''Only Begotten Daughter'' is a 1990

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. magic (paranormal), Magic, the supernatural and Legendary creature, magical creatures are common i ...

by American writer James K. Morrow, setting the stage for his later '' Godhead Trilogy''. The book shared the 1991

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

with Ellen Kushner's ''

Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Tho ...

''. It was also nominated for the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...

for Best Novel in 1990, and both the Locus and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards in 1991.

Plot

The story is about Julie Katz, the new

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

, who is the daughter of God, and who is spontaneously conceived from a sperm bank donation by her father, Murray Katz, through "inverse

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...

". Julie struggles with her messianic powers, the mind games of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

, being hunted by fundamentalists, and the silence of her mother, God. This novel is a counter-

theodicy In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...

similar to Morrow's ''Godhead Trilogy''. In addition, ''Only Begotten Daughter'' refers to God as a female throughout the book. Inverse

is a baffled scientist's explanation for the existence of an entirely unexpected

ovum The egg cell or ovum (: ova) is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is not capa ...

in Murray Katz's latest sperm bank donation: unexpected because, as Murray himself admits, he does not know many women. (The ovum, though, apparently, has been provided the necessary

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

.) Murray is a Jewish hermit pushing fifty, living alone in a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

, writing a book about human nature based on evidence gleaned from a job at the local Photomat. His closest friend is

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

Georgina Sparks, foster-mother to Julie. The result of these gathered abnormalities is Julie Katz, half-sister to

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. Well-schooled in the appropriate use of her messianic powers (she can breathe underwater, restore life to dead animals, and converse with a talking

sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...

named Amanda) by her only visible parent (at least as well as Murray can manage), Julie reaches adulthood and explores life, death, Hell and the universe on the East Coast of the modern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She is ten years old when she meets her "mother's oldest friend", Mr. Wyvern; the plot thereafter is derived from the intervention of family, fun in the Absecon Inlet, the guiding phantom eye of an enemy,

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

Billy Milk, his

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishin ...

sheep roving Atlantic City with juice jugs of milk, and the problems posed by her extra gifts. The overarching story of the book is that of a satirical

, questioning why human beings suffer from evil and pain, and exploring the ingenuity with which we combat those conditions. Julie eventually discovers that Amanda, the talking Sponge, is very likely God, and her spiritual (if not physiological) mother. Amanda cares deeply about the planet, but lives at a distance from it, and (because she is only a sponge) is not able to affect the world beyond the occasional miracle.

Critical response

Fantasy scholar Michael-Anne Rubenstien writes: Rubenstien adds,

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel '' Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel w ...

has described it as "brilliant", commenting that it was "worthy of Hugo nomination".Revisiting the Hugos: Hugo Nominees 1991
at

TOR.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

; by

; published July 10, 2011; retrieved September 4, 2013

References

External links

Only Begotten Daughter
at Worlds Without End {{World Fantasy Award Best Novel 1990-1999 1990 American novels American fantasy novels Fiction about God World Fantasy Award for Best Novel–winning works Fiction about the Devil Novels set in New Jersey