This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.
1MyriadBooks
I've been puzzling over two science fiction short stories lately that are both set in outer space and feature teen protagonists. Anybody's memory better for these than mine?
The first was a coming-of-age tale with a female protagonist aged 14 years. She was raised in a space-ship culture, and part of the cultural dictates that at age 14 all youth are to be dropped off, alone, for a fairly short period of time, on some wild and primitive planet that the ship happens to be passing by so that the youth can test their survival skills. If I remember correctly, the reasoning behind that was, if the kids haven't learned how to stay alive by age 14, there was no help for them.
The second was a split POV between a spaceship and another female protag. The ship was programmed to grow children from a set genetic database and seed those children on habitual planets that match Earth-type appearance, and the girl was one of the grown children who was getting ready to leave the ship. The plot involved, at least in part, an instance in the past where the ship miscalculated with a set of kids and hadn't been able to seed a planet with them; leaving the now-adult people stuck on the ship, locked on certain floors so that the now-adults and current batch of kids would never mingle. The ship's programming was pretty inflexible, and the ship eventually decided to abandon some aspects of programming and modify the genetic patterns so that is able to seed greater ranges of planets (that is, not strictly Earth-type).
I'd figure I read these in an anthology or collection, but I couldn't tell you whether they both appeared in the same publication together. The publication may have been focused toward young adults. And I probably read them in the mid- to late-90s… maybe?
Thanks all for your help!
The first was a coming-of-age tale with a female protagonist aged 14 years. She was raised in a space-ship culture, and part of the cultural dictates that at age 14 all youth are to be dropped off, alone, for a fairly short period of time, on some wild and primitive planet that the ship happens to be passing by so that the youth can test their survival skills. If I remember correctly, the reasoning behind that was, if the kids haven't learned how to stay alive by age 14, there was no help for them.
The second was a split POV between a spaceship and another female protag. The ship was programmed to grow children from a set genetic database and seed those children on habitual planets that match Earth-type appearance, and the girl was one of the grown children who was getting ready to leave the ship. The plot involved, at least in part, an instance in the past where the ship miscalculated with a set of kids and hadn't been able to seed a planet with them; leaving the now-adult people stuck on the ship, locked on certain floors so that the now-adults and current batch of kids would never mingle. The ship's programming was pretty inflexible, and the ship eventually decided to abandon some aspects of programming and modify the genetic patterns so that is able to seed greater ranges of planets (that is, not strictly Earth-type).
I'd figure I read these in an anthology or collection, but I couldn't tell you whether they both appeared in the same publication together. The publication may have been focused toward young adults. And I probably read them in the mid- to late-90s… maybe?
Thanks all for your help!
2Timelapse
Perhaps the first one is (Rite of Passage) by ((Alexei Panshin )).
Amazon description:
In 2198, one hundred and fifty years after the desperate wars that destroyed an overpopulated Earth, Man lives precariously on a hundred hastily-established colony worlds and in the seven giant Ships that once ferried men to the stars. Mia Havero's Ship is a small closed society. It tests its children by casting them out to live or die in a month of Trial in the hostile wilds of a colony world. Mia Havero's Trial is fast approaching and in the meantime she must learn not only the skills that will keep her alive but the deeper courage to face herself and her world. Published originally in 1968, Alexei Panshin's Nebula Award-winning classic has lost none of its relevance, with its keen exploration of societal stagnation and the resilience of youth.
Amazon description:
In 2198, one hundred and fifty years after the desperate wars that destroyed an overpopulated Earth, Man lives precariously on a hundred hastily-established colony worlds and in the seven giant Ships that once ferried men to the stars. Mia Havero's Ship is a small closed society. It tests its children by casting them out to live or die in a month of Trial in the hostile wilds of a colony world. Mia Havero's Trial is fast approaching and in the meantime she must learn not only the skills that will keep her alive but the deeper courage to face herself and her world. Published originally in 1968, Alexei Panshin's Nebula Award-winning classic has lost none of its relevance, with its keen exploration of societal stagnation and the resilience of youth.
4MyriadBooks
Oooo. But it has a lot of similarities to the story I'm looking for. I wonder if I could have read an excerpt? The structure of the planet challenge or trial sounds very familiar to me, but Rite of Passage starts with protag at age 12 and gearing up in advance for this -- I only remember the story of undergoing the planet trial itself.
ETA: I might have read it as the novelette "Down to the Worlds of Men" (ISFDB info | listing). I must obtain a copy to read and see!
ETA: I might have read it as the novelette "Down to the Worlds of Men" (ISFDB info | listing). I must obtain a copy to read and see!
5infiniteletters
And the second might be Earthseed by Pamela Sargent
6DisassemblyOfReason
Attempts at the first story. I don't think they match, really, but you might be interested in the snippets that at least have something of the flavor of what you're looking for.
