Three thousand years after Earth's colonization of the planet Borthan, stories of self-serving hypocrisy that occurred among the first arrivals have bred a culture that forbids emotional sharing and denies the naturally human concept of 'self.' The result is a lasting peace, but at a terrible price. For it is a peace without love, without self, where even the mention of the word "I" is taboo.Spurred on by the arrival of an Earthman with a self-baring drug, Kinnall Darival breaks the strict code of the Covenant to record the sordid details of his rebellious life from the days of his royal youth to self-appointed prophet of love. He begins his account with the greatest of heresies:'I am Kinnall Darival and I mean to tell you all about myself.'Winner of the Nebula Award for best novel, 1971
In the far future, Earth is a worn-out backwater and humanity is spread across the galaxy on worlds that began as colonies, but now feel like home, each with its own long history of a thousand years or more, and each with its own unique culture. One of the strangest is on Borthan, where the founding settlers established the Covenant, which teaches that the self is to be despised, and forbids anyone to reveal his innermost thoughts or feelings to another. On Borthan, the filthiest obscenities imaginable are the words “I” and “me.” For the heinous crime of “self-baring,” apostates have always paid with exile or death, but after his eyes are opened by a visitor from Earth, Kinnall Darival, prince of Salla, risks everything to teach his people the real meaning of being human.
With a new introduction by the author, and the first-ever map of Borthan, this classic, out of print since 1992, is a fantastic new addition to the Orb imprint.
A spellbiiding tale of a tradion-bound centuries-old Earth Colony and an Earthman who offers a magic drug that tears down the walls between men's souls.
Description:
Three thousand years after Earth's colonization of the planet Borthan, stories of self-serving hypocrisy that occurred among the first arrivals have bred a culture that forbids emotional sharing and denies the naturally human concept of 'self.' The result is a lasting peace, but at a terrible price. For it is a peace without love, without self, where even the mention of the word "I" is taboo.Spurred on by the arrival of an Earthman with a self-baring drug, Kinnall Darival breaks the strict code of the Covenant to record the sordid details of his rebellious life from the days of his royal youth to self-appointed prophet of love. He begins his account with the greatest of heresies:'I am Kinnall Darival and I mean to tell you all about myself.'Winner of the Nebula Award for best novel, 1971
In the far future, Earth is a worn-out backwater and humanity is spread across the galaxy on worlds that began as colonies, but now feel like home, each with its own long history of a thousand years or more, and each with its own unique culture. One of the strangest is on Borthan, where the founding settlers established the Covenant, which teaches that the self is to be despised, and forbids anyone to reveal his innermost thoughts or feelings to another. On Borthan, the filthiest obscenities imaginable are the words “I” and “me.” For the heinous crime of “self-baring,” apostates have always paid with exile or death, but after his eyes are opened by a visitor from Earth, Kinnall Darival, prince of Salla, risks everything to teach his people the real meaning of being human.
With a new introduction by the author, and the first-ever map of Borthan, this classic, out of print since 1992, is a fantastic new addition to the Orb imprint.
A spellbiiding tale of a tradion-bound centuries-old Earth Colony and an Earthman who offers a magic drug that tears down the walls between men's souls.