''Unquenchable Fire'' is a 1988 fantasy novel by

Rachel Pollack Rachel Grace Pollack (born August 17, 1945 as Richard Pollack) is an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. She is involved in the women's spirituality movement. Career Tarot reading Pollack has wr ...

. It won the 1989

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

Overview

In this

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

feminist book, Pollack uses rituals and themes borrowed from different religions to develop her society's mythology.

Plot

In the United States, 87 years after the second Revolution, a bureaucratic Spiritual Development Agency controls and monitors miracles, which are everyday occurrences. Founders sparked a spiritual revolution, overcoming secularists and technophiles to bring about the Living World. Tales of the Founders are told by Picture Tellers, shaman-like celebrities who interpret the Founders' will and are able to transport people into the essence of their myths. Sacrifices and magical rituals are commonplace. Meanwhile in

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

, recently divorced Jennifer Mazdan has an unusual dream and awakes impregnated with a messiah. She is stopped by a strange force when she tries to get an abortion. She tracks her husband through Manhattan, meets a holy ice cream vendor, and gives birth to a daughter. Her immaculate conception disrupts the new order and restores the feminist heroines of the past.

Reception

''Unquenchable Fire'' received mostly positive reviews and won the 1989

. A review in ''

Mythlore ''Mythlore'' is a biannual (originally quarterly) peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special a ...

'' found Pollack's depiction of a post-Revolution world to be "prodigiously inventive" and "screamingly funny". John Clute called the book a "complex, though-composed, glinting tale". A review in '' Black Gate'' praised the novel's

worldbuilding Worldbuilding is the process of constructing a world, originally an imaginary one, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, and ecology is a key task f ...

, but was critical of the "almost plotless" story, calling it "an intensely frustrating read". A review in '' The Gazette'' called ''Unquenchable Fire'' "a work of unparalleled inventiveness, passion, and beauty". Candas Jane Dorsey wrote in the '' Edmonton Journal'' that the book "is technological without being technophilic, magical without being muzzy-headed".

Sequel and related work

Pollack published a follow-up to ''Unquenchable Fire'' in 1994, ''Temporary Agency''. The sequel was nominated for a

Nebula Award for Best Novel The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; a ...

. Inspired by the novel, musician

Joe McPhee Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is ...

scored an improvisational, four-movement free jazz work also named "Unquenchable Fire". During the premier of the piece at the Out of Doors festival in 1997, Pollack read several passages from her book. The piece was performed by McPhee and his quartet as well as

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Cente ...

Deep Listening Band The Deep Listening Band (DLB) was founded in 1988 by Pauline Oliveros (accordion, "expanded instrument system", composition), Stuart Dempster (trombone, didjeridu, composition) and Panaiotis (vocals, electronics, composer). David Gamper (keyboard ...

References

{{Arthur C. Clarke Award 1988 American novels 1988 fantasy novels English-language books Fiction about magic