Nothing Sacred

Before reading this book, I never imagined Tom Flynn could spin such a beautifully written yarn. Be prepared for a wild, irreverent, caustic, satirical sci-fi romp. Great stuff.

In his fast paced, action packed, dazzling take on a future time alarmingly close to our present, Tom Flynn skewers religion as it's never been skewered before, as he also takes on philosophy. Philosophy may never recover. I laughed so hard that it took me at least five attempts to get through Chapter 5, the introduction of Enva Corglinu, the Prophetess of Nullity, who takes Nihilism to it's illogical conclusions. Which hasn't stopped me from re-reading it again and again as a quick "pick me up" since. It wasn't the only chapter (or verse) in Nothing Sacred that I was happily forced to reread because I was laughing so loud, I couldn't hear myself. On top of that, I had to fight my husband and three children (1 in high school, 2 in college) who keep "borrowing" the book once they figured out the source of my mirth. It was easy to track the book; they weren't quiet either. There isn't a computer geek or gamer alive who won't envy the relationship between Gram Enoda and Computer, his philosophical, biochip based computer that insists on calling him "Bucko." They're a pivotal part of the intrigue, which includes a quarantine of Terra (earth) by the Galactic Confectory to stop the further spread of its major export: the religions that have created major problems throughout the Galaxy. Meanwhile, drugs, the substitution of "reality" for life, business and media based religions, and so many other topics are satirized with such great wit and style, the seriousness of what Flynn has to say about our time is almost painless. Almost. While the Galactic Confectory fights to regain control of its member planets and deal with the infighting between the various religions and philosophers, it even more importantly has to prevent another devastating attack by the Tuezi devices that periodically enter the Galaxy from another dimension, destroying whole planets in seconds. Everyone converges at the site of the planned attack, and the conclusion is perfect, it just couldn't happen any other way. Nothing Sacred is actually the sequel to Tom Flynn's scathingly brilliant Galactic Rapture, which eerily predicted reality television, and could well have been part of Mel Gibson's inspiration for The Passion of the Christ, although it's really unfair to blame Flynn for either travesty. You don't have to read Galactic Rapture in order to thoroughly enjoy Nothing Sacred, but you're definitely going to want to get your hands on a copy soon as possible.