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A review by purrmaster
Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The basic premise of the book is that a rather weird society has developed on a harsh planet colonized (and forgotten) by humans. Almost nothing native to the planet is edible and only a handful of Earth crops can be cultivated, and not easily, on this new world. No earth animals except for bees made it on this world.
As a result food is always scarce and starvation common. The only meat on the world is human meat. Therefore cannibalism is common and accepted. It is not necessarily treated as something good or evil but simply a fact of everyday life.
The cannibalism isn't even that large a part of the book and may simply have been put in for shock value. This is primarily social science fiction which asks what kind of society would develop under these conditions.
It's a somewhat unique book. It's a good but not a great book.
As a result food is always scarce and starvation common. The only meat on the world is human meat. Therefore cannibalism is common and accepted. It is not necessarily treated as something good or evil but simply a fact of everyday life.
The cannibalism isn't even that large a part of the book and may simply have been put in for shock value. This is primarily social science fiction which asks what kind of society would develop under these conditions.
It's a somewhat unique book. It's a good but not a great book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism