Like this:

This novel was more what I expect when I think science or speculative fiction. It had a lot of action compared to the description in most of the other novels in this course. The utopian society, unusually, comes in the form of a male planet, which has no interaction with the female gender until their ambassador has to go in search of ovarian tissue for repopulation purposes.

 

The male society is interesting as it functions with two parent families, only both parents are men, and do not necessarily have sex. However, most do. I found the idea of social credits in order to have children a neat idea. In this society being a parent was a privilege, and you had to earn the right to bear a child. Those who do not behave or follow the law lose credits and are farther away from having children. In theory this is a great plan. In today’s society there are plenty of people who have children and do not treat them properly for reasons like drugs, poverty etc. However, in reality this theory would raise many ethical problems, such as who draws the line between what is correct behavior and criminal behavior, and should the government be allowed to regulate procreation? This brings me to the laws governing child-birth in China, where anyone bearing more than one child must pay extra taxes (I think). As Earth becomes more and more populated, and people live longer and longer the governments will be forced to make rules about procreation.

 

 

 

Another topic portrayed in the novel was obviously homosexuality. Lois Mcmaster Bujold represents the homosexual in the space station, and it seems much the same as it would likely have been in the 80’s. People call the planet Athos “The Planet of Fags”. They are discriminated against. However, in this novel, Ethan also discriminated against women. On Athos women are seen as evil, and most never even see a picture of a woman. There is an interesting quote on page 34:

 

“Women. Uterine replicators with legs, as it were. He was not sure if they were supposed to be the inciters to sin or sin was inherent in them, like juice in an orange, or sin was caught from them like a virus. He should have paid more attention during his boyhood religious instruction, not that the subject had ever been anything but mysteriously talked about”

 

This quote describes how in Athos, women are taboo, and seen as evil, yet no one is really clear as to why they are bad. When bearing children the doctors remove the female producing X chromosome so that the child doesn’t turn out female. They genetically alter themselves to have no women present, which is a bit different than our other books. It was also funny when Ethan finds out what a hermaphrodite is and wonders whether they would be allowed on Athos because of their male parts or not allowed because of their female parts.  In all this was an interesting, and different read compared to the other novels in the course.