It's a well-written, if unremarkable, mixture of religion and science fiction. Ultimately, it's fairly enjoyable though I likely won't remember much about it as time goes by. I enjoy a good story that riffs on religious fanatacism and Passion Play does that remarkably well. The characters are well-defined and the book is well-paced; I just wish it was a bit longer.

When you consider the current political environment, the rerelease of Passion Play makes all the more sense. In this dystopian version of the US, the government is controlled by ultra conservatives who force their version of Christian Fundamentalism on the public. Vigilantes are prevalent and “sins” are violently punished. Diane Fletcher is an investigator, an empath whose abilities allow her to solve crimes through understanding the nature of the perpetrator. When Jonathan Mask, a Fundamentalist Icon and celebrity is killed, Diane is brought in to determine whether the situation was an accident or murder. The case is a difficult one, made more so by Mask’s nature. He was a celebrity, the voice of fundamentalism, but as Diane discovers he was also far more than that.

Passion Play questions the nature of judgment and justice. The society is supposedly Christian, but it is extremely violent and unforgiving. Diane is able to do her job because of her empathy, but at the same time her empathy is a disability, something that sets her apart. On the opposite side is Mask, whose philosophy of acting was that it doesn't matter if the nature of the character is felt or understood or lived by the actor (opposing method) so long as the characteristics are communicated to the public. Appearances matter rather than substance. Passion Play is not the easiest novel to read. At times it meanders, and its depiction of Diane’s empathy isn't always straightforward. Passion Play is dark and more than a little disturbing, in part because it is believable -especially now. It has flaws, but it is definitely powerful.

4 / 5

I received a copy of Passion Play from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Passion Play’s title alone could give you a clue to the insides of the book. The term ‘passion play’ is often assigned to plays or screen productions of ‘The Passion of Jesus Christ’. Anyone who has been to church around Easter or Christmas (especially in the states) has seen at least one of these. Keeping that in mind reading Passion Play, makes for an interesting experience. The story follows a woman, Diane Fletcher, who works in a sort of freelance/consultant position for the police. She’s a ‘hunter’ someone who can track down people for marks due to a special skill that allows her to feel the emotions and patterns of people around her. The government that she lives under is what gives this novel it’s unique spin. It’s a highly conservative Christian system called the Redemption Presidency. From the government to the television and movie and the computer system – the whole society follows those tenants. It’s very much about moral and moral choices and it’s something Sean Stewart has said in the past about this book.

The book opens with Diane being called in to look into a murder of a woman by stoning. A vigilante group has taken to stoning those they find in breach of the law for adultery or the like. This small case gives us a look at what Diane does, and gives us background development before leading to the main mystery of the book – who killed Jonathon Mask, a famous actor and supporter of the government.

Passion Play is, I believe, the debut of an author I’ve seen on shelves often but never picked up. This ‘new release’ this year is a reprint as the book was originally published in 1992. That I think it is important going in as this could be relevant to current political climates (maybe the reason for the reprint?). With that noted I’ll say it’s impressive for a debut. The structure of the story is clever, the world built is convincing and a little frightening for someone like me, who grew up tossed from church to church in the Southern US. I also really enjoyed our protagonist who at times annoyed me and other times I really felt for.

Diane is stubborn, driven, and struggles under this ability she has. The idea of an empath has been explored before in things I’ve read and this definitely looks at what might be the darker side of that gift. A type of burnout is often associated with it, especially after the thrills these people go for to begin to feel more and more intense emotion. It starts to seem more and more like a drug. I can get that, after feeling the same things from people over and over it’s possible that could happen. I liked that a presentation of the empathy in that drug-like manner. Those high emotion moments being felt by the empath and the other individual could definitely give a buzz. I think I would class her as unlikable just due to how dark and melancholy she was but for the setting and story it worked. There were flaws, I wanted more of her history and she did a few things towards the end of the novel that I don’t know were consistent. I can also say that about the side characters who, in addition, were a little two-sided. They almost had the dimension I wanted, enough that for a detective novel I could let it slide, but consistency wasn’t completely there for me.

There were a few other things, odd inserted moments that I think were meant to draw out and illustrate the world that instead fell a bit flat and felt like loose ends. Had the book actually been meatier and followed those threads or perhaps lead to a sequel it would have been much better. That leads me to the ultimate problem for me with the novel. The ending just didn’t feel like it fit – I see what the title is chosen having finished the novel, so I think I see what Sean Stewart was shooting for here. However I don’t think the character, as I read her, would have made that choice so I totally disagree with that ending. Other people may have enjoyed that more – but for me looking at what led up to that and trying to take in the context, I’m not convinced.

This is a book that will definitely appeal to a certain type of reader, if sounds interesting I think it’s worth picking up. I just wish there was more, and something there at the end besides what happened. The ideas were incredibly clever, but that’s up to you. Is it worth seeing how that plays out?

Cover notes : I wasn’t able to locate the artist for this new edition with a Google search, however I really do like the design. It captures the gritty setting, and really pushes the feeling of the world with looming cross. Wonderful work to whoever this designer is!

