!Xabbu (in the series Otherland)

[LadyKnight]

!Xabbu (in the series Otherland) is a bushmen, and in school we are currently learning about the bushmen. I got the impression that the Bushmen were nomadic hunter-gatherers, and that they still lived the way their ancestors did, out in the Kalahari desert. In the book, !Xabbu has come to learn about the modern world.
Then it comes to mind that the setting in Otherland is probably years from now, and that probably in years to come, the Bushmen will come to learn about the modern world. Or they could not, and rebel forever till they become extincted. Personally i hope they do. I salute people who rebel against others who try to make them someone they're not. Go Bushmen!!

[Brys]

I'd hope so (skimming over the moral complexities of whether discovering the modern world is a good thing), but being the cynic I am, I don't think that real life will be so kind (rebelling would probably see genocide against them, not rebelling means they lose their way of life). Sub-saharan Africa is locked in a poverty cycle of famine and war that without outside assistance it cannot escape. Throughout much of the continent people live as they have done for thousands of years. They may know of the existence of the "modern world", but they also know that it is a hopeless dream that they cannot obtain, which is a sad truth. While !Xabbu is able to become a part of this community in Otherland, for most I don't think it is possible.

One of the great things about Tad Williams is that he actually decides to write an SF series which is based in South Africa rather than in the usual Western setting.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Brys

One of the great things about Tad Williams is that he actually decides to write an SF series which is based in South Africa rather than in the usual Western setting.

Good point I'd have to agree.

I really liked the !Xabbu character in the books. I think it helped to add another whole layer of texture that would not otherwise have been there.

[Winters_Sorrow]

I too liked this character but even as he himself explains in the book, his way of life is slowly dying. Young people (like him!) are leaving the way and going into towns for money, "easy life" etc.

This story is repeated not just in South Africa but in any society which has rural and urban elements.

[Rahl Windsong]

Yes but perhaps !Xabbu is learning about the modern ways, that the rest of civilization has embraced, so that he might be able to ease his own people into that uncertain future without the complete loss of their culture and ideals as a people.

[I, Brian]

Got to admit I was a little disappointed with the character !Xabbu - at the very beginning he seemed to promise so much interest, but in the end he didn't really do all that much. A case of a protagonist who didn;t really seem to have anything to do.

2c.