This book's great potential floundered hard, if you'll pardon the pun. This speculative-fiction blend of fantasy and science ultimately failed on every front, despite getting off to a strong start. Tepper often starts well, with strong characters, interesting plots, and really delicious world building, but around the middle, she starts hustling through the storytelling and rushes to the end. I don't know if she gets bored with the process of editing, rewriting, and refining, but the good storytelling stops. Sometimes the payoff is brilliant, thought-provoking, deeply cathartic; other times, such as in this book, there is simply a conclusion that is expected and unimportant, involving no character evolution or meaningful change.Because they are not spoilers so much as standard features, here are things to expect from the standard Tepper stock file:Interesting characters are introduced at the beginning who drop out of the story or appear as wallpaper narrative off-camera, enjoying the ride but not contributing to it. Those who do last don't always change in ways that seem to fit the events, or display behaviors that make you wonder if they are the same folks you met in Chapter One.New characters are introduced in the middle who exist only to be the author's sock puppets, voicing her irritation over Stupid Humans. Whatever story is being told, you will get a handful of pages that lecture the reader on Religious Domination of Women, How Humans Wrecked the Planet, and What Dire Things Resulted. I agree with her positions, but I hate being lectured. (There is also sometimes an implication that homosexuality is a correctable aberration, too, or that gay people are fit only to be the sidekicks and handmaidens of the Real People -- and that I am not down with at all.) Pages of rant later, anyone who agrees is bored, but anyone who disagrees won't be swayed to change. And what does this have to do with the story again? The lecture may be disguised as back story, but even so, it is not delivered organically or concisely or in character. Incorporate that info smoothly, on an as-needed basis, letting us discover the truth through the characters' stories unfolding. Anything that important should be shown, not told; demonstrate it so the reader draws the conclusion you want. Feel free to show me evidence that stacks the deck in your favor, but don't just force-feed me your opinion and assume I'll swallow it.When Tepper is on, you finish the book a changed person, in love with what you just read, prepared to buy extra copies and give them to everyone you love, or make it a requirement in your will that your heirs read it. Sideshow, Grass, The Gate to Women's Country, and others did that for me. This one started with promise and turned into a chore early on. Sheri Tepper is one of my "read everything" authors so of course I picked this one up too. I didn't even realize that it was a sequel to A Plague of Angels, it's been so long since I read that one, but it stands on its own just fine. I thought the tone of this book was a bit of a change for Tepper. It read almost like a fairy tale, especially at the beginning, but that wasn't a bad thing. The characters as always are interesting and complex. Tepper is very fond of feminist and environmental themes; this book dealt with the latter only. The explanation of the environmental issues and resolution that develop during the second half of the book seemed a bit uninspired compared to the way some of her other books have handled it, and the final conflict resolution seemed a bit anticlimactic, but I still enjoyed the story and the strong characters carried my interest through. Plus, it had cephalopods, which always earns extra bonus points from me! Overall though I wouldn't suggest this as a first book for anyone who isn't already fond of Tepper's writing; if you haven't read anything by her before I would suggest The Gate to Women's Country (an interesting hypothetical future with feminist themes) or Raising the Stones (a very thought provoking look at religious conflict and free will).
Do You like book The Waters Rising (2010)?
Ecology-minded sci-fi/fantasy. I love anything written by Sheri S. Tepper!
—mai
Not my favorite Sherri S Tepper but still quite good.
—tanii
