About this title: Follow the path of the islander Vane: his boyhood challenge to become a warrior, his great feats as he explores new lands and faces brutal enemies. He is a complex man, struggling to find a lover worthy of his rank. Who will he choose: the warrior woman who fights with him, the green-skin who yearns for him, or the hermaphrodite from the sky with her science and marvels. Rating: HIGH controversy.
(An excerpt.)
When Vane came of age, that is, when he first grew pubic hair and his scrotum dropped, he was told to climb up to the top of the volcano. It was a daunting task. He’d been staring at that great mountain for years by then, witnessing its rare gasps of smoke and hearing its hungry rumbles. Vane feared that climb, feared it because many other boys were unable to complete the trek. At the same time, it would be the next in a series of challenges designed to either produce a warrior in him, or to relegate him to secondary status as a fisherman or farmer. There were perks to being a warrior. He still had to work, as everyone worked or else they did not eat, but he didn’t have to work as long or as hard as the lesser men, as he would be busy training in the art of warfare. Vane could choose to keep a private wife, for example, unlike the other men who rotated on a set schedule to mate with the women, a system designed to prevent overpopulation on the island, but not so crucial as his people numbered at only about half of the population limit of two thousand. Many men became warriors solely for that reason: to not have to share their woman with half a dozen other men. Vane liked a few of the girls, naturally, but unlike most of the boys, he was in no great hurry to marry.
Adulthood, he felt, was a great responsibility, and he wondered if he was ready for it. The men worked, the women worked, while the elders cooked and watched over the young. That’s what Vane was accustomed to, doing chores half the day and playing the rest of the time. The chores could be brutal and boring: from carrying sacks of fruit or baskets of fish, to helping stitch together a roof of dried palm leaves. The games, while they were fun, were also designed to strengthen both his body and his mind. The physical games included foot races, races in digging a large hole in the sand, or climbing up and down a tree, or wrestling another boy to the ground. Other games tested his brain, such as when he was assigned to rebuild an irrigation system after a bad storm, or else the crops would not be watered in time and the village would suffer. In another game, he had to out-think and outmaneuver a pretend raiding party of adults that had come to steal their women.
At least, Vane thought, he would not be going up to the volcano alone. One of his rivals, a boy named Tanau, had also reached puberty at about the same time.
“You always stare at the volcano.” The other boy said. Tanau was seated on an upturned, sturdy basket, carefully weaving strips of dried palm leaves into a sun hat. “Don’t worry so, Vane Nytarrian. It will still be there when it is time go.”
The boy did not belong to Vane’s people. Every ten or twenty years, the visitors would arrive in their strange metallic ships, bringing news or inventions from whatever land it is they came from. On rare occasions, they brought other people along, some common, some exotic, introducing them to the Nytarrians and asking if they could be incorporated among them. Tanau’s people were among the strangest of all: they had green-black hair and green skin, eyes that were farther apart and noticeably ugly, and small knobs for noses. The green-skins claimed their strange color flesh was due to their diet, and also because they had lived underground for so long. Most likely that was true, as Tanau’s skin showed marked discoloration since he’d started eating island food. In total, nearly two dozen of the green-skins had come. They weren’t particularly strong, but they were agile, and they were very attentive to their chores, especially when it came to farming.
“In past years, I’ve watched boys whom I thought were strong and intelligent go to climb that mountain, and many of them have failed.” Vane recalled. “I only wonder if I will succeed or fail at it.”
“Have you ever seen a weak boy succeed?” Tanau wondered.
“No, never. The weak boys don’t make it even halfway before they give up.”
“I’m a weak boy.” Tanau shrugged.
“You are weak when compared to Nytarrians. You are not weak when compared to your people.”
“My people are like squirrels. They dart back and forth in tunnels like squirrels dart about on branches. Have you ever seen a strong squirrel, Vane Nytarrian? Regardless, I will make the attempt because I am obligated to, despite that I know I will fail, and all others around me will know the same. Tell me, Vane Nytarrian, you will leave a boy and return a man. Whom will you choose to be your wife?”
“I will not choose to be married right away.”
“I don’t believe you when you say this. Some people tell me that you are saying this because your focus is on the climb, and you won’t let other matters distract you. When you return, these people say, you will right away choose a girl to marry. A few other people, but not many, are saying another reason. Do you want to hear what that other reason is?”
“What is the other reason?”
“You want to marry out of your race. You want to marry my sister.”
Books By Raymond Towers 