attempts to recruit Terrence for the Dendarii; he refuses, but gives Elli a small genetic sample. Meanwhile, Ethan asks Elli for (and receives) one of her ovaries to create a new tissue culture. After her departure, the original Bharaputran shipment unexpectedly turns up intact and usable, not destroyed. Ethan buys a new set of ovarian cultures from Beta Colony anyway as a cover, uses their packaging to relabel the cultures with Janine's genes, and returns with them and Terrence to Athos. Athos In the novel, the planet Athos is an all-male colony with a self-sustaining economy that is virtually independent of interstellar trade. Called a "monastery" planet by Bujold, it had been settled some 200 years earlier as a sanctuary away from women, who have since become mythologized as "demonic" due to the "madness" they cause in men. With the planetary religion and ideology supporting this single-sex structure, all incoming information is screened so that all references to — and images of — women are removed. Athos is remote, and physical contact with the rest of human civilization is limited to an annual interstellar census courier that brings information, supplies and the rare immigrant. The population is sustained using uterine replicator technology. Nine reproduction centers across the planet possess an assortment of ovarian tissue cultures, and by design only male children are conceived. Through military and community service, Athosians earn "Social Duty Credits" towards reproduction. Regulations also allow for a "Designated Alternate Parent" who can earn Social Duty Credits by coparenting a partner's sons. Homosexuality is generally the norm on Athos, and while partnerships are typically romantic and sexual, some are merely mutually beneficial arrangements based on finances and child-rearing. As much as Athosians are innately misogynistic, homophobia still exists elsewhere in the universe and is sometimes casually directed at the population of Athos. Athos is named after the Greek Mount Athos monastery where no females, including female animals, are allowed. Critical reception Saying that "it would be hard to imagine a more unlikely hero for an SF adventure novel than a homosexual obstetrician," Booklist called Ethan of Athos "Bujold's third remarkable novel in a year" with "a compellingly attractive protagonist", going on to declare the novel "highly recommended for all SF collections." Noting that Ethan of Athos is nothing like Bujold's previous two books, Jo Walton wrote of the novel: Walton also writes that "I couldn't have imagined what