Kirinyaga (novel)
Encyclopedia
Kirinyaga A Fable of Utopia is a science fiction
novel published in 1998 by Mike Resnick
. It is a series of parable
s about one man's attempt to preserve traditional African culture on a terraformed utopia
.
The prologue and eight chapters of the book were each originally sold as a short story
(or novelette
or novella
, depending on length) but were designed to fit together into a novel that builds to a climax with a coda afterward. The book and its chapters are among the most honored in science fiction history with 67 awards and nominations including 2 Hugo award
s.
Each section begins with a parable illustrating the relationship between Ngai, the Kikuyu god, and the creatures of the earth. On occasion, it is the narrator that has failed to properly understand the meaning of the story.
planetoid named Kirinyaga. On the way to the spaceport
, they detour to see a pair of jackal
s hiding behind a bush in an area that will become a nature preserve.
In Kirinyaga, Koriba kills a newborn child because traditional beliefs dictate that it is a demon. He must then convince Maintenance, the people who maintain the environment and regulate the orbit of the planetoid Kirinyaga, not to interfere with their traditions, no matter how much they dislike them.
For I Have Touched the Sky -- A girl finds a falcon with a broken wing and asks the mundumugu to heal it. "Once a bird has touched the sky," Koriba explains, "he can never be content to spend his days on the ground." She persists. In the course of doing chores in exchange for help treating the bird, she discovers Koriba’s computer and the knowledge it can share. This creates conflict with the role held by women in the traditional Kikuyu society.
In Bwana, Koinnage, the paramount chief, hires a hunter to reduce the hyena population. The hunter’s idea of utopia differs radically from Koriba’s. The mundumugu must demonstrate that, although the Kikuyu are a farming society, they are not powerless against predators.
In The Manamouki, a married couple immigrate to Kiringaya. Although they try to assimilate, they bring modern ideas that conflict with traditional Kikuyu culture. Can a utopia evolve?
Song of a Dry River -- A grandmother refuses to be cared for in the traditional manner and sets up residence near the mundumugu, who lives apart from the village. The mundumugu threatens a drought unless she follows tradition.
In The Lotus and the Spear, three young men have died in unusual circumstances. The mundumugu must find and overcome the cause.
In A Little Knowledge, Koriba is training Ndemi as his successor. Eventually he begins to instruct him on the use of the computer. But, as in the Garden of Eden, knowledge is a dangerous thing.
When the Old Gods Die -- "It is said that from the moment of birth, even of conception, every living thing has embarked upon an inevitable trajectory that culminates in its death... Yet this knowledge does not lessen the pain of death." For a man intent on maintaining the traditional ways, cultural change may not represent life but the death of the old gods.
Epilogue: The Land of Nod -- Koriba returns to Kenya. There, the old ways don’t mesh well with modern city living. When he visits a cloned elephant that is to be killed in a few days' time, Koriba realizes that they are both anachronisms, and that their fates are intertwined.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel published in 1998 by Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick
Michael Diamond Resnick , better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is an American science fiction author. He was executive editor of Jim Baen's Universe.-Biography:...
. It is a series of parable
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
s about one man's attempt to preserve traditional African culture on a terraformed utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
.
The prologue and eight chapters of the book were each originally sold as a short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
(or novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
or novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
, depending on length) but were designed to fit together into a novel that builds to a climax with a coda afterward. The book and its chapters are among the most honored in science fiction history with 67 awards and nominations including 2 Hugo award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
s.
Each section begins with a parable illustrating the relationship between Ngai, the Kikuyu god, and the creatures of the earth. On occasion, it is the narrator that has failed to properly understand the meaning of the story.
Plot summary
Prologue: One Perfect Morning, With Jackals is set in Kenya. A son argues with his father whether it is possible to adopt European conveniences and customs and still be a true Kikuyu, the dominate native tribe. The father will be the mundumugu (witch doctor) for the new Kikuyu society on a terraformedTerraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
planetoid named Kirinyaga. On the way to the spaceport
Spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching spacecraft, by analogy with seaport for ships or airport for aircraft. The word spaceport, and even more so cosmodrome, has traditionally been used for sites capable of launching spacecraft into orbit around Earth or on interplanetary trajectories...
, they detour to see a pair of jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
s hiding behind a bush in an area that will become a nature preserve.
In Kirinyaga, Koriba kills a newborn child because traditional beliefs dictate that it is a demon. He must then convince Maintenance, the people who maintain the environment and regulate the orbit of the planetoid Kirinyaga, not to interfere with their traditions, no matter how much they dislike them.
For I Have Touched the Sky -- A girl finds a falcon with a broken wing and asks the mundumugu to heal it. "Once a bird has touched the sky," Koriba explains, "he can never be content to spend his days on the ground." She persists. In the course of doing chores in exchange for help treating the bird, she discovers Koriba’s computer and the knowledge it can share. This creates conflict with the role held by women in the traditional Kikuyu society.
In Bwana, Koinnage, the paramount chief, hires a hunter to reduce the hyena population. The hunter’s idea of utopia differs radically from Koriba’s. The mundumugu must demonstrate that, although the Kikuyu are a farming society, they are not powerless against predators.
In The Manamouki, a married couple immigrate to Kiringaya. Although they try to assimilate, they bring modern ideas that conflict with traditional Kikuyu culture. Can a utopia evolve?
Song of a Dry River -- A grandmother refuses to be cared for in the traditional manner and sets up residence near the mundumugu, who lives apart from the village. The mundumugu threatens a drought unless she follows tradition.
In The Lotus and the Spear, three young men have died in unusual circumstances. The mundumugu must find and overcome the cause.
In A Little Knowledge, Koriba is training Ndemi as his successor. Eventually he begins to instruct him on the use of the computer. But, as in the Garden of Eden, knowledge is a dangerous thing.
When the Old Gods Die -- "It is said that from the moment of birth, even of conception, every living thing has embarked upon an inevitable trajectory that culminates in its death... Yet this knowledge does not lessen the pain of death." For a man intent on maintaining the traditional ways, cultural change may not represent life but the death of the old gods.
Epilogue: The Land of Nod -- Koriba returns to Kenya. There, the old ways don’t mesh well with modern city living. When he visits a cloned elephant that is to be killed in a few days' time, Koriba realizes that they are both anachronisms, and that their fates are intertwined.
Characters
- Koriba, the mundumugu (witch doctorWitch doctorA witch doctor originally referred to a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. It is currently used to refer to healers in some third world regions, who use traditional healing rather than contemporary medicine...
), who guides the society - Koinnage, the paramount chief of the village
- Ndemi, Koriba's student
- NgaiNgaiNgai is the supreme God in the religions of the Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai nationalities of Kenya....
, the Kikuyu god