All that I am is Earthseed....

Parable of the Sower takes a scary look into the future of America, a world of slavery, rampant drug abuse, and poverty.  The destructive actions of man have sent the world into a sharp environmental decline, full of climate change and withering forests.  All Lauren can do to survive is find a community of her own and cling to her idea of God.

In a way, that’s what people have been doing for centuries.  Religion is more than an explanation of how the world came to be.  For those who truly believe, religion becomes part of life.  It is how Lauren puts it on page 262, “What I am now, all that I am is Earthseed.”  When times are truly at their worst, religion thrives at its best.

The Tarot in Nova

 

I’m extremely interested in the Tarot cards and their significance in Nova.  Obviously there is a great deal of mysticism (and skepticism) surrounding the Tarot, but they seem to be of a higher importance in the universe presented in the text.  They transcend the realm of divination to the realm of cultural cohesion, pleasure, and advisor.  In the hands of Tyÿ, the cards are a powerful tool.  In the hands of Sebastian or the twins, the cards are a simple (or perhaps not-so-simple) game, a sport.  And yet for Mouse, they are something to apprehend, to doubt, to shun.