Quote:
Originally Posted by khalleron
Ethan of Athos is taking place at the same time as the events in Cetaganda.
EofA seems a lot more dated than any of her other works, because attitudes towards homosexuals have changed so much since it was written.
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Dunno, but there is no more guarantee that todays attitudes will still be dominant hundreds or thousands of years from now than the attitudes of the 80's or 50's or the spartans. I wouldn't be so quick to brand it dated; give it a few more decades and it might prove prescient.
Societies change in fits and starts and what is tolerated or encouraged in one era becomes anathema in another. In the Bujold Nexus, mankind has been out colonizing hostile planets for centuries and dealing with the challenges that brings. It is hardly inconceivable that on those worlds genetic diversity might become a public matter and customs such as reproductive monogamy discouraged or outlawed. And with homosexuality involving a genetic component the potential is there for... well, let's say "change" and leave it there.
One of the benefits of writing SF in an undefined future is that it divorces the story from the shackles of the times; yes, a development that might be controversial in one era or region becomes just another plot point in another, or an accepted one might become offensive to some (Huckelberry Finn?) but a good SF story is an entity unto itself: it says what it says and lets the reader, of whatever time and place, make of it what they will.
It's a well-written story and it has something to say.
A good deal, and worth checking out whether you buy it from webscriptions, get it off the Cryoburn CD or (better yet, both).
(Staying on topic, really I am.
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