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A review by le_lobey
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
3.0
Nebula #4 (1969) Rite of Passage
Rite of Passage is an engrossing, if straightforward, Bildungsroman that follows the spunky Mia Havero as she prepares for her coming "Trial." Panshin's worldbuilding is the novel's greatest achievement, and Mia serves as an illuminating tour guide and observer of the society on her ship. Her observations and emotions fit well with the precocious child she is, and her multiple forays onto colonized planets do a good job of presenting both the character and readers with a cross section of how humanity has adapted to the abandonment of its home planet.
The novel concerns itself with Mia's moral as well as physical development, and Panshin uses the power of didactic storytelling again and again through parables told by the supporting cast in her instruction. It gets a bit tiresome, especially by the novel's overtly political denouement, but I did enjoy the recasting of the categorical imperative using the language of SF writing technique: Since we are all the heroes of our own stories, we should never treat anyone else as a mere "spear carrier" to be used and discarded.
Rite of Passage is an engrossing, if straightforward, Bildungsroman that follows the spunky Mia Havero as she prepares for her coming "Trial." Panshin's worldbuilding is the novel's greatest achievement, and Mia serves as an illuminating tour guide and observer of the society on her ship. Her observations and emotions fit well with the precocious child she is, and her multiple forays onto colonized planets do a good job of presenting both the character and readers with a cross section of how humanity has adapted to the abandonment of its home planet.
The novel concerns itself with Mia's moral as well as physical development, and Panshin uses the power of didactic storytelling again and again through parables told by the supporting cast in her instruction. It gets a bit tiresome, especially by the novel's overtly political denouement, but I did enjoy the recasting of the categorical imperative using the language of SF writing technique: Since we are all the heroes of our own stories, we should never treat anyone else as a mere "spear carrier" to be used and discarded.