This book is dark and heavy, so I'll start with trigger warnings: religion, violence, rape, slavery, cannibalism, environmental devastation.

The story is dark, and provocative, yet thoughtful and causes one to ponder on the various social issues such as racism, slavery, power, gender equity, etc. This book should be read as a journey and not the destination. To me, it was very much like Odyssey but much deeper and profound.

The novel contains strong religious themes, as the name of the book suggests. The religion parts of the book often include arguments for and against various aspects of the religion.

I enjoyed the author's view of California on the brink of apocalypse, from geography to the imagines social structures.

This book has been written almost 30 years ago. Yet, in 2021 the subject is still current.

I wished I had to read this book in high school or college instead of Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. There is so many argumentative essays one could write about them, so many more pertinent issues one can discuss.