On the day I finished Perfect Circle I closed the book, put it down, and then took a deep breath.

You see, it was THAT good. It brought up all kinds of emotions. It spoke about love and life and what we owe to eachother and our families, and what we have to endure because of them.

And I hated Sean Stewart, because I knew I could never never write emotions like that.

And then I promised myself I would try.

Anyway, this entry isn't supposed to be about Perfect Circle, but about his debut novel (lo these many years ago) called Passion Play.

My oh my. It was published in 1992, about a Presidency that brings a Fundamentalist Christian revolution to the USA. Adulterers are stoned. Television is co opted.

Scary, eh? And oh so timely...

But it wasn't as good as Perfect Circle. It wasn't as tight or as meaningful to me, it seemed over angsty. However, the glimmerings of his genius with characterization and the ability to dig into the human soul revealing all that is terrible and wonderful is still there.

I hesitantly recommend it, but I would highly recommend his other stuff.