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Ruth3:5
**A finalist for the 2013 Minnesota Book Awards in Genre Fiction**
In an utterly changed Philadelphia of the future, extreme religion has transformed the urban streets into God's chosen city and programmed its denizens as fervent disciples. That is, except for Ruth3:5, a twelve-year-old girl who dares to pose a simple question that may forever bar her from the seemingly promised land. Ruth3:5, Michael Fridgen's penetrating, action-packed dystopian thriller, charts the journey of free-thinkers in a post-apocalyptic world, where purity of thought can exact the highest possible cost. Casting a cold eye on the perilous fallout of religious extremism, this page-turning philosophical work of fiction envisions a future where a doctrine that promises to save may very well be the agent of mental imprisonment. Ruth3:5 is a devout young citizen of Philadelphia, who eagerly awaits the next allotment of scripture from her iPraise and the coming of ChristBirth, when she can wear her new green dress to praise the birth of Jesus. However, circumstances soon conspire to banish Ruth from the only home she knows. What her elders have made perfectly clear, however, is that those who dissent will feel the full force of GovernChurch and may end up in the grim and Godless Magdelene House. During Biblecation class, Ruth questions the sacred text, therefore thrusting her fate into the hands of the fierce Captain Jeremiah48:10. His aim is to apprehend Ezra2:41, a mysterious woman working against the GovernChurch. Along with Ruth's young friend Two Samuel1:26, Ezra is consumed with saving them all from dogmatic oppression and the bizarre rituals that await Ruth and Sam when they reach sexual maturity. She soon entangles them in a perilous cat-and-mouse game, from which only those with the most resolute of minds can emerge. A contemporary spin on Brave New World, it explores the eerie implications of religious fundamentalism, while engaging readers in a fast-paced tale of suspense and danger sure to make the heart race and the mind reel.
In an utterly changed Philadelphia of the future, extreme religion has transformed the urban streets into God's chosen city and programmed its denizens as fervent disciples. That is, except for Ruth3:5, a twelve-year-old girl who dares to pose a simple question that may forever bar her from the seemingly promised land. Ruth3:5, Michael Fridgen's penetrating, action-packed dystopian thriller, charts the journey of free-thinkers in a post-apocalyptic world, where purity of thought can exact the highest possible cost. Casting a cold eye on the perilous fallout of religious extremism, this page-turning philosophical work of fiction envisions a future where a doctrine that promises to save may very well be the agent of mental imprisonment. Ruth3:5 is a devout young citizen of Philadelphia, who eagerly awaits the next allotment of scripture from her iPraise and the coming of ChristBirth, when she can wear her new green dress to praise the birth of Jesus. However, circumstances soon conspire to banish Ruth from the only home she knows. What her elders have made perfectly clear, however, is that those who dissent will feel the full force of GovernChurch and may end up in the grim and Godless Magdelene House. During Biblecation class, Ruth questions the sacred text, therefore thrusting her fate into the hands of the fierce Captain Jeremiah48:10. His aim is to apprehend Ezra2:41, a mysterious woman working against the GovernChurch. Along with Ruth's young friend Two Samuel1:26, Ezra is consumed with saving them all from dogmatic oppression and the bizarre rituals that await Ruth and Sam when they reach sexual maturity. She soon entangles them in a perilous cat-and-mouse game, from which only those with the most resolute of minds can emerge. A contemporary spin on Brave New World, it explores the eerie implications of religious fundamentalism, while engaging readers in a fast-paced tale of suspense and danger sure to make the heart race and the mind reel.
367 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2012
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Michael Fridgen
24 books4 followersMichael Fridgen earned degrees from the University of Minnesota in Duluth and Hamline University in St. Paul before launching a teaching career. After working as a public school teacher for 12 years and a university instructor for five, Fridgen is now a full-time writer. His book, Ruth3 5, was one of four finalists for the Minnesota Book Award in 2013.
Michael currently lives with his husband in Minneapolis, and he enjoys playing the piano and attending live performances of music and theatre. Michael is also an avid traveler. In addition to visiting all 50 states, he has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia.
