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Books like Waking the Moon

Waking the Moon

1996Elizabeth Hand

4.7/5

During her first week as a student at The University of the Archangels and St. John The Divine, Sweeney Cassady becomes friends with Angela and Oliver, a pair of charismatic and beautiful young people who have been chosen for great things by the Goddess, and soon her destiny reveals itself to be mysteriously bound up with theirs. Opposing the Great Mother is an ancient brotherhood of mages known as the Benandanti, who have watched throughout the centuries for signs of a new advent of the ancient Goddess, and at last the signs have appeared. Soon the battle begins, and Sweeney remains at the heart of the conflict for decades."Waking the Moon" (1994) is a fantasy/horror tale inspired by the reemergence of The Goddess in the late 20th Century: first in the 60's and '70's as a source of energy and an object of worship, and later--unfortunately--in the '80's and '90's as a pop icon and a self-help exemplar. What each of these cultural enthusiasms failed to recall--and what Camille Paglia, for one, helped us remember--is that the Goddess has always been linked to chaos and destruction. It is not only her male consorts who are in danger (Adonis, Actaeon, Attis) but also the world in general, and civilization in particular.Don't worry, though, this is no anti-feminist screed, but an artfully crafted novel by a woman who knows not only her myths but also the darkness that those myths may release within us. The last third of the book surprised me, but it also pleased me, particularly the conclusion. Consider the story of Attis and Cebele: this ending strikes exactly the right note.

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