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, VACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Seeking a return to the simpler life of their Kikuyu ancestors, a group of Africans colonize the planet Kirinyaga. As mundumugu (wisdom keeper), European-educated Koriba strives to protect his people from the corruption of modern civilization, enforcing tribal traditions with a ruthlessness and clarity born of his commitment to a dream. Written over a decade, from 1987 to 1997, the ten linked stories in this collection chronicle the birth, decay, and death of a Utopian vision. Resnick (The Widowmaker Reborn, Bantam, 1997) writes with eloquence and compassion, offering keen insights into the conflict between humanity's desire for stable perfection and its need for dynamic change. Recommended for most sf collections.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Kirinyaga was born of an idea given to Resnick by Orson Scott Card: conceive of a story in which earth people migrate to a terraformed world and set up a utopia. Resnick, possessed of a bounty of knowledge about East Africa, devised Kirinyaga, the ancient home of the Kikuyu and Maasai peoples before the Europeans came and invented Kenya. Kirinyaga is presided over by Koriba, the mundumugu, or, as Europeans would have it, witch doctor. Koriba is intent on the old ways because he feels modern Kenyans have lost their way, and he imposes strict disciplines: no machinery, no weapons but spears, no modern medicine. In one of the more touching stories in a book that is basically a collection, Koriba will not allow a brilliant young girl to learn to read, since reading is a European corruption; the girl kills herself. In another, particularly clever episode, Koriba appears to invoke magic when he trains hyenas to attack a Maasai hunter who briefly takes over the colony; but there is no magic, only the wisdom of the ancients. Each story in Kirinyaga has won several awards; in an afterword, Resnick claims this is "the most honored science-fiction book in history." As disquieting and lyrical as the tales are, they are somewhat repetitive when presented as a whole. Even so, Kirinyaga is extraordinary work. John Mort


From Kirkus Reviews
Another African saga from Resnick (A Miracle of Rare Design, 1994, etc.) comprising nine linked stores (all have appeared before; several have won major awards) about Kirinyaga, the spiritual homeland of Kenya's Kikuyu people. In the 22nd century, the Eutopian Council grants the Kikuyu people a terraformed planet to be their new homeland (old Kenya is citified and Europeanized) where they can live according to their ancient customs and practices. Though the paramount chief is Koinnage, the ultimate authority on Kirinyaga is the witch doctor Koriba, healer, arbitrator, teacher, priest, and repository of the tribe's wisdom. By Kikuyu custom, the old and infirm are put outside for the hyenas, and infanticide is both common and necessary; Maintenance, which controls the planets's orbit and climate, objects but has no power to intervene. But other threats to Koriba's utopia arise, and at first his wisdom and cunning prevail: He is able to make his rulings with dissent. Slowly, however, despite Koriba's best efforts, modern ideas and technology begin to corrupt his nascent utopia. At last even Koriba's apprentice, Ndemi, abandons Kirinyaga, while the people reject the Kikuyu god, Ngai, whose spirit embodies the mountain of Kirinyaga. Readers will be constrained to ask: Is this a genuine utopia tragically destroyed, or the impossible dream of a mulish old man who rejects even the possibility of change? It's thought- provoking, unquestionably, and Resnick's yarn-spinning is top- notch. But problems remain, such as the traditional status of Kikuyu women, whose lot is unremitting toil, enforced ignorance, and genital mutilation. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Analog, Tom Easton
...a writer of very smooth fiction that often seems--and sometimes is--very light. But he is also a writer of depth; he has a great deal to say, he says it well, and when he provokes as much outrage as he had done with the Kirinyaga series, he demonstrates that what he says is worth the saying.


Review
"Ambitious . . . Well-written . . . A novel of ideas."
--The New York Times Book Review

"RESNICK IS THOUGHT-PROVOKING, IMAGINATIVE . . . AND ABOVE ALL GALACTICALLY GRAND."
--Los Angeles Times

"Among the most highly respected--and controversial--of modern SF stories. Resnick's experiences in Africa form the basis for this epic tale of a leader of the Kikuyu people who leads his followers away from a polluted, overpopulated Kenya to the planet Kirinyaga, which in many ways resembles the Africa of his ancestors. There he attempts to recreate the culture of the past. . . . The situation is rich with complications. . . . the conflict between the environment and technology in certain situations and the role of religion in human affairs. Parts of the book will make you mad, parts will make you sad, and parts will make you proud, but none of the parts will bore you. If only one of Resnick's books will be remembered by history, this will be the one."
--Science Fiction Chronicle

"Nobody spins a yarn better than Mike Resnick. Best of all, when the story's over, you find that he's left something in your memory for you to draw on again and again: a clearer understanding of how nobility emerges from the struggles of life."
--ORSON SCOTT CARD
   Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Ender's Game

"It's such a very human thing to recreate the 'good old days' when life was simple and people behaved piously, when the old ways ruled and the world was a better place. Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga explores some of the problems of such a retreat into an idealized past. The book is subtitled A Fable of Utopia. Now, as we face the turn of the millennium, we need such fables, such simple reminders of what complicated beings we are."
--OCTAVIA E. BUTLER
   Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Kindred


Review
"Ambitious . . . Well-written . . . A novel of ideas."
--The New York Times Book Review

