Introduction

Faith, religion, godliness—these things have caused more pain, suffering, and death than all the plagues of history combined. In Fortinbras, a city built in the aftermath of a religious war that nearly ended all life on the planet, religion is considered a disease. The residents are taught that they are all that is left of humanity and the cold law of logic and reason rule their lives. Sabrina Sabryia, a young police cadet, is a resolute enforcer of the law until her loyalties are torn between her best friend Lindsey Mehdina, a charismatic spiritual leader, and her uncle Angelo D’Agosta, the head administrator of the city.

The conflict drives Sabrina and Lindsey across a radioactive wasteland pursued by cyborg bounty hunters. They quickly learn that what they took for truth in Fortinbras was not all that it seemed. Meanwhile terrorists plot a religious uprising that threatens millions of innocent lives and Sabrina and Lindsey must choose sides. Their choice pits friendship against family, war against peace, and eventually, faith against doubt.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1
Lindsey Mehdina

“Lindsey has beetles crawling on her!” Sylvia squealed to her friends.
The four girls stood in a semicircle, cutting Lindsey off from the view of the teachers who gossiped on the far side of the playground in the shade of the school building. The building had taken on the drab colors of the playground, covered in the same dust that rose from the parched ground to settle on the goal posts, swing sets, and climbing bars—and by the end of recess—most of the children. Lindsey had put herself in this vulnerable position, choosing a distant part of the schoolyard to draw in the sand undisturbed. So isolated that she was too tempting a target for Sylvia and her gang. The nearest children were the five-year-olds—too young to help—swinging on the climbing bars. The older boys, who often liked the portraits Lindsey would draw for them, were far too engrossed in their pitchball game to notice what was unfolding. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. In chapter nineteen Lindsey and Sabrina have a discussion regarding the nature of religion and spirituality, which Lindsey taking the position that it is “needed” to cope with the human condition, while Sabrina claims it is more of a delusion, a lie people tell themselves. Is there a perspective that resonates with you? Is there one perspective you think the author is endorsing over the other?

2. Is there a "right" answer on whether religion plays a positive or negative role in society? Why or why not?

3. Some readers and reviewers have posed the (unanswered) question of whether or not Lindsey and Sabrina’s relationship was more that platonic. Would a romantic reading of their relationship change your view of their story, of their characters? Do you believe there is evidence proving either interpretation unequivocally?

4. Frequently, the book points out secular sources that society draws upon for meaning, e.g. sports, fashion, science. Can these things sufficiently “substitute” for spirituality?

5. Do you consider Lindsey’s character a terrorist?

6. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is often cast as one of intractable, timeless religious conflict, however, the opposite is actually true. Until the twentieth century Jewish and Palestinian communities lived side by side, in peace for centuries. Historians and commentators have pointed out that it was only during the British partitioning of land for a Jewish state and the exile of Palestinians that the conflict took on religious overtones. What should be a conflict over land—which are resolved frequently through secular means—turned into a “intractable, timeless,” religious conflict, a clash of “civilizations” that might only be resolved through the elevation of one arbitrary supernatural being over another. How does City on a Hill contribute to one narrative over another? Is it a helpful or harmful contribution?

7. What do you think of the morality of Sabrina’s choice at the end of the novel?

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