of leaving it for reincarnation ("Fairly soon, I'll be reborn into another womb, I think" (p. 217)). To her husband, Glen Runciter, she describes this rebirth as beginning by a dissolution of personality, an intermingling and "growing together" of different personalities in half-life, and tells him that she keeps dreaming of a "smoky red light." He reminds her that the Bardo Thödol (Tibetan Book of the Dead) indicates that the smoky red light is a "bad womb"—a "humiliating, low sort of womb"—and to be avoided (pp. 12–13). The Vitanuls (1967) by John Brunner extrapolates the implications of a Hindu cosmology of rebirth in a world that has conquered death. Star of Bethlehem In The Star by Arthur C. Clarke (1955), a Jesuit serving as the astrophysicist of an interstellar exploration ship suffers a deep crisis of faith upon discovering that the star seen on Earth at 4 BC was actually a supernova which destroyed an entire sentient and highly developed race—in Christian religious perspective, God had utterly destroyed these peaceful and virtuous beings in order to announce to humanity the birth of His son Theocracy Depictions of a fictional society dominated by a theocracy are a recurring theme in science fiction. Such depictions are mostly dystopian, in some cases humorous or satirical and rarely positive. The Accidental Time Machine (2007) by Joe Haldeman – The eastern United States is ruled by a theocracy which came into existence in which the Second Coming supposedly occurred, resulting in a One Year War. Gather, Darkness (1943) by Fritz Leiber – A dystopian and rather satirical depiction of a future theocracy and the revolution which brings it down. In it religion is powered by long-lost science; 'miracles' are performed by machines and computers and used to keep ignorant peasants frightened and in line. The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood – In the fundamentalist Christian theocracy "Republic of Gilead" in the post-apocalyptic ruins of the United States virtually every thought and action of the protagonist is strictly prescribed by the government. If This Goes On—/Revolt in 2100 (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein – The story is set in a future theocratic American society, ruled by the latest in a series of fundamentalist Christian "Prophets". It was revised and expanded for inclusion in the 1953 collection Revolt in 2100. The Last Starship from Earth (1968) by John Boyd – The novel is set in a