Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga, #3) in Beyond Reality

Sep 01, 2013 mark monday rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: x-vorkosigan-saga, scifi-60s-70s-80s

"How do you do," Ethan began politely. "I represent the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization of the Planet Athos. If I may, I'd like to tell you about the pioneering opportunities for settlement still available there--"

The sudden dead silence of his audience was interrupted by a large worker in green coveralls.

"Athos? The Planet of the Fags? You on the level?"

was Bujold on the level when she wrote this? sad to say, this book is sort of a mess. although it does have the genial tone, fast pac "How do you do," Ethan began politely. "I represent the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization of the Planet Athos. If I may, I'd like to tell you about the pioneering opportunities for settlement still available there--"

The sudden dead silence of his audience was interrupted by a large worker in green coveralls.

"Athos? The Planet of the Fags? You on the level?"

was Bujold on the level when she wrote this? sad to say, this book is sort of a mess. although it does have the genial tone, fast pace, (semi-)amusing banter, bursts of action, and (attempted) emotional depth of other Vorkosigan Saga novels... it really doesn't work. it feels half-baked and, even worse, just rather silly and easily dismissed. ah well. can't win 'em all, Bujold.

so the planet Athos was founded by some fanatical religious dudes who thought women were the root of all evil. there are certainly plenty of equivalents in our world's history - and hey, right here in the modern world too! - and so that basic idea could have been an, ahem, fertile concept. but it charges right to the brink of HUH? WHAT? when we learn that millennia later, Athos has remained a planet of men only, men who fear women as evil's spawn and who procreate by importing ovaries and doing various reproductive science-y type things that I barely understood or cared about. all in all, Athos is a peaceful and pleasant planet full of what appears to be a bunch of sweet simpletons. but something goes wrong with the latest shipment of female parts and so the shy but apparently attractive Dr. Ethan Urquhart must brave the big scary galaxy full of women to track down a new shipment. while out and about, Ethan finds himself caught right in the middle of nefarious activities involving the lovely mercenary Ellie Quinn, space station administrators, humorless military types, a telepath on the run, and - egads! - some threatening flirtation from various women.

basic questions about sexuality remain unanswered or irritatingly ambiguous. on a planet of men, what happens to the heterosexuals? although I imagine a world of men only (ugh) may perhaps be appealing to some gay gents, I would think that basic sexuality would make this an unendurable prospect for the heteros stuck there. like a gay man forced to live in a lesbian sorority for the rest of his life. is Bujold saying sexuality is based on nurture, not nature? sorta sounds like it, because there is a whole planet of men who seem perfectly fine without the fairer sex. Athos is such a happy place... has the heterosexuality just been nurtured out of 9 out of 10 men? how in the world are they happy without any women whatsoever?

Athos is only the background, as most of the novel takes place on Kline Station. unfortunately, squarely in the foreground is Dr. Ethan. he is surely one of the most vapid, uninteresting, passive, whiny, basically useless "heroes" I've had to deal with in a sci-fi actioneer. hey, I just made that word up! "actioneer", I like the ring of that. anyway, I really missed this series' usual protagonist Miles. Ethan was an exceedingly poor substitute. ...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer, sf

I'm wavering between three and four stars. I think I liked this one more than a lot of you did. I like that Bujold felt confident enough in her series that she could step away from her main character entirely. I'm not sure whether this one was written earlier or whether she slotted it into the chronology of the other books. Either way, I enjoyed getting to know more about Elli Quinn. Ethan's terror about women and skewed world view made him an entertaining character to follow as well. It was fun ...more

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Feb 05, 2010 Bill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, gay-fiction

A Gay positive exploration of a man who left his all male planet on a quest to acquire ovarian tissue for use in reproduction on his planet Athos. He meets and is forced to interact with true aliens, females, for the 1st time in his life. The plot is driven by the mystery of stolen ovarian cultures and unexpected twists that resulted in their theft.

The book has a great plot, but I wish the idea had been fleshed out more. It is more of a novella and a novel. I want to know more about Ethan and T ...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Joy H. marked it as to-read

Shelves: speculative-fiction

_Ethan of Athos_ (Vorkosigan Saga, #6)
The group Beyond Reality will start reading Ethan of Athos on Sunday, November 15, 2009.

The Goodreads author description says:
"One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold burst on to the scene in 1986 with Shards of Honor, the first of her tremendously popular Vorkosigan Saga novels."
ABOVE QUOTE FROM: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

P.S. I've been advised to read the series' forerunners before reading ...more

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