Firstborn

by Lorie Ann Grover

ISBN: 9780310739302

Publisher: Blink

Publication Date: January 28th 2014

Number of Pages: 292

Source: Local Library

Goodreads Summary: Tiadone has been forced to live her entire life as a female accepted as male in her community in order to survive as a firstborn child. But when she needs to pass the rites of manhood, she finds the Creator may have use for her feminine traits after all.

My Rating:  

The setting for this book is hard to place in the context of time. It could be a past civilization or it could be set in the future, or even on a different planet for that matter. The R'tan village of R'tania has been taken over and ruled by the Madronians for years. They don't allow the R'tans to have first born females and they take these girls away and leave them to die on a cliff. A way to save the child is to declare the girl as a male. She must be brought up as a male and contribute to society as a male. 

"'Remember the Madronians believe the first living child carries the greatest strength. Can you imagine them permitting a girl to have that power in a conquered village, or that they'd allow a family to offer only females to society? And we can be thankful they offer us the chance to declare our firstborn girls male to avoid ekthesis on the Scree.'"  

"'But ekthesis is murder! There's no way a babe can survive if she's left alone in that shale wilderness. And what of those parents? That father? He didn't want to risk his future on a female?" My fear claws up and hisses, firstborn females are worthless. "Do you doubt I will provide for you in your old age?'" - Firstborn, 14

Tiadone is the first female to be declared male. The time is approaching where the males and females go through a "rite of passage" so to speak - males go off to defend the borders as soldiers and the females are secluded and focus on having visions of the future.


In order to "suppress" her feminine traits, Tiadone wears an amulet that seems to hang down over her pelvic region. This amulet contains the heart of a desert cat wrapped in her father's hair coils. 

"..imbue me with the power of the fiercest, most dreaded in our desert, the cat. The amulet makes me male in my mind and in society. As a declared male, I'll wear the amulet for life and contribute as any other male in our village." - Firstborn, 15

Another aspect of both their religion and this rite of passage is the hatching of a Rapion (bird) from an egg that they carry on their person at all times. Each child recieves an egg after birth when their parents offer the placenta to the grown Rapions at a cave-like place. The Rapions take the placenta and leave an egg in its' place.


Tiadone's bird hatches with a unique and what most in her village believe to be an evil trait - it is a Singer. Rapions are "meant" to be silent and the fact that her bird sings is a bad omen. 


We then begin the adventure and trials Tiadone faces as a declared male on the border & her growing feelings of attraction towards her best friend, Ratho. This of course leads to trouble and the fact that she openly defies the rulers. 


This book is full of religious undertones and is closely reminiscent of the early explorers coming to native cultures and forcing their own religion on the people. Madronians conquer and force the R'tans to convert to their belief in the Four Winged Condor. They must give up their belief in the Creator Spirit and they destroy their holy texts - the "Oracles of the Creator."


Tiadone fights this and worships her own god in secret (as her father taught her). There are scenes towards the end of the book that further this fight for her own religion. 


Some may not like this undertone, but I think it's good to experience and learn about beliefs other than our own. This also plays a big role in Tiadone's coming of age and finding her true self.


The ending is open-ended and though it could stand alone, I would prefer to see a sequel that continues her story (and that of Ratho & the new character introduced). The ending reminds me of a different dystopian book, Birthmarked.