SATI By Christopher Pike

In SATI, a trucker picks up a beautiful young hitchhiker. She says her name is Sati. She claims to be God.

She soon gathers a steady following that starts with the trucker’s friends and slowly builds to a large congregation. She counsels them to let go of their baggage and embrace life, which was her gift to them. The God she portrays is all powerful but also loving of play. Her preaching invigorates her followers to find inner peace and live their lives in a new, more meaningful way.

It’s a great concept, and Christopher Pike writes beautifully with a great rhythm built upon simple, forceful sentences. The plot unfolds pretty much as you’d expect, but the writing and the spiritual content keeps you interested. I was attracted to the book hoping it would be as challenging to me as Richard Bach’s ILLUSIONS was when I read it back in high school.

Unfortunately, nobody challenges Sati to answer the big questions many people would have of a Creator, me at least. Why did God make evil? If God wants us to be happy, why is the world so challenging? How is knowledge of God the key to happiness if God does not intercede on behalf of the good and therefore offers nothing? Why do people die, and when they die, where do they go? Is there an overarching moral code with penalties for noncompliance? Pike sticks to safe spiritual material and presents it as provocative even though it is designed to be as inoffensive as possible.

In short, I enjoyed the book for the writing if not the spirituality. You may feel differently; based on the Amazon reviews, a lot of people found it meaningful.