Michael currently lives with his husband in Minneapolis, and he enjoys playing the piano and attending live performances of music and theatre. Michael is also an avid traveler. In addition to visiting all 50 states, he has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 7, 2019
Ruth3:5 takes place in the far future of the city Philadelphia. Citizens of the city are programmed to not question authority and forced to only learn to strictly follow all rules, laws, and commandments. They are assigned names randomly at birth after based on a bible verse.
This story is about a twelve-year-old girl named Ruth3:5 who begins to question that authority and the GovernChurch. She comes by this questioning genetically—she has an aunt in hiding, whom she has never met, who similarly questioned authority and is now living in hiding under an assumed name.
The story is very similar to The Handmaid’s Tale’s dystopian tale of religion replacing all free-thinking and being abused to suppress citizens. It is similarly absorbing and has an air of mystery from the very beginning. As you read more, more is revealed. The mystery and foreignness of the world created by the author compels you to want to finish reading the novel in one sitting.
If you enjoy future, dystopian fiction, this is definitely a great book to pick up. However, it is not as dark as some dystopian novels and offers moments of hope and light that make this book easier to digest than some harrowing stories of bleak futures. The story and characters are interesting. The plot, while not entirely original, feels fresh enough to hold anyone’s interest. Overall, this is an interesting story with plenty of depth and twists to keep you reading until the end.
This story is about a twelve-year-old girl named Ruth3:5 who begins to question that authority and the GovernChurch. She comes by this questioning genetically—she has an aunt in hiding, whom she has never met, who similarly questioned authority and is now living in hiding under an assumed name.
The story is very similar to The Handmaid’s Tale’s dystopian tale of religion replacing all free-thinking and being abused to suppress citizens. It is similarly absorbing and has an air of mystery from the very beginning. As you read more, more is revealed. The mystery and foreignness of the world created by the author compels you to want to finish reading the novel in one sitting.
If you enjoy future, dystopian fiction, this is definitely a great book to pick up. However, it is not as dark as some dystopian novels and offers moments of hope and light that make this book easier to digest than some harrowing stories of bleak futures. The story and characters are interesting. The plot, while not entirely original, feels fresh enough to hold anyone’s interest. Overall, this is an interesting story with plenty of depth and twists to keep you reading until the end.
January 9, 2020
With the competition between religions, sects, etc., have you ever wondered what would happen if the war between religions became physical, how would it be resolved?
Ruth3:5 shows one option. This book is well written and brings several questions and ideas to mind while reading it. Cities become actual city-states. The religions have their owned contained cities behind high wall with extremely limited access between them.
Philadelphia is where Ruth’s story starts but not where it ends. As a pre-teen, she questions everything and brings unwanted attention to her mother and their lives. She questioned so much and often brought unwanted attention to her family and friends due to asking what she was thinking; one time challenging the facts of the Bible and having to be taken out of class for it.
Living in an oppressive city where the Church controlled everything made many flee or want to flee. Ruth, her friend TwoSam and the woman she didn’t know lived, Ezra, her grandmother, did flee with the Inquisitors after them when they found part of an old media device. Part of an old IPraise device had clues to leaving and when added to what her grandmother had been hiding, started an adventure that ended with Ruth taking a new name.
This book is thought provoking without becoming very deep. It is a scary option of how to live life where each city-state only allows one religion, one perspective and you are jailed or worse if you don’t follow their rules to the letter. Separation of families was often one option that happened.
Ruth3:5 shows one option. This book is well written and brings several questions and ideas to mind while reading it. Cities become actual city-states. The religions have their owned contained cities behind high wall with extremely limited access between them.
Philadelphia is where Ruth’s story starts but not where it ends. As a pre-teen, she questions everything and brings unwanted attention to her mother and their lives. She questioned so much and often brought unwanted attention to her family and friends due to asking what she was thinking; one time challenging the facts of the Bible and having to be taken out of class for it.
Living in an oppressive city where the Church controlled everything made many flee or want to flee. Ruth, her friend TwoSam and the woman she didn’t know lived, Ezra, her grandmother, did flee with the Inquisitors after them when they found part of an old media device. Part of an old IPraise device had clues to leaving and when added to what her grandmother had been hiding, started an adventure that ended with Ruth taking a new name.
