by John Barnes
First published 1992
Giraut Leones spends his days in Nou Occitan writing verse, trading gossip, and crossing swords over matters of honor. His world represents one of humanity's Thousand Cultures, artificial colonies designed to preserve traditional ways of life on terraformed planets. When the springer technology opens instantaneous travel between worlds, his friend Aimeric departs for his home colony of Caledony to help manage the cultural upheaval. After Giraut's entendedora betrays him, he seizes the chance to join Aimeric as an ambassador. Caledony shocks him with its gray religiosity and work obsessed society that discourages art and pleasure. Giraut establishes a school to teach Occitanian culture to curious locals, alarming the religious and political authorities who view his efforts as revolutionary seeds. As cultural and political tensions explode around him, Giraut discovers hard truths about diplomacy, friendship across cultural divides, and his own capacity for growth.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, adventure, cultural, alternate-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Nou Occitan, Caledony
Period: Thousand Cultures
314 pages · Paperback · Millennium