Grass

I never tire of this lyrical science fiction story set in a strange and frightening, yet hauntingly beautiful planet. A secretive nobility seems to exploit the wildlife of a strange planet for their own corrupt agenda--or is it the other way around? Newcomers upset the balance in their quest to find the cure for a plague. Tepper has knack for portraying complicated relationships and characters, while spinning an exciting Sci Fi adventure story!!

I'm not a big Tepper fan but I read Grass anyway and I'm glad I did. The plot is rather intricate but a brief synopsis: Humans are scattered over several planets, one being Grass which is a backwater planet with an odd collection of so called "elites" living in a cultural milieu copied from English manors. The "commoners" are gathered in a large town and make a living mostly through trade with other planets. But rather bizarre things are happening in the universe. The catholic church as undergone a schism and the dominant branch is a rather bizarre organization called "sanctity." Meanwhile, a deadly plague threatens to wipe out humanity. But the plague has not touched Grass, so enter Lady Marjorie Westriding and her family, sent by the hierarch of the church to find a cure for the plague, believed to exist on Grass. But on Grass they also find bizarre goings on, mainly the strange aliens that seem to have some kind of hold over the populace.Tepper has done an excellent job here of weaving an intricate plot together. There are numerous subtext to novels from relationships between men and women, alien contact, religious philosophy, and ethical decisions on how to react in the face of violence and potential genocide of the human race. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and depth of the novel. And unlike The Gate to Women's Country, the political and moral lessons are obvious but the reader is not bludgeoned over the head with them. This is one of the best science fiction novels I've read in a while.

Tepper has created one of the most interesting novels of the genre to come along in quite some time. It isn't a "Space Opera" in the trashy "Star Wars" way--with laser blasters and gigantic monolithic space cruisers that pepper the pages of most sci-fi novels today--which I consider absolute garbage. And it isn't a virtual reality novel which is also an overdone genre--cloning every idea William Gibson started with his cult novels. I would classify it as anthropological science fiction in that it studies the cultures and people/aliens of a different planet in the universe. Tepper weaves a story which grabs you and doesn't let you go until the end--not being afraid to make you care for her characters and play with your emotions. I also love the way she blasts puritain based religions; showing they too can be corrupt and dispicable as the beings who use it for their own personal gains. I wish there was more science fiction like this instead of the garbage trying to pass itself off as important works in the field when they are no better than the tripe novels with the "Stars Wars", "Star Trek", "Babylon 5" trademarks gracing the covers and bestseller lists of today. We need more of this kind of fiction which is amazingly thought provoking and sparks debate among friends who love to discuss excellent science fiction.

I have read this book so many times I practically have it committed to memory. This is probably the best book ever written by Sheri S. Tepper, and maybe one of the best science fiction books ever written. One of the things I like best about it is her use of horses and the parody of the sport of fox hunting. That is only one small part of this book, though. There are numerous sub plots which could make this a difficult book to read, but Ms. Tepper handles it with such facility that it reads very smoothly. I really recommend this book, especially if you like horses, too!