Kirinyaga [Hardcover]

Mike Resnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1998

Hailed for his grandeur of imagination and superb worldbuilding, winner of and nominee for more than fifty awards for his outstanding work, Mike Resnick has rightfully won a place as one of science fiction's master storytellers. Now, in Kirinyaga, Resnick presents the haunting and utterly compelling tale of one man's utopia.

By the twentieth second century in the African nation of Kenya, polluted cities sprawl up the flanks of sacred Mount Kirinyaga. Great animal herds are but distant memories. European crops now grow on the sweeping savannas. But Koriba, a distinguished, educated man of Kikuyu ancestry, knows that life was different for his people centuries ago--and he is determined to build a utopian colony, not on earth, but on the terraformed planetoid he proudly names Kirinyaga.

As the mundumugu--witch doctor--Koriba leads the colonists. Reinstating the ancient customs and stringent laws of the Kikuyu people, he alone decides their fate. He must face many challenges to the struggling colony's survival: from a brilliant young girl whose radiant intellect could threaten their traditional ways to the interference of "Maintenance" which holds the power to revoke the colony's charter. All the while, only Koriba--unbeknownst to his people--maintains the computer link to the rest of humanity.

Ironically, the Kirinyaga experiment threatens to collapse--not from violence or greed--but from humankind's insatiable desire for knowledge. The Kikuyu people can no more stand still in time than their planet can stop revolving around its sun.

Deeply moving, swiftly paced, and profound in its implications, Kirinyaga is Mike Resnick's most triumphant work to date. His Fable of Utopia is the book every science fiction reader will want to own and savor for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia collects Mike Resnick's famous Kirinyaga stories and ties them together in a thematic arc that has novel-like continuity. The story focuses on Koriba, a mundumugu (sort of like a witch doctor and a wise man rolled into one) of the Kikuyu tribe. Koriba feels that his tribe has been corrupted by "European" technology, so he helps to establish a small, utopian planetoid named Kirinyaga where the Kikuyu can return to their roots, farming the land and worshipping the god Ngai without technological or cultural interference. As utopias go, Kirinyaga experiences its fair share of problems--both from within and without--each of which is detailed in the individual chapters and stories. The writing is not stylish but the stories are all excellent, and Resnick does a good job of integrating the traditional Kikuyu way of life into tales that any culture can appreciate. Readers looking for a novel may come away a bit disappointed because this book is really a collection of stories, but as far as collections go, few are better than Kirinyaga.

From School Library Journal

YA-Set in the 22nd century, this stunning sci-fi allegory describes the struggles and ultimate failure of a utopian colony on a terraformed planetoid. In the African nation of Kenya, polluted cities crawl up the side of Mount Kirinyaga. The magnificent animal herds of the past are but distant memories and native crops have been supplanted by European imports. Koriba, a well-educated man, is determined to reinstate the ancient customs and strict laws of his Kikuyu ancestors and invites others to join him in a new society named for their sacred mountain. As the mundumugu-witch doctor-Koriba faces numerous challenges to the utopian society's survival. He must deny a brilliant young woman an education because it is not the ancient way of his people. He watches helplessly as his charges insist on bringing in a white hunter with a gun to kill marauding hyenas when the colony's primitive weapons prove insufficient. With the technology comes subservience to white men's ways. But, in an ultimate irony, Koriba maintains his pure society with a computer link to the rest of humanity, even adjusting weather patterns by communicating his needs to an outside "Maintenance" group. It is the thirst for knowledge that this computer represents that becomes the ultimate threat to the colony. Young adults will love this provocative tale that examines the need for an orderly society, the rights of the individual, and the siren's lure of knowledge.
Pat Bangs, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 293 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (March 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345417011
• ISBN-13: 978-0345417015
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,370,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Resnick has an incredible understanding of African Culture, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kirinyaga (Paperback)

Mike Resnick has an incredible understanding of tribal african thinking. I am a South African and I was absolutely positive that this had been written by a fellow White (South) African. If you read these stories you will understand the tribal thinking of the African culture which still holds sway over most of the older generation and some of the younger ones. Wonderful writing. Anthea Tarica Johannesburg South African.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read the afterward!, September 26, 1998

By 

GeoX "GeoX" (Men...Of...The...Sea!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kirinyaga (Hardcover)

It's a good--maybe even great--story cycle, but good lord, do yourself a favour and assiduously avoid reading the horribly arrogant and obnoxious afterward, in which Resnick basically lists all the awards the stories have won, along with fairly unpleasant commentary--this story WOULD have won the hugo, except that it was disqualified on a technicality. This one, too, would have won, except that another story of mine did instead. And the only thing capable of defeating a Resnick story is another Resnick story! God, I made the mistake of looking through this drivel before finishing the stories, and it really colored my whole perception of them. Oh well.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can We Live Without Change?, October 17, 2001

By 

Grimmy "Grimmy" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kirinyaga (Paperback)

A highly educated man tries to, in effect, stop time for the Kikuyu tribe, on their own planetoid, where he can isolate them from the outside world (so-called "western" influences) and propagate their ancient customs.

This is a remarkable book, written with so much wisdom and insight. The dialogue and prose is sharp and controlled. Resnick presents both sides of the arguments with such clarity and humanity, it's sometimes heartbreaking. Koriba's well-intentioned but ultimately misguided crusade against change is challenged again and again, not necessarily by the "outside", but by the "inside" - the minds and hearts of his villagers. It's fascinating to see how he resolves these challenges to his authority and his hopes for the Kikuyu ... and sometimes downright scary.

The book also shows us the erroneous assumption of multiculturalism - that everything in every culture is worth saving and perpetuating. The modern myths of the Kikuyu - and indeed of many peoples on this planet - that "the West" is to blame for their condition and/or corruption (and everything "Western" should therefore be anathema) is not spared. It's tempting to carry on here about the general public's overwhelming ignorance of Africa's booming slave trade, because it's all in the same vein.

The stories show that for all our differences in time and space, people are the same everywhere - and that is the "problem" that cannot be controlled by isolation.

The reality is that every culture is always changing. The Kikuyu ways Koriba is trying to preserve are only a snapshot of a tribe that is both naturally degenerating (see "Eternity in Their Hearts", by Don Richardson) and gravitating towards "Western" ways - which, by the way, were largely exported from the Mediterranean, that is, from Israel! (See "How the Irish Saved Civilization", "The Gifts of the Jews", "Desire of the Everlasting Hills" by Thomas Cahill.) No culture is meant to live in statis, nor can it be done. Peoples and people are meant to grow, to mature. Multiculturalism can serve us by preserving, recording, or interpreting that which is worth saving; but it's self-evident (I hope) that it should stop at re-instituting human sacrifices, or some of the more subtle horrors we read of in this book. And that fact alone should make us question some of the sillier aspects of this trend.

The view that everyone is of equal worth, that freedom, accountability, and responsibility are important clues about what it means to be human. The dangers inherent in free will, and the element of curiosity sometimes recalls the Garden of Eden, but this is no Paradise. The problems of humanity, it is shown, lie squarely within.