Rite of Passage

“If I had the opportunity, I would make the proposal that no man should be killed except by somebody who knows him well enough for the act to have impact. No death should be like nose blowing. Death is important enough that it should affect the person who causes it.”

A fine coming-of-age novel that is still relevant today.

This was Panshin's first published novel and my introduction to his work. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1968 and was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best novel in 1969 (losing to Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar; Delany's Nova was nominated this same year too). And now I can see why.

There's something very fascinating for me in the anthropological and psychological aspects of living in spaceships, or any other man-made space structures for that matter (e.g., space stations, merchants). I've read about this before in novels by Heinlein, Silverberg, Delany, Cherryh, just to name a few, and the bottom line is that a new culture will emerge and with it a new set of rules that will favor sustainability. I think Panshin did a great job with the world building and depicting the life of a little girl living under this context, waiting for the Trial to come. They don't just send 14-year-old kids to die in a colony planet, they receive actual training in Survival Class, but despite that, the mortality rate is fairly high. As cruel as it may sound the Trial has a purpose: ensure that those who survive are skilled enough to contribute.

It was really fun and thought-provoking to experience the character's evolution through a series of events and little adventures that end up broadening her world and growing her confidence and moral not only towards her own people but towards the colonists as well. The other major aspect of the book is related to the differences between the ship people and the colonists (derogatorily known as “Mudeaters”). A lot of different subjecs are discussed throughout the book: ethics, philosophy, slavery. Solid story, beautiful book.