"RESNICK IS THOUGHT-PROVOKING, IMAGINATIVE . . . AND ABOVE ALL GALACTICALLY GRAND."
--Los Angeles Times

"Among the most highly respected--and controversial--of modern SF stories. Resnick's experiences in Africa form the basis for this epic tale of a leader of the Kikuyu people who leads his followers away from a polluted, overpopulated Kenya to the planet Kirinyaga, which in many ways resembles the Africa of his ancestors. There he attempts to recreate the culture of the past. . . . The situation is rich with complications. . . . the conflict between the environment and technology in certain situations and the role of religion in human affairs. Parts of the book will make you mad, parts will make you sad, and parts will make you proud, but none of the parts will bore you. If only one of Resnick's books will be remembered by history, this will be the one."
--Science Fiction Chronicle

"Nobody spins a yarn better than Mike Resnick. Best of all, when the story's over, you find that he's left something in your memory for you to draw on again and again: a clearer understanding of how nobility emerges from the struggles of life."
--ORSON SCOTT CARD
   Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Ender's Game

"It's such a very human thing to recreate the 'good old days' when life was simple and people behaved piously, when the old ways ruled and the world was a better place. Mike Resnick's Kirinyaga explores some of the problems of such a retreat into an idealized past. The book is subtitled A Fable of Utopia. Now, as we face the turn of the millennium, we need such fables, such simple reminders of what complicated beings we are."
--OCTAVIA E. BUTLER
   Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Kindred

FROM THE PUBLISHER

By the twenty-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.

FROM THE CRITICS

VOYA - Diane Yates

Koriba, an old "mundumugu" (witch doctor) of Kikuyu ancestry, is dismayed that his homeland of Kenya, as it is now known, has been transformed into a modern country with all the trappings of European civilization. Koriba leads a group of followers to a terraformed planetoid he names Kirinyaga, where he proceeds to create a utopian colony based on the pastoral lives of his ancestors. This is a society of laws, traditions, and rules, and survival depends on all of them being equally obeyed. Anything else threatens the social order. What Koriba forgets is that it is the nature of societies to grow and evolve--they may reach the utopian state for only a moment and then change into something else. Irony and ambiguity are evident in almost every chapter (each of which was originally published as an award-winning short story). The word of the mundumugu must be upheld for the greater good, but if it brings sorrow and unhappiness, is this right? Individuals who think and question, the best and the brightest of the group, are turned into outcasts, sent back to Kenya, or driven to suicide. Koriba actually becomes a tyrant; everyone must follow his vision of the perfect world. He also has an unfair advantage in a computer that allows him access to "Maintenance," which makes adjustments to the climate, so when Koriba threatens a drought, he can shut off the rain. Finally, the young boy who has been training as Koriba's replacement repudiates Koriba's teaching and reveals the fallacies in his thinking. Koriba eventually leaves Kirinyaga because his people have seen the good side of technology--medicine, transportation, improved planting methods--and refuse to listen to him any longer. The opportunites for discussing this book of great power and importance are almost endless. It should find a place with the great utopian novels like Bellamy's Looking Backward or the dystopias of Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. Resnick has visited the contintent many times, and brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding to his writing. Read, recommend, and buy for the adult department as well! VOYA Codes: 5Q 5P S (Hard to imagine it being any better written, Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

Library Journal

Seeking a return to the simpler life of their Kikuyu ancestors, a group of Africans colonize the planet Kirinyaga. As mundumugu (wisdom keeper), European-educated Koriba strives to protect his people from the corruption of modern civilization, enforcing tribal traditions with a ruthlessness and clarity born of his commitment to a dream. Written over a decade, from 1987 to 1997, the ten linked stories in this collection chronicle the birth, decay, and death of a Utopian vision. Resnick (The Widowmaker Reborn, Bantam, 1997) writes with eloquence and compassion, offering keen insights into the conflict between humanity's desire for stable perfection and its need for dynamic change. Recommended for most sf collections.

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

Gerald Jonas

An ambitious, well-written novel....The book's premise is that 22d-century technology affords access to conveniently empty yet comfortably habitable planets where determined groups of colonists can build societies according to their own specifications. Kirinyaga is settled by Kikuyu from Kenya, whose program is... to create a Kikuyu Utopia. -- Gerald Jonas, New York Times Book Review

Kirkus Reviews

Another African saga from Resnick (A Miracle of Rare Design, 1994, etc.) comprising nine linked stores (all have appeared before; several have won major awards) about Kirinyaga, the spiritual homeland of Kenya's Kikuyu people. In the 22nd century, the Eutopian Council grants the Kikuyu people a terraformed planet to be their new homeland (old Kenya is citified and Europeanized) where they can live according to their ancient customs and practices. Though the paramount chief is Koinnage, the ultimate authority on Kirinyaga is the witch doctor Koriba, healer, arbitrator, teacher, priest, and repository of the tribe's wisdom. By Kikuyu custom, the old and infirm are put outside for the hyenas, and infanticide is both common and necessary; Maintenance, which controls the planets's orbit and climate, objects but has no power to intervene. But other threats to Koriba's utopia arise, and at first his wisdom and cunning prevail: He is able to make his rulings with dissent. Slowly, however, despite Koriba's best efforts, modern ideas and technology begin to corrupt his nascent utopia. At last even Koriba's apprentice, Ndemi, abandons Kirinyaga, while the people reject the Kikuyu god, Ngai, whose spirit embodies the mountain of Kirinyaga. Readers will be constrained to ask: Is this a genuine utopia tragically destroyed, or the impossible dream of a mulish old man who rejects even the possibility of change? It's thought- provoking, unquestionably, and Resnick's yarn-spinning is top- notch. But problems remain, such as the traditional status of Kikuyu women, whose lot is unremitting toil, enforced ignorance, and genital mutilation.