1) I don't think it's your first story - it's a full-length book - but The Silent Stars Go By by James White has a similar custom for a particular order of Healers. When they're ready to graduate from training, they're dropped in some wilderness on earth with nothing but clothing, sandals, and a staff, and they have to survive. The custom traces back to the founder of the order, as does the custom that the top-ranked member of a class becomes a Healer of the First Name, and is known only by her first name thereafter.
(It's a science fiction work set in an alternate universe where Ireland is one of the dominant world powers, and is at the head of a planetary project to launch the first starship. It contains several long historical flashbacks, including an early one that explains both how the order was founded and how Ireland's history played out the way it did.)
2) Starship Troopers has a throwaway remark about a survival scenario that MI recruits are put through - they're dropped in some wilderness region on earth with *nothing* and are picked up a few weeks later (if necessary, by search teams looking for the body).
3) But We Are Not Of Earth by Jean Karl, although I don't think that's it either. People who leave Earth, except on official business, are never allowed to go back, but Earth doesn't colonize planets; humans not living on Earth are explorers, and have their own culture. Their kids go to training schools for explorers. The protagonists of the story are a set of misfit kids, all orphans, at such a school; they're bright, and often get into trouble because their teachers underestimate them. They're given an assignment to take a ship out and discover a few planets while working with their mentor, with an implied threat that if they don't manage to live up to their own attitude, they'll get some sorry remedial training and be bored out of their minds.
1) I don't think it's your first story - it's a full-length book - but The Silent Stars Go By by James White has a similar custom for a particular order of Healers. When they're ready to graduate from training, they're dropped in some wilderness on earth with nothing but clothing, sandals, and a staff, and they have to survive. The custom traces back to the founder of the order, as does the custom that the top-ranked member of a class becomes a Healer of the First Name, and is known only by her first name thereafter.
(It's a science fiction work set in an alternate universe where Ireland is one of the dominant world powers, and is at the head of a planetary project to launch the first starship. It contains several long historical flashbacks, including an early one that explains both how the order was founded and how Ireland's history played out the way it did.)
2) Starship Troopers has a throwaway remark about a survival scenario that MI recruits are put through - they're dropped in some wilderness region on earth with *nothing* and are picked up a few weeks later (if necessary, by search teams looking for the body).
3) But We Are Not Of Earth by Jean Karl, although I don't think that's it either. People who leave Earth, except on official business, are never allowed to go back, but Earth doesn't colonize planets; humans not living on Earth are explorers, and have their own culture. Their kids go to training schools for explorers. The protagonists of the story are a set of misfit kids, all orphans, at such a school; they're bright, and often get into trouble because their teachers underestimate them. They're given an assignment to take a ship out and discover a few planets while working with their mentor, with an implied threat that if they don't manage to live up to their own attitude, they'll get some sorry remedial training and be bored out of their minds.
7MyriadBooks
>5 infiniteletters: : Aaaah! I think you are right! My local library doesn't (naturally) have a copy, but there is a nice summary up on Wikipedia that is twigging my memory. I'll work harder on finding a copy to make sure.
>6 DisassemblyOfReason: : Oh, look at you, plumping up my TBR list! Darn! :)
I'm absolutely certain it's not Starship Troopers, if only because the protagonist is the wrong gender. I don't think it was The Silent Stars because I don't even have a faint memory of healing abilities for my story. I haven't read But We Are but it sounds awesome and, while it isn't a match, I really want to read it.
>6 DisassemblyOfReason: : Oh, look at you, plumping up my TBR list! Darn! :)
I'm absolutely certain it's not Starship Troopers, if only because the protagonist is the wrong gender. I don't think it was The Silent Stars because I don't even have a faint memory of healing abilities for my story. I haven't read But We Are but it sounds awesome and, while it isn't a match, I really want to read it.
8infiniteletters
Another possibility for 1 is The Vandarian Incident by Martyn Godfrey.
I highly recommend But we are not of Earth
I highly recommend But we are not of Earth
9MyriadBooks
>8 infiniteletters: : I think you might have recommended But We Are back when I was looking for Invitation to the Game -- obviously I must bump this to the top of reading schedule.
Vandarian isn't ringing any bells for me. I think think Rite is mostly likely so far.
Vandarian isn't ringing any bells for me. I think think Rite is mostly likely so far.
10RRHowell
>6 DisassemblyOfReason:, 7. Yeah, Starship Troopers doesn't even carry much of a description of this--it's just a routine survival test, except that he adds in not giving them clothing. The closest Heinlein version of this kind of survival test is Tunnel in the Sky--not an answer to the question here, but a book that might be appreciated by those who enjoy this kind of scenario. A class is dumped on a random planet to survive for two weeks; the course is mandatory for those who want to enter certain off-world professions.
