a group of people who refused to accept the unfair, cruel world around them and built something better instead.

However, it’s much more violent than I expected a solarpunk story to be, though it made sense considering what the characters were up against. Beware that this book involves magic.

This 1993 fantasy novel is set in a future San Francisco, modelled on the Paris Commune, that has become a pagan queer feminist ecotopia that is under siege and threatened to be overrun by an army of war-faring fundamentalists.

It features great adventures of loveable characters and some brilliant ideas for creating alternative societies.

Techniques described in the book are highly subversive; it offers alternatives to valuing money and setting prices, practices to transform soldiers into military deserters, and generally seeks to unhinge democratic practices that will harm nature, plants, animals, children, women, and the old and weak.

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I can’t think of a better starter’s guidebook for getting the revolution off the ground. This epic post-apocalyptic novel offers the best in eco-feminism, sustainability, spirituality, and rebellion from religious, political, and social repressive forces. This story offers an ideal eco-utopia primer for readers with a mind for collective freedom, liberation, and saving our planet.