 Cover of first hardcover edition | |
| Author | Donald Kingsbury |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Timescape/Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 1982 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 464 |
| ISBN | 0-671-44033-0 (hc) |
| OCLC | 8114700 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3561.I487 C6 1982 |
Courtship Rite is a science fiction novel by Canadian writer Donald Kingsbury, originally serialized in Analog magazine in 1982. The book is set in the same universe as some of Kingsbury's other stories, such as "Shipwright" (1978) and the unpublished The Finger Pointing Solward.
In the UK, the novel was entitled Geta, and in France, Parade nuptiale.
Courtship Rite was the first winner of the Compton Crook Award for best first novel, was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983 and won the 2016 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award.
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Transcription
There have been many different things written and said about marriage. From the sweetly inspirational to the hilariously cynical. But what many of them have in common is that they sound like they express a universal and timeless truth, when in fact nearly everything about marriage, from its main purpose to the kinds of relationships it covers to the rights and responsibilities involved, has varied greatly between different eras, cultures and social classes. So, let's take a quick look at the evolution of marriage. Pair bonding and raising children is as old as humanity itself. With the rise of sedentary agricultural societies about 10,000 years ago, marriage was also a way of securing rights to land and property by designating children born under certain circumstances as rightful heirs. As these societies became larger and more complex, marriage became not just a matter between individuals and families, but also an official institution governed by religious and civil authorities. And it was already well established by 2100 B.C. when the earliest surviving written laws in the Mesopotamian Code of Ur-Nammu provided many specifics governing marriage, from punishments for adultery to the legal status of children born to slaves. Many ancient civilizations allowed some form of multiple simultaneous marriage. And even today, less than a quarter of the world's hundreds of different cultures prohibit it. But just because something was allowed doesn't mean it was always possible. Demographic realities, as well as the link between marriage and wealth, meant that even though rulers and elites in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Israel had multiple concubines or wives, most commoners could only afford one or two tending towards monogamy in practice. In other places, the tables were turned, and a woman could have multiple husbands as in the Himalayan Mountains where all brothers in a family marrying the same woman kept the small amount of fertile land from being constantly divided into new households. Marriages could vary not only in the number of people they involved but the types of people as well. Although the names and laws for such arrangements may have differed, publicly recognized same-sex unions have popped up in various civilizations throughout history. Mesopotamian prayers included blessings for such couples, while Native American Two-Spirit individuals had relationships with both sexes. The first instances of such arrangements actually being called "Marriage" come from Rome, where the Emperors Nero and Elagabalus both married men in public ceremonies with the practice being explictly banned in 342 A.D. But similar traditions survived well into the Christian era, such as Adelphopoiesis, or "brother-making" in Orthodox churches, and even an actual marriage between two men recorded in 1061 at a small chapel in Spain. Nor was marriage even necessarily between two living people. Ghost marriages, where either the bride or groom were deceased, were conducted in China to continue family lineages or appease restless spirits. And some tribes in Sudan maintain similar practices. Despite all these differences, a lot of marriages throughout history did have one thing in common. With crucial matters like property and reproduction at stake, they were way too important to depend on young love. Especially among the upperclasses, matches were often made by families or rulers. But even for commoners, who had some degree of choice, the main concern was practicality. The modern idea of marriage as being mainly about love and companionship only emerged in the last couple of centuries. With industrialization, urbanization and the growth of the middle class more people became independent from large extended families and were able to support a new household on their own. Encouraged by new ideas from the Enlightenment, people began to focus on individual happiness and pursuits, rather than familial duty or wealth and status, at least some of the time. And this focus on individual happiness soon led to other transformations, such as easing restrictions on divorce and more people marrying at a later age. So, as we continue to debate the role and definition of marriage in the modern world, it might help to keep in mind that marriage has always been shaped by society, and as a society's structure, values and goals change over time, its ideas of marriage will continue to change along with them.
Setting
Geta
Geta is a harsh planet settled by humanity centuries before the novel begins. The planet has one large satellite, Scowlmoon; the two are in a mutual tidal lock, so the moon is only visible from half the planet. The planet's day is about half as long as Earth's. Geta is much drier than Earth, with eleven separate bodies of water large enough to be called seas; most of the land area is desert.
The Njarae Sea, the largest, is a narrow body extending around a quarter of the planet's circumference from northeast to southwest. Much of the story takes place in lands along the east coast of the Njarae. Terraforming was never, or very minimally, initiated on the planet's biosphere, leaving it very inhospitable to the descendants of the original settlers, who have become mythic, God-like creatures to its denizens.
Apparently the only Earth-life on Geta are humans, bees, and the "Eight Sacred Plants", including wheat, soybeans, barley, and potatoes. Native, "profane" life includes plants, a wide variety of sea-creatures and "insects", but no large land-animals. Each has a different biochemistry, so each is largely toxic to the other. Parts of certain profane species can be eaten if prepared correctly. As a result, food is a commodity that is very precious on Geta, and in most places the only source of meat is humans themselves. Cannibalism has insinuated itself into the very fabric of social and religious life. On the other hand, humans are not at risk of infection from native bacteria, and seem not to have brought any pathogens with them.
The planet seems to have been settled centuries before the time of the story by a small group, possibly not by choice. Apparently, they made little use of printed materials that could be read in a world without advanced technology. Most knowledge of history and the larger universe was therefore lost, the remainder preserved by oral tradition in "Chants" and stories. The settlers' ship remains in orbit, but its nature has been forgotten; it is generally referred to as "God". The Horse survives only as a piece in chess, named for a "mythical sidestepping insect".
Courtship Rite is set in a time of rapidly advancing technology. The Getans are past masters of biology and genetics, capable of modifying organisms gene by gene. Apparently this knowledge was maintained from the time of landing, being necessary for survival. They also make use of steam engines and electricity, but are handicapped by an apparent lack of fossil fuels to smelt metals and provide power. They have sailing ships on the seas, and sailplanes, but no powered aircraft. As a consequence, few Getans travel far from home; a few have become famous by walking all the way around the world. At the beginning of the story, one clan, the Kaiel, has developed radio, and are exploiting the advantage of communicating much faster than their rivals. They also develop bicycles and other pedal-powered vehicles using light, metal-spoked wheels. They have also learned how to extract information from a "Frozen Voice of God" — an optical data-storage crystal left over from the original settlers.
Socially and politically, Geta has no nation-states in the way we recognize the term. The "priest clans" have precedence, governing territories and the resident members of the underclans. In particular, they have the power of deciding, during times of famine, who must make the ultimate "Contribution to the Race": All individuals are rated in various ways on their "kalothi", or fitness to survive. When the need arises, those lowest on the list are required to perform "Ritual Suicide". The ordinary clans have generally evolved into differing niches based on some attribute or inclination of their founders. For instance, the Ivieth specialize in transportation and haulage duties. "Before puberty an Ivieth hauled his load or was walked to death and eaten." The o'Tghalie have an ability to perform complex mathematical problems.
Plot introduction
The novel details the attempts of two of the priest-clans, the Kaiel and the Mnankrei, to expand into territory controlled by the Stgal. Ultimately, all the priest clans are trying to attain dominance of the planet through the use of new technology, propaganda, treachery, and "war", a new concept in this world. Previously, killing was done merely in order to provide food.
Jo Walton remarked that Courtship Rite "is about a distant generation of colonists on a planet with no usable animals. This is the book with everything, where everything includes cannibalism, polyamory, evolution and getting tattoos so your skin will make more interesting leather when you’re dead."[1]
Reception
John Clute, although troubled by its didactic libertarianism and Social Darwinism as well as the way Kingsbury "rigs his Getan society" to establish his political ideas, concluded that "the book is a considerable accomplishment, that it's a feast (of the imagination) and great fun while it lasted, within its covers.[2]
Dave Langford reviewed Geta for White Dwarf #56, and stated that "Kingsbury throws you in at the deep end, to flounder for several chapters in complex Getan nomenclature, society and thought. Definitely worth it, though."[3]
References
- ^ "K" authors by Jo Walton
- ^ Clute, John (December 1982), The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, pp. 51–53
- ^ Langford, Dave (August 1984). "Critical Mass". White Dwarf. No. 56. Games Workshop. p. 16.
External links
- Courtship Rite title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Author's homepage
- Interview with Kingsbury
This page was last edited on 27 February 2024, at 19:56