Thought-provoking and deeply moving (****)

One hundred and fifty years after the wars that destroyed an over-populated earth, mankind is now living on over one hundred colony worlds and a handful of giant roaming ships that once ferried men to the stars. Mia Havero is a young girl living on one of those ships whose residents are abundantly aware of the perils of the "lack of moral discipline" of "Free-Birthers" who embrace complete freedom of reproduction, an uncontrolled birth rate and the resulting exponential growth in population. They've adopted the harsh but entirely effective social policy of subjecting their young people to the "Trial". Every young person is dropped and summarily abandoned into a thirty day survive-or-die test in the harsh and cruel environment of a frequently hostile colony planet. Those who survive return to the fold of the ship and are called "adults". Those who don't - well, they just don't!

"Rite of Passage" is written from Mia's first person perspective as she grows through childhood, enters training for her time of Trial and is dropped onto the planet Tintera with her childhood friend, Jimmy Dentremont. At only 225 pages, "Rite of Passage" is a very short novel and for over 200 of those pages seems to be a rather typical coming of age story. It's reasonably well written with any number of heart-warming passages and some seriously thought-provoking essays and interludes on philosophy, education and ethics. In fact, the story concentrates so exclusively on Mia's education, evolution and the development of her character as she comes of age from self-centred girl child to mature young adult that any reader would be forgiven for forgetting that "Rite of Passage" won a Nebula Award as a science fiction novel!!

It's Panshin's epilogue that pulls "Rite of Passage" from mere novel into the realm of "classic", an eye-opening, jaw-dropping dissertation on the results of the irresponsible or reckless exercise of power. In a manner that will remind you of the subtle, quiet, yet compelling style of Simak's best novels, Panshin touches on issues of killing, prejudice, hatred, power and responsibility. When Panshin seamlessly returns our thoughts to the context of a science fiction novel by discussing the destruction of an entire planet, he brutally reminds us that these issues are timeless and are likely to remain with humanity forever unless we make a conscious decision to grow beyond cruelty.

"Rite of Passage" is a deeply moving novel likely to remain in your thoughts long after the final page is turned!

Paul Weiss