Courtship Rite

Blurb

Courtship Rite is a science fiction novel by American writer Donald Kingsbury, originally serialized in Analog magazine in 1982. The book is set in the same universe as some of Kingsbury's other stories, such as "Shipwright" and the unpublished The Finger Pointing Solward.
In the UK, the novel was entitled Geta, and in France, Parade nuptiale.
Courtship Rite was the first winner of the Compton Crook Award for best first novel, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1983.