- Hardcover: 248 pages
- Publisher: Avon (1998)
- ISBN-10: 1568656874
- ISBN-13: 978-1568656878
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.2 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,803,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
In the twenty-fifth century, Tober Cove is a wonderful place to be. With most of Earth's population long since departed for other planets, and with them the technology that makes such a journey possible, life here is simple and serene--especially for Fullin, a gifted musician whose talent commands many times the wages of a farmer or fisherman. But Fullin is twenty years old. And at that age, each person in Tober Cove must make the most important decision in life. Ominous winds of change swirl toward Fullin's idyllic existence, carrying dark secrets that will upend his beliefs, alter his view of reality and threaten his very life. But for the boy himself, there is no more room for indecision. The time has come to take an irrevocable stand and seal his fate forever. The hour of commitment is here.
From the author of "Expendable, a major new voice in imaginative fiction, here is a spellbinding adventure which dares to pose critical questions about the human condition and answer them.In the twenty-fifth century, Tober Cove is a wonderful place to be. With most of Earth's population long since departed for other planets, and with them the technology that makes such a journey possible, life here is simple and serene--especially for Fullin, a gifted musician whose talent commands many times the wages of a farmer of fisherman. But Fullin is twenty years old. And at that age, each person in Tober Cove must make the most important decision in life. Ominous winds of change swirl toward Fullin's idyllic existence, carrying dark secrets that will upend his beliefs, alter his view of reality, and threaten his very life. But for the boy himself, there is no more room for indecision. The time hascome to take an irrevocable stand and seal his fate forever. The hour commitment is here. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I was quite enthralled by this book, couldn't put it down. It had a lot going for it until the last chapter. Then I felt let down by the lack of resolution of the main idea of the book. I guess if it was meant to lead to a sequel, it'd be OK, but as a stand alone book, the ending left me flat.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
James Alan Gardner's Commitment Hour certainly isn't your run-of-the-mill science fiction novel. The author provides an interesting and sometimes uncomfortable look at the role of gender in society, but I'm not sure he is entirely successful, nor am I sure if there was some highly perceptive point he was trying to make or if he found any real answers to his own questions in this regard. The first few chapters failed to spark my interest, but in time Gardner did manage to bring a sense of life to the story and create something interesting albeit ultimately somewhat unfulfilling.
The setting is twenty-fifth century earth, a somewhat primitive and naturalistic era borne of the fact that some seventy percent of the population has left for other planets in the wake of alien visitation; the technology of man's past has largely been abandoned, its relics consigned to the stuff of legend. The aliens and the facts of the big migration are only mentioned and never really emphasized; rather, it is the unique society of Tober Cove that demands all of the author's attention. Like most new earth societies, Tober Cove is a land of farmers and fishermen; here, a priestess marks the changing of seasons in primitive rituals and the law is upheld by a representative of the legendary Patriarch. Tober Cove is unique in one regard, however; here, the children alternate their sex between male and female for the first twenty years of their lives, after which time, at the crucial Commitment Hour, each one chooses whether to live as a male, a female, or - on rare occasions - both. Neuts are rare indeed, for those who choose a hermaphroditic life are banished from the land and threatened with instant death should they return.
Fullin stands on the brink of his Commitment Hour choice, as does his life's partner Cappie. Fullin is confused enough by his feelings toward Cappie, feelings which vary significantly from year to year as his sex changes, but life gets infinitely more confusing when a scientist comes to witness and study the Commitment Hour ceremonies, bringing alongside him a Neut banished from Tober Cove twenty years earlier. Murder and other disquieting horror visits the village, and by the time Fullin and Cappie are ready to be flown to the mysterious Birds Home to make their final commitments, dramatic change indeed is blowing in the wind. It is only in the final chapters that a real science fiction element enters the story, but this mainly serves as a means for wrapping up the gender study the novel basically consists of.
The story can be confusing at times, and the mixing and confusion of sexual perspectives never truly delivers any revelations of insight. The fact that Fullin, ostensibly a male at this time, is troubled by homosexual feelings from both sides of the gender line, combined with the whole society's antipathy toward Neuts, strikes a discordant chord, and few of Gardner's sexual questions find answers in his strikingly unusual conclusion. Commitment Hour is a strange novel, a book of probing questions without ultimate answers, but such is the very state of society itself. Some readers will no doubt find this novel an uncomfortable read, but its novelty and sense of unusual purpose make of it a story worth pursuing and pondering over.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Very entertaining: spanning many genres, and exploring themes of gender, parenthood, and politics through the eyes of one mixed-up teenager. My favorite of Gardner's books.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sci-fi with a message.
I think some of the other reviewers have missed the purpose of this book. For me, it was a very powerful statement about how our modern society shapes the relationships between... Read more
Published on 20 April 1999
Please, Spare me the stupid male and dowdy Female charcters
I loved this intriguing tale of your sexual preferances, but the characters were just extremely stupidly dull. I hated them. How much more stick like could you get? Read more
Published on 16 April 1999
Spans the age gap.
Great story! It spans the age gap--my son loaned it to me and I couldn't put it down. Alot of heavy questions wraped up in a delightfully colorful story. Read more
Published on 15 Sep 1998
Gawd give me my money back...
Sorry to rain on the parade of praise but this book was a real dissapointment for me. I just never shook off the question why am I continuing to read this. Yawn sigh... Read more
Published on 3 July 1998
A Good Twist To An Old Idea
Well, that was one interesting book! The first few pages brought me right into the story, so I picked the book up right away. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 1998
---great read about gender-switching culture---
I really enjoyed this book. It sucked me in and kept me guessing up until the end. I found the idea of gender-switching humans to be quite original, at least from my own reading... Read more
Published on 28 April 1998
An interesting look at a culture of sex-changing humans
Set in the same universe as Gardners's Expendable, Commitment Hour takes place in a small village on post-emigration Earth, where the inhabitants have one unique feature- they... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 1998
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