SO A MUKI

A spiritual SF novel about a girl’s special relationship.

Bergen presents a follow-up to The Land of the Butterflies (2009). As the story opens, God tells Tara,a 13-year-old girl growing up in 1960s Quesnel, Canada, that she’ll soon meet a new friend, whom she will instantly recognize. Tara is used to hearing from God directly, and trusts his assurances; sure enough, she meets a man named David. He appears human, but he’s an alien from a planet called the Land of the Butterflies, where residents are called Muki. David is on a mission to help determine whether Earth should be destroyed for not correctly carrying out the will of God. The Land of the Butterflies is an extremely strict place with many specific rules and rituals, especially regarding reproduction. The Muki also must adhere to what they see as the will of God and follow a religion that’s essentially a form of Earth’s Christianity. David winds up falling in love with Tara, whom he eventually affectionately calls “Littl’un,” though a relationship with her is forbidden by the culture of his world. The stage is set for an unusual story of anguish and soul-searching that doesn’t shy away from difficult topics. Its characters express conservative ideas regarding religion and government, as when David notes that “democracy was designed on the idea that righteousness was popular, which was far from correct.” In a similar manner, Tara equates commitment to God with enslavement. It’s heavy, thought-provoking fare that effectively includes surprising, lighter moments, such as an explanation of Tara’s love of walking on stilts. The prose isn’t always especially revelatory, though; in particular, the word loveis so overused that it ceases to have much emotional effect: “He just loved me with his whole soul. I could not have loved him more.” Taken as a whole, though, it’s an intriguing exploration of what the concept of God’s will really means.

A dense, faith-based journey that moves in unexpected ways.