Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman [Paperback]

For starters, there's a lot happening in this book. The reader learns about the political, social, and economic atmosphere of the the lands traveled. There's a lot of history involved, and a lot of "current" events are discussed in detail.

There are at least five main cultures in the book, and different characters go by different names within different areas of the land. This isn't so bad, considering only a handful of characters have different nicknames, but some characters are called by each of their names on the same page.

The Wild Horse Woman plays a significant role in the book, however she doesn't show up a lot as a character. Instead, her presence is felt in many of the tribal religious/spiritual practices.

All in all, this book has a lot more depth to it than what you can usually find on the bookshelf. As a parallel novel, it's incredible. Just keep in mind, it isn't Canticle. If you want to read a book exactly like A Canticle for Leibowitz, read A Canticle for Leibowitz.

One such "lesser religious" is a monk, Blacktooth St George. A resident at the monastery long dedicated to the memory of Isaac Leibowitz, nuclear scientist and martyr, Blacktooth harbours doubts about his calling. His roots are from the Plains people and their pagan heritage conflicts with the Roman Catholic Church's ideal of monotheism and self-sacrifice. Attempting to shed the burdensome vows, Blacktooth is conscripted to the service of a lawyer cardinal. Elia Brownpony, too, is a former Plainsman, but has risen quickly in the Church hierarchy due to diplomatic talents. Diplomacy usually involves conspiracy, and Brownpony must be adept at both for he is struggling to reunite the broken church. Theology isn't the basis of the schism, however. The expanding empire of Texark has challenged the Pope's power. Brownpony, wheeling and dealing, uses Blacktooth as a major instrument.

Politics are a lesser challenge to Blacktooth than the condition of his own spirit. Beset by visions and his glands alike, this mid-thirties adult is known as Nimmy, an appellation applied to young boys. He encounters a genetic mutant, a heritage of the holocaust, whose only flaws are an uncanny insight and a rampant libido. She seduces Nimmy, who doesn't quite break his vows, and supposedly produces two children. Her image haunts him as he goes about his role of personal assistant. He's also haunted by the multi-figured image of a pope of African descent. All these conflicting visions keep Blacktooth on edge and in peril. His reconciliation of all these disparate forces are the theme of Miller's "midquel" of Canticle for Leibowitz [this story commences at the middle of Canticle, not the end].

Swirling roles of church and state and the Church and the individual formed the basis of "Canticle". Expanded and enhanced in this book, they are nicely integrated with convulsions that shook the Roman Catholic Church after the 1960s. Bisson has done Miller's original draft proud in completing a compelling story of the pressures on faith. Through a complex plot, the characters are kept realistic, if somewhat bizarre. Religious institutions, particularly under stress, are never simple, and the complexities are well handled and you never lose the threads, no matter how tightly they seem tangled. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I have removed one star for length. I cannot help thinking that if Miller had lived to publish this, it would have been more concise. Still, this book demonstrates what a storyteller Miller was.