Ethan of Athos
- 240
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Ethan of Athos” steps away from Miles Vorkosigan for a light, funny adventure whose hero is a doctor from a planet with no women. Some readers find this early Vorkosigan novel clunky, the work of a writer still learning her trade. The book invites sympathy for Ethan’s people despite their religious dread of women, and some readers are glad it avoids a conventional romance.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Ethan of Athos is a 1986 science fiction novel by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The title character is Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Sevarin District Reproduction Centre on the planet Athos, who is sent to find out what happened to a shipment of vital ovarian tissue cultures. Set in the fictional universe of Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, the novel mentions but does not feature her usual protagonist Miles Vorkosigan. To date, Bujold has never revisited the settings of Athos or Kline Station in her many subsequent novels, but the events of Ethan of Athos are later referred to indirectly in the novels Borders of Infinity (1989) and Cetaganda (1995).
Reading order · The Vorkosigan Saga
Full order & progress →- Shards of HonorStart here
7.57.5 / 10 - The Warrior's Apprentice
–Not ranked yet - Ethan of AthosThis book
7.57.5 / 10 - Falling Free
7.67.6 / 10 - Brothers in Arms
7.97.9 / 10 - Borders of Infinity
7.97.9 / 10 - WeathermanWeatherman–Not ranked yet
- Barrayar
8.18.1 / 10 - Mirror Dance
8.28.2 / 10 - Cetaganda
7.97.9 / 10 - Labyrinth
–Not ranked yet - Memory
8.38.3 / 10 - Komarr
8.08.0 / 10 - A Civil Campaign
8.18.1 / 10 - Winterfair Gifts
7.87.8 / 10 - Diplomatic Immunity
7.97.9 / 10 - Cryoburn
7.77.7 / 10 - Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
8.08.0 / 10 - Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen
7.67.6 / 10 - The Flowers of Vashnoi
–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.2 across 149 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 50% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.5 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.3 | 19 | 13% |
| Hardcover | 7.2 | 130 | 87% |
Frequently asked
How long is Ethan of Athos?
It has 240 pages — shorter than 88% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.5, the closest to this book.
