The Believer by Stephanie Black

Here are some discussion questions for The Believer by Stephanie Black. WARNING if you have not read the book, the questions contain spoilers.

1. Black creates a future where the United States has been separated without a war. Do you feel that her depiction of the reasons and nature of the separation are believable?

2. Ian Roshek is depicted as a man struggling to do the right thing in the face of impossible odds. Do you feel that Black's characterization of Ian is believable? Was he too good? Or did you feel like he struggled in a way similar to how you would struggle under similar circumstances?

3. Black's reasoning why the government of New America needed to ban religion was so that the government could have final say over what is right and wrong/good or bad. Do you agree with Black's assessment? If we do not have religion, what would determine the basis of right and wrong? Does the abolishment of religion grant more power to the government? Does the abolishment of religion weaken the minds of the citizens of a nation?

4. Does Zero really care about the security of New America or is he entirely self interested?

5. Do you agree with Black's assertion that terrorism often is self-defeating, in that it creates more power for those whom it is seeking to weaken? Examples from the real world?

6. In our current lives it may be difficult to imagine an America where freeedoms are so limited and the treatment of others so brutal, but the world has seen much worse in many other societies. What is it that keeps us from tipping over the edge into the world that Black creates? What separates us from, say, Rwanda, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, Maoist China, Nazi Germany, or Stalinist USSR?

7. How would you compare this novel to other LDS futuristic fiction?

8. Black uses futuristic fiction with LDS themes without getting embroiled in end of day prophecies, does this enhance or detract from her work?

9. Is Alisa Kent's character arc believable?