The Companions

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were all strong I did not feel as if the story was rushed. As usual she creates a fascinating new world(s) and alien cultures for us to learn about. Sometimes her plots can be heavy handed on the feminist/environmentalist side and even though again this is what this book is about it was not as heavy handed as Gibbons Decline or The Visitor. Both good reads but I think I enjoyed this book just a hair more for the interesting twists and turns of plot and the various characters without as much preachiness.

The Companions (2003) is a singleton SF novel. Sometime in the future, humanity has gone to the stars, but much of mankind still lives on Earth in mile-wide square Towers more than two hundred stories high. Each Tower is self-contained, yet associated with other such arcologies into a mega-city -- an Urb -- and all these Urbs are linked together by highspeed podways. Among the Towers are scattered several Sanctuaries wherein dwell the only surviving Terrestrial nonfood creatures, mostly pets and domestic species, but also other types of animals as well as plants. A popular movement -- In God's Image - Humans First and Only (IGI-HFO) -- seeks to close these few havens for nonhuman life and to destroy all nonhumans therein, allegedly to provide resources for more humans. An ecological protection group, the arkists, has created Earth-like habitats on various worlds to preserve the remaining species. Animal activist groups are also opposing the iggy-huffos through lobbying and legal suits. Of course the iggy-huffos don't oppose concs, sexual toys who dwell in millions -- or billions -- upon the Earth. Now they are turning up on the colony planets. Even though they are mobile, bisexual, somewhat intelligent, and resemble humanity, the concs inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen like plants, thus don't use up valuable air. Besides, they have no legal rights; concs can be abused and even killed without any authorities making a fuss. Humans are not alone among the stars nor are they very important to the other races. Most intelligent species are joined in the Interstellar Coalition/Interstellar Confederation, in which humanity is a very junior member. Some of these species despise humanity, but others merely consider them acceptable-vermin. Two human organizations investigate planets under contract for other IC races. The Exploration and Survey Corps does the initial analysis and later the Planetary Protection Institute does long-term, deep-level examination. The ESC clears a sterile area for their station and sends out remote instruments to complete their analysis; the PPI, however, lives within the environment and grows intimately aware of its nature. In this novel, Jewel Delis works in the Alred Sanctuary, one of those that the iggy-huffos are trying to close. She is also a subleader in the arkist movement. Her brother is a noted linguist who has taken her with him to various alien worlds. Her major assignment for the arkists is to accompany him; the minor items she learns in casual conversation with aliens are sometimes of great importance to the arkists. Of the aliens she has met, Jewel enjoyed the Phaina the most. These elder race women put great store in melding in with the environment. Moreover, they are acquainted with animals very similar to dogs. Since they seem to like Jewel, she gets to know them very well. But the officials in the human embassy are not so knowledgeable. The PPI on Moss requests a linguist an

I am a fan of all of Tepper's books. I had been waiting for a new book for what seemed ages and was not disappointed by this one. Her characters are always well thought out and well rounded out and she has a way of making you feel that you actually know these people. This book follows a simialr theme of most of the rest of her books: the Earth is depleted, people are living in stark conditions and a few brave souls want to preserve what's left of the animals of Earth, with dogs being a major player. She has good aliens and bad aliens and some really odd lifeforms, which she seems to enjoy populating her novels with. This is one of the things I like about Tepper's books, her aliens are really "alien", which is as I think it should be. My only complaint is that the conclusion of the book seemed to wrap up a little too quickly, almost as if someone told her the book was getting too long and she needed to finish it. Personally, another couple of chapters would have helped it "fit" together better, I think. Over all a great read, in fact, it made me nostalgic for her other books and I have started re-reading them all. For anyone who hasn't yet read them, also try her Jason Lynx books which she wrote as "A.J. Orde"...they are some of the most fun mysteries I've ever read, and I am sad there are only 6 of them!

This is Tepper's hardest-to-put-down book since her "Grass" era. I agree with some of the other reviewers' complaints--it is complicated to follow with so many alien species and so many Earthian factions to keep track of, and it does wrap up a little too quickly and neatly--but who cares? It is such an fascinating book with such interesting and compelling characters--those you like and those you despise, but all of whose ultimate fates you want to know about. A number of those characters are dogs, and dog-variants, and that's what I loved best about this book: it really explores the characters of and relationships between dogs and humans. I'm surprised no other reviewer has yet mentioned this part, because as far as I'm concerned, all the rest of the book is just very entertaining backdrop.

THE COMPANIONS was my first introduction to Tepper's writing - and wow, what a fantastic way to start!Sheri S. Tepper has written a gripping, powerful novel about our future. It deals with such themes as overpopulation, animal rights, and communication with other cultures. It also raises important questions about religious beliefs, such as: if man was created in God's image, aren't we superior to every other lifeform? And if so, don't we have the right to take the lives of those lesser lifeforms? Not a quick read by any means, this is one novel you'll want to take your time reading and savoring, and it's likely to stick with you for weeks afterward.The book is written in the first person point of view, which gives the reader a great deal of insight into the state of the Universe in the year 2712. Jewel Delis, the novel's heroine, is an arkist - a person who strives to preserve what little animal life is left on Earth. Encountering an immense amount of opposition, Jewel is forced to take the dogs she'd been working with for years away from Earth, or they would certainly be destroyed.The planet Moss seems to provide just the right place for a brief relocation until a more permanent solution can be found. But the planet itself has secrets. What are the colorful flame-like beings that dance in the clearings at night? What happened to almost 80 people who went for walks in the moss and never returned? And what are the bright flashes of light that make people disappear?An intriguing and thought provoking read, THE COMPANIONS is a wonderful example of a clever, richly developed science-fiction novel.