The California Coven Project

by Bob Stickgold, Derek James - cover (Illustrator)

Eye of newt, toe of frog...

California in the 1990s was pretty much as it had always been. Of course, the recurring gas crunches made travel more difficult, and a drug-resistant superstaph infection had revived the popularity of midwives and home-delivery. But the inhabitants still retained their oddball view of life. For instance, take that strange new cancer cure...

Genres: Fantasy

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 12, 1981

Reviews

[Colvet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book immediately after finishing Gloryhits. I have to admit, this book is super interesting but not as well executed. My first gripe with the book was how it started. Stickgold gives absolutely no background information to Maggie, Carol, and Beckie. I started reading and got about 20-30 pages in and was asking myself "who the hell are these people and why should I care?". I don't think this was a flaw in Gloryhits, so I wonder if this is just Stickgold's style that his collaborator added to. Eventually, enough details of the characters came out in the story for me to remember their names, but it was rough at the start to be honest. The other thing I wish Stickgold included more of was the science of the potion created by the Coven. I felt that the author focused more on the proceedings of the fight against the AMA, which I agree was important to the story. But what I loved about Gloryhits was that more thought was put into the chemistry and biology. I think Stickgold could have done more of this to further drive the point home that wholistic/wiccan healing practices definitely do overlap with conventional medical practices. Maybe he felt as if he did not want to overstep his boundaries of the known vs. unknown, who knows. I am reading this in 2021 where the world's knowledge of science is much different than what it was in the 70s and 80s. However, the connection between spirituality and science is an axiom I have actually thought quite a lot about. I just think some deviation from the main story's plot could have helped keep me a bit more intrigued, but that is my personal opinion as a primarily a hard SF fan/reader. Still a great read for anyone into biological sci-fi - my favourite genre.

[AbrakadabraKid · Rating 3 out of 5]

The actual book isn't as exciting as the title or the cover would suggest it to be, but its still a pretty interesting read.

[Alien · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you need proof that the Science Fiction genere has an enormous range of topics, viola: a SF novel about midwives. I kid you not!
Maggie belongs to an organization of midwives. There is a schism among the members. Madge and her faction want to keep the trade in a traditional, practical direction, whilst the other faction wants as much modern medicine involved as possible.
Then there is Madge's private problem: her mother has terminal cancer and modern medicine can't help her. Now Madge spends a couple of hours in the library (this is before the internet) finds a centuries old "natural" herb recipe. And... (of course) it helps. Well that was easy!

My thoughts: as a SF enthusiast I have to say that not every topic interests me. Midwives? No, they don't.
Second: Being a sceptic I have to say that this book annoyed me. It is basically a pamphlet propagating alternative medicine while vilifying modern "standard" medicine. Obviously Stickgold has no respect for the scientific method. Ok, that's his opinion. But when he helps turning people away from modern cancer treatments by propagating "alternative" treatments, the fun and games stop for me. People in real life have died horrible deaths because they were afraid of chemo therapy and the like, and turned to methods like coffee enemas or Black Salve. Which did not help (surprisingly?). Years later and their cancer much worsened, they came back to "traditional" medicine, but it was much too late. End of rant...