Alexei panshin biography of william

Rite of Passage is a science fiction novel by American writer Alexei Panshin. Published in as an Ace Science Fiction Special , this novel about a shipboard teenager's coming of age won that year's Nebula Award , and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in Rite of Passage is told as a flashback by Mia Havero, the daughter of the Chairman of the Ship's Council, after she has completed her own rite of passage, also known as Trial.

She has survived for thirty days on a colony planet with minimal supplies as part of her initiation into adulthood on one of several giant Ships that survived Earth 's destruction in AD To prevent overpopulation on the Ships, family units can only produce children with the approval of the Ship's Eugenics Council. The penalty for breaking this rule is exile to a colony world.

By the year , Mia Havero is twelve years old and, like most of Ship-bound humanity, regards the colonists as "Mudeaters", a derogatory reference to frontier life on a planet. When she accompanies her father on a trading mission to the planet Grainau, Mia learns from the children of a Grainau official that the feeling is mutual; many on the colony worlds call Ship people "Grabbies" because they take whatever goods they cannot produce on the Ships in return for knowledge and technology doled out sparingly , the heritage of Earth to which the ship residents have laid claim and which colonists are unable to maintain, being too busy staying alive.

Alexei Panshin (August 14, – August 21, ) was an American writer and science fiction critic.

When Mia returns to the Ship, in addition to her regular studies, she joins a survival class. Survival class is every thirteen-year-old's preparation for Trial , the Ships' rite of passage into adulthood required within three months of turning fourteen. By requiring adolescents to experience the rigors and dangers of life on a colony planet, the Ships hope to avoid stagnation and ensure that those who survive are skilled enough to contribute significantly to Ship life.

However, the mortality rate of Trial participants is fairly high, so no expense is spared to train the adolescents about to go through Trial so that they will survive the month spent planetside.

Alexei Panshin, American Author.

Mia's companion in school and in survival class is Jimmy Dentremont, a highly gifted boy of her own age. Their initial rivalry turns to friendship and eventually blossoms into love. Both in and out of survival class, sometimes with Jimmy and sometimes with other children, Mia has a series of adventures that build her confidence, broaden her world, and prepare her for Trial.

Her moral awareness also grows during this time, both through formal study of ethical theory and through reflection on the errors she inevitably makes as she risks new experiences.