Passion Play by Sean Stewart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There's a lot to love about this book if you are a reader who loves literal morality plays wrought from a dystopia made up of a religious dictatorship, a-la Blade-Runner meets V for Vendetta meets religious nutters.

However, it's not quite so clean as it may appear. It's not a perfect Passion Play that recreates Christ and his death and resurrection... rather, we have empaths and telepaths, hunters and a murder mystery revolving around Mask, a very interesting and important actor who has been murdered and our MC must go deep immersion into his life, unlike a standard Sherlock tale, in order to gestalt the whole mystery, untangling all threads by getting to know everyone.

Of course, this means we get to know the dead actor, his part and his hypocrisy as a spokesman for the church, and all the people who knew and might have wanted him dead. It's quite fascinating, if simple on the surface.

The best part of the novel is it's clear prose and often poetic turn, the way this plays on a very old literary form, and how it also manages to remain fresh and timely for us modern peeps.

I can appreciate this novel more than I outright enjoyed it, but that's kinda the point, too. It is, after all, *important* the way a tragedy is *important*. It's not often pleasant, but it rolls around ideas in a very heavy way.

It's a very decent novel, but it's really only for those who like or have the patience for Christian allegories. The conclusion isn't precisely what most people would think, either. I personally thought it was quite dark and rather counter to normal Passion Plays. :) In that respect, Sean Stewart writes for himself. :)

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC!

There is very little cyberpunk which brings religion in as a major theme. Its concerns largely technological, biological, existential, political, post-human, etc., most dystopian corporate futures seem to assume faith and belief-based systems have once and finally been drowned by ‘civilization’. A peripheral element at best, it’s rare to see Christianity, Buddhism, or any other religion defining the terms on which a cyberpunk novel is written. (I’m aware there are works like George Alec Effinger’s Maid series which feature Islam heavily, but the religion appears for setting and plot backdrop alone. Effinger does not go into the meaning of its system in a silicon world.) This is certainly what makes Sean Stewart’s 1992 novel Passion Play so intriguing.

It is the dark, corporate near-future, and a group of Christian fundamentalists, calling themselves The Redemptionists, have taken political power in the United States. In the opening chapter, investigator Diane Fletcher is called to the scene of a brutal murder—a woman stabbed to death in her apartment for reasons unclear. Fletcher a shaper (person who can glean hints of underlying emotion or thought from other people in conversation), she begins investigating the case, and quickly discovers that a local reverend, a radical Redemptionist, took matters into his own hands and elected to kill the woman for the sin of adultery. With little time to ruminate on the reverend’s honesty, Fletcher packs the man away to prison and inevitable death sentence, and is then called to the scene of another murder, this time the actor Jonathan Mask, a man positioned high in Redemptionist circles. The murder suspects limited in number, Fletcher begins interviewing them one by one, but ultimately, finds her questions facing in a surprising direction.

For the majority of Passion Play, the reader may ask: how can this storyline possibly resolve itself in anything but conventional fashion? There is a high-profile murder, Fletcher investigates, and the crime is solved—regardless if some major plot twist occurs to make things interesting. But Stewart does surprise. In one fell, unanticipated swoop, a thick layer of introspective morality is uncovered that spins the story to face both Fletcher and the reader head-on. And it asks an interesting, difficult question. To ask that question here would spoil the story, but suffice to say the personal subjectivity of morality is the heights which the narrative achieves. What had been a relatively standard murder investigation becomes a pointed thrust into the heart of how we as people think about right and wrong in a manner that transcends any particular belief or religion.

In the end, Passion Play is a powerfully moralistic science fiction tale. “Passion’ a reference to religion rather than romance, don’t be fooled. And don’t assume it proselytizes either; wait for the ending. It’s a relatively short novel, thus when the climax arrives, it feeds quickly and intensely back through the story, For readers looking for a sharply defined cyberpunk world, simply put, look elsewhere; Stewart is not interested in product as much as he is telling a unique story that will make the reader truly pause without resorting to cheap tricks. Passion Play is a debut novel, and must be considered as such when reading in terms of prose and technique, but for certain there are writers around for many years who have yet to produce something as good.

I wasn't sure where this one was going, but it ended up darker than I expected. I kept waiting for something to happen, and then it got all messed around -- saying it got turned on its head wouldn't quite be true, because it made perfect sense and it was coming all along, but I wasn't quite expecting that. It's a powerful story, and that ending has a heck of a sting in the tail.

The whole Christian fundamentalist running the USA thing is, well, kind of close to home with someone like Mike Pence as the VP. But this is mostly not about that world; that's just the backdrop. It's about living in that world, and making your way if you happen to be an empath, or 'shaper'. Diane, the main character, uses her skills to chase down criminals and bring them to justice, but she's starting to burn out.

I don't want to say too much about this, because it's a mystery story and it works very well at getting under the skin, for my money. Definitely worth picking up.

Review goes up 27th May.

Would review but when I went to download this note came up. Will check back later to see if it's available.

"Downloading and/or reviewing is currently not possible for this title. This could mean the publisher has not yet provided the final content, or the content has been removed."

DNF because I couldn't get past all the missing letters. Thank you for the opportunity to review this title.