Flight Mavin Manyshap

On the far side of Lom, across the sea lies a land that adapted differently to the troubles than did the lands of the True Game. Here humans, fleeing the uprising of the native creatures descended into a great chasm that split the continent. Gigantic plants lived in the chasms ecosystem, and the people built cities suspended from the great roots, connected by bridges and stairs. The cities are peopled by castes, Bridgers at the top, followed by Fishers, Harvesters and all the other folk that make the cities work. And where there are cities of people there are politics and power games. Beedie, a Bridger, finds herself in conflict with another Bridger clan - the Banders. The Banders play for big stakes and will stop at nothing to control the council, even murder.Into this comes Mavin Manyshaped, flown across the sea on a quest for Handbright, her lost sister. When Maven left Danderbat Keep, she convinced her sister to flee as well. But, once free, Handbright took the shape of a bird and never really stopped flying. Now Mavin has found her a continent away. Gone mad, adopted by the Chasm folk as a messenger from the Boundless, and pregnant by a Birder priest who should have known better. Mavin enlists Beedie's help in keeping Handbright from further harm. Of course, Mavin is enlisted as well. This time to stop the Banders and find out what is killing the great roots. For the first time in a great while, humans descend to the bottom of the rift.Sheri Tepper loves to tell tales that are quests within quests. When the first layer is solved then other layers are revealed, until the reader finally accepts that there are no real endings. Tepper isn't the only author to work this way, but she is one of the few that can maintain the level of inventiveness required to sustain a long effort. Mavin downplays her ability to shape-change in this volume so that the other characters that form her party can become real players rather than simply puppets. Beedie in particular is a character who could easily have stood all on her own, questioning and fiercely independent. This book represents a break from the True Game books, set on another continent with a whole variant ecology, proving there is nothing gimmicky about Tepper's skills.

I have always enjoyed reading Sheri Tepper, and her Land of the True Game books are a particular favorite, but her Mavin books are the best, maybe because they were written later than the Peter Trilogy, and the Jilian Trilogy had too much of an agenda. Regardless, this is a book I highly recommend!

In this, the second of the Chronicles of Mavin Manyshaped trilogy, prequel to the True Game trilogy, Mavin is 15 years older and seeks her sister Handbright among the people of the Chasm -- who do not have Talents -- over the sea to the west of the Land of True Game. This is a fun, enjoyable, creative story, with a drip of tension part way through; a worthy addition to those in the series preceding it.