THE GOSPELS OF PETER STAR

An amusing novel involving a new gospel in a surreal dystopia.

Drago’s novel opens as its unnamed narrator looks back at the Hard Days of a future Earth blighted by war and wealth inequality. The scene is set in the industry town of Motor City (in the kingdom of Camelot) and focuses on Motor River, one of its most humble citizens, whose wife, Ava, can’t conceive children. They’re informed by Fagan, the Siren of the Lord, that Ava will become pregnant and will name the child Horse Whisperer. He will be the herald for the coming of a messiah named Peter Star, “who will unify the proto-humans with music and dancing so they assume their incorporeal place beside the Lord.” Peter Star grows up, and they (“they” because Peter is nonbinary) and their music band are forced to go on the run after the murder of Horse Whisperer. The novel follows the travails of this messiah and their band of disciples; “Peter Star clutched their…guitar close to their chest so they could strum joyful hymns while the small band strolled across the sands.” Peter, who says they’re incapable of sexual intercourse because they have no reproductive anatomy, meets doubters, faces trials, and dispenses wisdom and the occasional Shakespearean quote (“If music is the food of love, please, play on!”) in the course of their secular ministry. Drago writes all this with an appealing intelligence and a low-key snarky humor typified in the rock-music names of the large cast (Major Tom, Red the West, Carl Gunn, Lady Madonna, etc.), and readers will be entertained spotting the parallels to (and deviations from) the New Testament. The gonzo hijinks sometimes go on to wearying lengths (“As Jesu Romeo evacuated his fecal pipe, he heard the sweet voice of Chico Spaghetti crooning from a distant water closet,” and so on), but the smart, fun central conceit keeps the pages turning.

An entertaining and clever rock-infused adventure.