Talk:Ethan of Athos

Novels: Sci-fi Low‑importance

	Novels portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Novels, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to novels, novellas, novelettes and short stories on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and contribute to the general Project discussion to talk over new ideas and suggestions.NovelsWikipedia:WikiProject NovelsTemplate:WikiProject Novelsnovel articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by Science fiction task force.

Science Fiction Mid‑importance

	Speculative fiction portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Science Fiction, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of science fiction on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Science FictionWikipedia:WikiProject Science FictionTemplate:WikiProject Science Fictionscience fiction articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Women writers Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Women writers, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of women writers on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Women writersWikipedia:WikiProject Women writersTemplate:WikiProject Women writersWomen writers articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

LGBTQ+ studies

This article is of interest to WikiProject LGBTQ+ studies, which tries to ensure comprehensive and factual coverage of all LGBTQ-related issues on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, please visit the project page or contribute to the discussion.LGBTQ+ studiesWikipedia:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesTemplate:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesLGBTQ+ studies articles

Untitled

Hi,

Talk page only, no attempt to edit the main article --

Athos as an SF culture or world is rare in that it is a well-functioning and egalitarian religious society. The norm in SF seems to be that religious or theocratic societies are totalitarian. Athos, as Ethan reports it, is about as much a dictatorship as Eisenhowerian suburbia ...

This may be because of the way the author went about creating it. What usually happens is that an author starts with the idea of a religion-based society and works forward to what such a society might turn out like; for Ethan of Athos, Bujold started with the idea of what the society turned out like and worked back to how it came to be like that. The fact that it's religion-based is, in a sense, just an incidental detail. --Paul A 02:07, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Also you have to bear in mind that Ethan, the character through whom the society in question is being described, is an enthusiastic member of that society—indeed, he plays a vital role in its continuance—and is therefore unlikely to be an objective observer. I'm not implying that he might overlook any egregious problems, mind—he's not backward in coming forward when he spots a potential for trouble IIRC—just don't expect the narrative to be NPOV :-). HTH HAND --Phil | Talk 07:54, Dec 9, 2004 (UTC)

> he is unaffected by the presence of women, and feels a sexual attraction to the male blond Terran-C genetic experiment mentioned below. Shouldn't this experiment actually be mentioned, then? 212.219.48.247 13:04, 6 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]