Ethan of Athos

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Ethan of Athos is a science fiction novel which is part of the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

It is an unusual member of the series in that it does not feature Miles Vorkosigan, the protagonist of almost all the other books.

The name "Athos" for Ethan's planet is probably in reference to Mount Athos in Greece.

1 Plot Summary
2 The Planet Athos
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

It tells the story of Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Severin District Reproduction Centre on the planet of Athos, and his quest to Kline Station to find out what has happened to a shipment of vital ovarian tissue cultures.

Ovarian tissue cultures, which are the only source of human eggs for an exclusively male populated planet, are dying from old age after 200 years service. The new shipment of ovarian tissue cultures, for which the planet has paid hard currency, have been replaced with dead and animal tissues. The Population Council make Ethan the planet's ambassador and direct him to track down a new supply of tissue cultures, and also to find the supplier who handled the shipment to see if the money can be recovered.

Ethan's first encounter with a woman occurs when he asks directions from Commander Elli Quinn, a rather unorthodox intelligence officer with the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, who is on home leave for the first time in ten years. Ethan learns that women in general are not the monsters he was taught; they are as varied as any man and range from honorable to devious to helpful to selfish. Also in the process of tracking the shipment down, he gets mixed up with hunters from Cetaganda who are seeking the fugitive Terran-C (aka Terrence Cee) as well as the lost tissue cultures.

Terran-C approaches Ethan with a request for asylum. Terran-C turns out to be an escapee from a Cetagandan experimental program aimed towards developing a telepathic governmental agent. The telepathy is reliable, but has a small range and can only be triggered for a short amount of time by ingesting large doses of the amino acid tyramine. Terran-C’s counterpart Janine was killed in the escape, but he saved a bit of her genetic tissue containing the telepathy complex. It is he who initially waylaid Athos’ shipment, but only to graft Janine’s tissue into the cultures before they went to Athos. He had planned to follow the shipment, but it was waylaid again by persons unknown. Ellie Quinn involves herself because she is also on a covert mission to gain information on Terran-C. She attempts to recruit Terran-C for the Dendarii, but he is far more attracted to the isolated, uncomplicated life on Athos. After some unexpected turns and chance events, Ethan recovers the original tissue cultures and returns with them and Terran-C to Athos. Elli obtains a sample of the experimental tissue culture from Terran-C and returns with it to the Dendarii Fleet, though not before Ethan asks her if she would like to make Athos a donation of some of her ovarian tissue as well...

[Note: The events of the novel are obliquely referred to in the novels Cetaganda and Borders of Infinity.]

[edit] The Planet Athos

Athos is what author Lois McMaster Bujold refers to as a "monastery" planet, similar to real-life all-male cloisters. The planet economy is self-sustaining and almost completely independent of interstellar trade. The entire human planetary population is male. Athos was settled some 200 years earlier by an exodus of religious zealots who sought to found a sanctuary away from women who have since become mythologized as "demonic" due to the "madness" they cause in men. Contact with the rest of human civilzation is restricted to a once-a-year interstellar courier, which brings information, supplies and immigrants, though the number of immigrants has decreased significantly over the years. Emigration is not illegal, but very few men want to leave the planet. All information brought in is screened and censored before dispersal to the planet. Athos’ extreme isolation and history have lead it to be derisively referred to as "The Planet of the Fags" by lower-class citizens of other territories.

Most Athosians are religious, with a strong emphasis on reverance for children and contributing towards a strong community. Partnerships are usually romantic and sexual, resembling homosexual couples in our society. However, there are heterosexual Athosians who lead celibate lives because they will never encounter woman, not even as fictional images. Due to strict censorship and a prohibition on anything to do with women., few Athosians have even ever viewed a human female. To discourage curiosity, Athosians are lead to believe that to do so would cause a "madness" to overcome the male viewer. Ethan himself is unaffected by the presence of women throughout the story, and feels a sexual attraction to the male Terran-C.

Through military and community service, Athosians earn "Social Duty Credits" towards reproduction. These ‘points’ can be taken away for criminal infractions. As with any culture, while desire for children is the norm, there are a minority who do not care to raise children so the loss of points is not a matter of concern for them.

Sons are grown in and birthed from uterine replicators (artificial wombs) at Reproduction Centers around the planet. The eggs are produced from ovarian tissue cultures donated to the founding fathers by various women over two centuries earlier. Eventually, as in Ethan’s time, the cultures reach the end of their viability and fresh ovarian tissue cultures need to be acquired. The female origin of the tissues is largely ignored by the population at large. Cultures are only known by a code which indicate the original donor’s initials and the iteration of the culture. A CJB-9 is the 9th production of the tissue culture donated by Dr. Clara J Browning. Specific cultures are preferred when a father wants a tendency towards a particular trait in the resulting son. Eggs from CJB cultures, for example, are thought to produce the best doctors. Parents pridefully grow beards to advertise their status as fathers, though it is sometimes considered unlucky to begin growing the beard before the baby is born. A father can choose a co-parent to help raise their sons. Co-parenting is one of the fastest ways to earn social duty credits and while a co-parent does not have to be in a relationship with the father, it is very common. Either way, being chosen to be a co-parent is considered a high honor. Co-parents grow moustaches to display they are or have experience raising children. Athosians in exclusive relationships often will choose to have their children produced from the same egg stock their partner came from, or both partners will choose the same egg stock for their sons which flatteringly creates a family resemblence. With enough social credits, a pair can have several sons and usually raise them together as brothers. This creates a family style situation which is considered ideal.

The future of Athos is unknown. Its isolation and insulation from the rest of civilization, its mostly agrarian society and lack of strategic galactic placement makes it unappealing to conquerors. Only the need to replenish a few vital items, like ovarian tissue cultures, keeps Athos from severing all ties to the rest of human civilization. There is not much immigration or emigration, and there is little curiosity about the planet or its people. The added element of the telepathy complex, which was grafted into the new ovarian cultures brought by Ethan Urquhart and Terran-C will not begin to manifest in the population for another few generations.