The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You had been sitting on my shelf for months and would catch my eye every so often. My dad had given it to me to read, telling me it was his favorite book when he was a tenager. Eventually I picked it up to see what this old book was holding. To my surprise, after just a few pages, I was hooked. The Kin of Ata was so inspiring and such an interesting book to read — part utopian fantasy, love story, and spiritual journey — studying self exploration, human interaction, deep emotional existence, and dreams.
It instantly goes deep into the mind of this truly messed up dude; the tolls of fame and drugs had torn his soul almost completely out of his body. He is dark, brooding, uncaring, and consumed by his night terrors, shadowy figures encasing his mind and body in dark shadows of depression and mental insanity.
He begins his journey completely broken after committing a murder. Driven insane by his own thoughts, he flees from his broken life and mind. In doing this he drives off a cliff. It is unclear what happens next as death and dreams are an unexplainable mystery to the people in the book, but he awakes to blackness surrounding him. He is tended to by unseen spirits as he teeters on a thin line between insanity and death. Finally he is taken out into the world and introduced to the peaceful and deceptively primitive people of Ata. As time passes, he learns that there is much more to these mysterious people and himself.
Dreams as a guiding intuition is a prominent theme throughout. They control the Atans existence from where they will plant their crops to their own names. Dreams can tell the future and give greatly needed advice. Dreams play an important spiritual role, tying minds together and exploring the deep power of following one’s intuition and what can happen if you follow your heart and soul.
The second theme is the exploration and importance of spiritual growth. Both the main character and supporting characters go through deep changes. As the main character grows accustomed to the new world, lifestyle, and spiritual practices of the people of Ata, he transforms from a cruel, addicted individual to a more compassionate, loving, and appreciative person. The book shows the importance of spiritual growth, being in touch with one’s true self, and the journey to enlightenment.
Lastly an important theme expressed in this novel is equality. Gender roles are challenged in this book by the primitive lifestyle of the intelligent and peaceful people of Ata. One of the main characters, Augustine, is the most prominently strong character throughout the whole story. She is strong willed, strong bodied, and confident from the beginning. She is portrayed as a leader in a leaderless, all-equal society. She demonstrates that a person’s qualities should matter more than their gender and a more equal society is a better option to the one we currently have.
This book is a must read; it’s deep and has magical aspects that only fictional stories seem to be able to capture, but still deals with real world problems and solutions. The Kin Of Ata is very interesting if you’re just looking for an entertaining and high-key weird book to read.