Commitment Hour
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In this "riveting" series from "a brilliant new voice," gender in the twenty-fifth century is a matter of personal choice—until you reach the Commitment Hour (David Feintuch).
After most of Earth's population has left for other planets, life is simple in the isolated village of Tober Cove. Fullin, a twenty-year-old musician, lives well off of his craft. But soon he must make a life-changing decision that all residents of Tober Cove must make. Up until their twenty-first birthdays, the people of Tober Cove change gender every year. But at the age of twenty-one, they must commit to being male, female, or a Neut (essentially a hermaphrodite) for the rest of their lives. As Fullin nears the moment of decision, his faith becomes shaken when he uncovers secrets that distort his beliefs.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nebula Award nominee Gardner (Expendable) gives a less-than-stellar performance with this silly look at the future of sex roles. In the 25th century, teenage Fullin, along with his lover, Cappie, and the other villagers of Tober Cove, enjoy the right of selecting what gender they will be for their adult lives: the "Commitment Hour" of the title, is the night when the two must make the big decision. Although Gardner lacks the finesse of Le Guin's anthropological SF, he packs his story with intriguing characters and numerous plot twists to compensate. But a visiting anthropologist, a murder, even the discovery that Fullin's mother is a hermaphrodite, do not add up to a compelling or complete novel. A convoluted climax, in which Fullin discovers the real origin of Cove's society, is just too expository and messy to supply any satisfying emotional payoff or meaningful message about gender and society.