This book is thought provoking without becoming very deep. It is a scary option of how to live life where each city-state only allows one religion, one perspective and you are jailed or worse if you don’t follow their rules to the letter. Separation of families was often one option that happened.
January 11, 2020
Very enjoyable book to read with lots of religious aspects to it, which, for me, is pretty good.
It is a "maybe, could be" sort of world in the book. It states the true important message of live and let live, be free to do as you will, if that's what makes you happy and accept other people including people that are different from you. Lots of the bible verses that are in the book are very confusing to someone like myself, who is not religious and did not read much, if any, of the bible, but after looking them up I found them fascinating and very interesting. I found that I liked how some of the characters interracted with each other and the little adventures with everyone. The book has a balance of keeping the author interested, even with the religious stuff that I didnt understand much of but still found awesome just the same. To me, the author seemed to have tried to have the reader focus on what it would be like if the world became solely ruled over by the church or religion, and there are more specific rules to abide by, and it seemed very strict and rigid, definitely not how the world actually is, but when reading you could actually picture it in your mind and how it would be to live like that. But most of all, it made you, the reader, question everything in general, with a lot of "what ifs".
This book was quite an emotional one.
But I would highly recommend it, I loved this book.
It is a "maybe, could be" sort of world in the book. It states the true important message of live and let live, be free to do as you will, if that's what makes you happy and accept other people including people that are different from you. Lots of the bible verses that are in the book are very confusing to someone like myself, who is not religious and did not read much, if any, of the bible, but after looking them up I found them fascinating and very interesting. I found that I liked how some of the characters interracted with each other and the little adventures with everyone. The book has a balance of keeping the author interested, even with the religious stuff that I didnt understand much of but still found awesome just the same. To me, the author seemed to have tried to have the reader focus on what it would be like if the world became solely ruled over by the church or religion, and there are more specific rules to abide by, and it seemed very strict and rigid, definitely not how the world actually is, but when reading you could actually picture it in your mind and how it would be to live like that. But most of all, it made you, the reader, question everything in general, with a lot of "what ifs".
This book was quite an emotional one.
But I would highly recommend it, I loved this book.
January 29, 2020
Ruth 3:5 is a 12 year old girl who lives in future Philadelphia. The city is ruled by the GovernChurch which has very religious and strict rules for its citizens. From the time of birth, everyone is given a verse name from the Bible by the GovernChurch. The Inquisitors are the law enforcers of the city and people who break the rules are reported to them. The consequences of not following the Commandments range from families getting their electricity cut off to excommunication. Children that question the Bible can be publicly beaten by adults. Girls that continue to break rules are sent to the Magdalene House where they are never seen again.
After Ruth and her friend TwoSam find a 21st Century Ipad in the attic while playing, they plug it in and see an old movie that involves women wearing hats. This is shocking to them because women are forbidden from wearing hats now. Ruth's mother, Esther, catches the children watching the old Ipad and reports it to the Inquisitors as she has been conditioned to do. The Ipad is confiscated. Ruth and TwoSam are told not to tell any other children what they witnessed and let off with a warning.
Ruth is unable to stop thinking about the women in the old movie and she creates a cardboard hat for herself and admires herself in the mirror. Her mother catches her yet again and warns her that hats are forbidden and that her behavior will get her sent to the “Magdalen's”. Ruth argues with her mother, but when her father gets home and she quickly destroys the hat.
The forbidden Ipad that was confiscated by the Inquisitors is taken to Captain Jeremiah who is the most powerful man at the GovernChurch headquarters. Captain Jeremiah decides to personally investigate the matter.
Fridgen has written a very interesting novel that questions what it would be like to be governed by a religious authoritarian state. The citizens live in fear of committing blasphemy and being harshly punished. In order to survive under these rules, people are not allowed freedoms that we currently have. Free thinking is discouraged in the story and adults are only allowed to wear black suits and dresses. It does seem like a plausible future. Ruth and TwoSam are the young kids who can't help but have questions. They are defiant to the laws and I found myself hoping that they could escape the city to freedom.
After Ruth and her friend TwoSam find a 21st Century Ipad in the attic while playing, they plug it in and see an old movie that involves women wearing hats. This is shocking to them because women are forbidden from wearing hats now. Ruth's mother, Esther, catches the children watching the old Ipad and reports it to the Inquisitors as she has been conditioned to do. The Ipad is confiscated. Ruth and TwoSam are told not to tell any other children what they witnessed and let off with a warning.
Ruth is unable to stop thinking about the women in the old movie and she creates a cardboard hat for herself and admires herself in the mirror. Her mother catches her yet again and warns her that hats are forbidden and that her behavior will get her sent to the “Magdalen's”. Ruth argues with her mother, but when her father gets home and she quickly destroys the hat.
The forbidden Ipad that was confiscated by the Inquisitors is taken to Captain Jeremiah who is the most powerful man at the GovernChurch headquarters. Captain Jeremiah decides to personally investigate the matter.
Fridgen has written a very interesting novel that questions what it would be like to be governed by a religious authoritarian state. The citizens live in fear of committing blasphemy and being harshly punished. In order to survive under these rules, people are not allowed freedoms that we currently have. Free thinking is discouraged in the story and adults are only allowed to wear black suits and dresses. It does seem like a plausible future. Ruth and TwoSam are the young kids who can't help but have questions. They are defiant to the laws and I found myself hoping that they could escape the city to freedom.
March 29, 2013
My final Genre Fiction book for the Minnesota Book Awards and finished before the winner was announced! Huzzah!
This one starts out a little rough and reads like a first novel. The first quarter of the book or so consists of a series of flashbacks to establish character background. While there is nothing wrong with a flashback here and there, a rapid series of temporal jumps muddles the plot especially when it has yet to be fully established like in this book. All of that said, I think the other elements of the story were fairly well done. There are some actions that don't immediately match the temperament of a character but this were under times of stress for them so it's acceptable. There was one character I had some hesitation believing his actions but there was enough momentum to argue that the development was natural; argue, although I wouldn't say justify. The concept of the book overall was fairly believable as dystopian novels go. I did have some disbelief about the descriptions of locations in Philadelphia but later events altered my perception of the entire fictional world enough to let it slide.
Since there isn't much of a plot summary yet on this book, I'll write a little something up. Ruth3:5 lives in the only city in the world, Philadelphia, the site of Christ's birth. She is taught all she needs to know (according to the GovernChurch) at Biblecation and gets her entertainment through her iPraise. However, her inquisitive mind often gets her in trouble by questioning policy and even after some of the lessons in the Bible. Largely ostracized, her only friend is Two Samuel1:26. Two Sam, while not as antagonizing as Ruth, is also concerned as his sister was taken by the GovernChurch to put in one of the enigmatic Magdalene Houses. To find out how exactly happened to her, Two Sam has been meeting up with Ezra2:41, a mysterious old woman who has plans of her own and a history with GovernChurch's policing force known as the Inquisitors and their Chief.
This one starts out a little rough and reads like a first novel. The first quarter of the book or so consists of a series of flashbacks to establish character background. While there is nothing wrong with a flashback here and there, a rapid series of temporal jumps muddles the plot especially when it has yet to be fully established like in this book. All of that said, I think the other elements of the story were fairly well done. There are some actions that don't immediately match the temperament of a character but this were under times of stress for them so it's acceptable. There was one character I had some hesitation believing his actions but there was enough momentum to argue that the development was natural; argue, although I wouldn't say justify. The concept of the book overall was fairly believable as dystopian novels go. I did have some disbelief about the descriptions of locations in Philadelphia but later events altered my perception of the entire fictional world enough to let it slide.
Since there isn't much of a plot summary yet on this book, I'll write a little something up. Ruth3:5 lives in the only city in the world, Philadelphia, the site of Christ's birth. She is taught all she needs to know (according to the GovernChurch) at Biblecation and gets her entertainment through her iPraise. However, her inquisitive mind often gets her in trouble by questioning policy and even after some of the lessons in the Bible. Largely ostracized, her only friend is Two Samuel1:26. Two Sam, while not as antagonizing as Ruth, is also concerned as his sister was taken by the GovernChurch to put in one of the enigmatic Magdalene Houses. To find out how exactly happened to her, Two Sam has been meeting up with Ezra2:41, a mysterious old woman who has plans of her own and a history with GovernChurch's policing force known as the Inquisitors and their Chief.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews