Commitment Hour
A novel of gender choice in a post-apocalyptic fishing village.
Commitment Hour is a 1998 science fiction novel by Canadian writer James Alan Gardner, set in his League of Peoples universe. The story takes place in the isolated post-apocalyptic village of Tober Cove, which most resembles a rural, seventeenth century fishing village. Its unique feature: every year, everyone below the age of 21 changes gender. At twenty-one, villagers must "commit" to being male, female, or both (a 'Neut') forever. The novel follows the main character on the day leading up to his hour of commitment.
Quick Facts
- Author
- James Alan Gardner
- Country
- Canada
- Language
- English
- Series
- League of Peoples
- Genre
- Science fiction
- Publisher
- Eos
- Released
- 1998
- Format
- Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Facts from the source article.
Reception
Jo Walton at Tor.com praised Fullin's voice as a "confident confiding first person" and found the most interesting element to be Fullin's belief that he lives in a low-tech fantasy world, while the reader sees a post-technological, post-singularity society. Walton also noted that Tober Cove's culture is "very sophisticated" and "very Canadian." Donna McMahon of The SF Site called the novel "engaging, entertaining, funny and very well written," though she questioned whether a society with rigid gender roles would produce a 50-50 sex ratio given free choice, and felt Gardner had not captured the feel of a rural fishing economy. Crawford Kilian at Quill and Quire compared the novel unfavorably to Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, judging Fullin a stock character speaking in a flat colloquial style and the society "crude and implausible." Publishers Weekly similarly found Gardner lacking Le Guin's finesse, calling the novel "silly" and "less than stellar."
Lore
Tober Cove's society revolves around gender. It has a dualistic structure with a matriarch and a patriarch, who command equal but different power. The patriarch heads the city council and the military (also the police force); the matriarch runs health services, vital in a society without modern medicine. Tasks are largely gender-determined: men are warriors, fishermen, carpenters; women are seamstresses, craft-makers, food preparers. Choosing a gender is akin to choosing a life. The religion also revolves around gender: residents believe gods granted them the privilege of choosing their sex, and that every year the gods come to collect children and change their genders. The fact that the "gods" descending into the harbor are stylized planes doesn't bother them—they believe gods use many devices as instruments. Tober Cove exists on post-apocalyptic Earth, about 400 years after the great exodus when most of humanity accepted the League of Peoples' offer of technology in exchange for never killing other sentient creatures. Those who remained couldn't or wouldn't accept, and Earth descended into chaos. Spark Lords, clad in indestructible armor with access to the galaxy's latest gadgetry, rule Earth, charged by the League with maintaining law and order. They prevent major conflicts and generally stay out of local affairs; no Spark Lord has ever visited Tober Cove to the residents' knowledge.
Story
The plot is driven by the arrival in Tober Cove of the Science Spark Lord to observe the gender-changing ceremony. Throughout the book, the main character addresses questions people from outside the Cove ask. When asked 'which sex is better,' he explains the answer varies from person to person—if being male were better, the population would be overwhelmingly one-sided, but since it isn't, both sexes have equal advantages and disadvantages. He also notes that making love to someone from Tober Cove was always better, since they knew what felt good for both sexes. The novel takes place on the day leading up to the main character's hour of commitment, when he must choose his permanent gender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who published Commitment Hour?
Commitment Hour was published by Eos.
How many pages is Commitment Hour?
Commitment Hour has 352 pages.
Which book follows Commitment Hour?
Commitment Hour is followed by Vigilant.
More in Novels Set in the 25th Century
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