
Ethan of Athos
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
About this listen
Isolated from the galactic community by distance and a lack of exploitable resources, the Athosians have peacefully lived their peculiar social experiment for two hundred years. But now, the ovarian cultures dating back to the original settlement of the planet are giving out.
With the future of Athos at stake, Ethan is chosen on behalf of his cloistered fellows for a unique mission: to brave the wider universe in quest of new ovarian tissue cultures to replenish Athos' dwindling stocks. Along the way, he must tangle with covert operatives, killers, telepathy, interplanetary politics, and - perhaps most disturbingly - an indomitable female mercenary named Elli Quinn.
©1986 Lois McMaster Bujold (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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very nice
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No Miles, BUT...
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I was a little put off when it was revealed that Athos was an all male planet with all that implies. But, that aspect is not explored in depth. This story follows the typical vorkosigan pattern of mystery, machinations, manipulations, all finally tied up in a neat bow. If you're into the series, you won't be disappointed.Not too bad...
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I cannot believe this book was published in 1986! I had no idea until the copyright information just before the finalSurprising Sci-Fi Favorite
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The story is fast and interesting. I'm not a big fan of the "women as foreign and misunderstood" theme in it, but I suppose that's the premise of Athos. There isn't much explanation as to why Athos was made into a woman-less world (not sure how one could explain this in any sensible way) or much investigation of the issues that would arise in an all-male world but I suppose the point of the story was to see how Ethan did in the big bad world.
Ethan did alright. The story is enjoyable. There's some fighting and some mystery but no blood 'n gore or sex. I don't recall any foul language either.
The narrator is distinctive. He reads well, and doesn't over dramatize.
Fast and interesting
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A world (but not a book) without women
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What I got was some gay fun and while it is problematic in places, (why are future space people so actively homophobic? What is the point of that, some gay bashing, and some instances of homophobic slurs) it was written in the 80s and people were a little less open-minded then (my brain still catches on space homophobia though, like why have the culture at large be so homophobic?). There are also none of the pointless rape scenes that you usually find in LGBT fantasy written by cishets.
I loved Ethan’s innocence, his unconventional application of religion, and his occasional tendency to be a dishrag. He’s just adorable and, no spoilers, but he does have a male love interest and they adorable even though my brain was screaming “KISS HIM YOU DUMB BABY YOUR BOYFRIEND AT HOME IS A DEADBEAT!” through half the book. Anyways it’s just a fun romp through the implications of gender, religion, sexuality, and asexual reproduction.
Much less bigotry than I expected, very refreshing
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Athos is a planet of men. No women are allowed — they are evil and they ruin good men. Since there isn’t a lot of immigration to Athos (their advertising campaigns just don’t seem to be very effective), they need to create baby boys to keep the population from dying out. Dr Ethan Urquhart is one of the men who’s responsible for using stock ovarian cultures to create and incubate male babies in uterine replicators. When the ovarian cultures begin to give out, Ethan orders new stock, but when it arrives it is full of the wrong kind of material. Something has gone wrong. Now Ethan must be sent off-planet to find new ovaries. Ethan is pretty nervous about his quest — he knows that there are women out there and that they are all out to capture and degrade men. He plans to stay well away from them, get his job done, and return to the safety of Athos as fast as he can.
But Ethan gets tangled up in interplanetary politics — someone has some dastardly plans for Athos and it has something to do with the wrong ovarian cultures Ethan received. Now he’s in mortal danger. Fortunately, he’s not alone because the beautiful mercenary Elli Quinn, who we know (and love) from most of the other VORKOSIGAN books, has been investigating this plot from the other end. If Ethan wants to stay alive, he must work with Elli (a woman!) to solve the mystery.
If you can get past the silly premise (an all-male planet) which, of course, is meant to be silly, you’ll find that Lois McMaster Bujold has not only provided us with a fun story (how can this not be fun?) with all the usual Bujold elements (genetic engineering plots, shooting, hiding, torture, escapes, rescues, etc.) but has also provided us with a little more substance than this type of unisex planet story has received by pulp writers in the past. Bujold lets us see an all-male culture at work.
Unlike the better VORKOSIGAN books, Ethan of Athos is somewhat predictable and has a naively incompetent protagonist, but it’s still a worthy read. Here we get to know Elli Quinn better and we learn how she feels about Miles Vorkosigan (the main protagonist of the series) and why she admires him so much. Miles never actually appears in Ethan of Athos, though Elli talks about him a lot.
Ethan of Athos is the third book that Lois McMaster Bujold published, but the events related in this story occur much later in the VORKOSIGAN SAGA, between Cetaganda and The Borders of Infinity. It doesn’t really matter when you read Ethan of Athos, though, because it’s more of a side story. New readers could even start here, if they like, or it could be skipped all together. It’s not important to the rest of the series, but it gives us more insight into Bujold’s world and allows us to get to know Elli Quinn better. Plus, it’s amusing. I read Blackstone Audio’s version narrated by the excellent Grover Gardner.
Amusing side story
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LMB is entirely original, consistently surprising the reader with her inventiveness while remaining unerringly consistent in her rendering of a very complex and fascinating world and a marvelous cast of characters. In addition, her stories are always deeply human, based on problems which rise naturally and honestly from the motivations, confusions, fears and aspirations which we all share. Happily she does this without wallowing in turgid inner monologues, maintaining instead a light and entertaining style which is never far from a smile or a chuckle. As a result, there is always a lot more wisdom present in her writing than we notice at first blush.
Miles-less but still wonderful
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I want BACK STORY! I want MORE INFORMATION DAMMIT!
I really love this book. It is fascinating and fun. Bujold at her very best. Only Falling Free may be better!
EXCELLENT Book
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