Gibbon's Decline and Fall [Paperback]

Sheri S. Tepper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 1997

A wave of fundamentalism is sweeping across the globe as the millennium approaches, and a power-hungry  presidential candidate sees his ticket to success in making an example out of a teenage girl who abandoned her infant in a Dumpster. Taking the girl's case is Carolyn Crespin, a former attorney, who left her job for a quiet family life. Now she must call upon five friends from college, who took a vow to always stand together. But their success might depend on the assistance of Sophy, the enigmatic sixth friend, whom they all believed dead.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Science fiction is a genre traditionally dominated by male fantasy and values, where Terminator-style machismo saves the universe. Sheri S. Tepper writes feminist science fiction. Exit Terminator, enter Sophy. Sophy was a standout in her college class, for all kinds of reasons from looks to brains to spiritual qualities; she was also reticent about her origins. It is only when she disappears that her former classmates begin to discover just how special she was. Woven into Tepper's cosmology is the matriarchal system that once held sway on earth before males usurped that power. It turns out the "Goddess" is alive. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Tepper (Shadow's End) ) can be characterized as a quirkily feminist writer whose novels often question whether humanity might be better off with a smaller, more docile male population. This theme, combined with the author's ambivalence about Catholicism, informs this fable of ethics, feminism and transcendence, which employs an intriguing concept involving an alternate branching of the evolutionary tree. Carolyn Crespin comes from a stultifying family that believes women should be seen and not heard. When she escapes to college in the early 1960s, she helps form the Decline and Fall Club, comprised of herself and six other women (including a devout nun, a radical lesbian artist and a brilliant scientist). They band together to protect one of their members, an exotic beauty named Sova, from unwanted male attention. During a 40-year gap in the narrative, conservatism and misogyny increase, a focused evil grows and Sova mysteriously disappears. The tale resumes at the dawning of the Millennium, when terrorist bag ladies are on the rise and sexual desire is on the wane. Now, Carolyn and her friends must defeat an embodiment of violence and ultra-patriarchal masculinity or see women reduced to the level of walking wombs. As always, Tepper creates excellent female characters transported by a swiftly flowing plot. Her proposed solutions for the world's problems, however, may leave male readers wondering why they should settle for being little more than ambulatory sperm banks.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (June 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553573985
• ISBN-13: 978-0553573985
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,132,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Thought-provoking and insightful. Fair story., January 6, 1999

By 

Auliya "An Avid Reader" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gibbon's Decline and Fall (Paperback)

Like other Tepper books I've read, this one is excellent for provocative thoughts and insights, but only fair in terms of characterization and storytelling.

This book, for example, involves a group of original and well-detailed characters, but they are typically dealt with in obvious series or sequence. i.e. First her life, then hers, then hers, now hers, and finally hers. This may be a stylistic choice, but it can feel forced.

While Tepper's style does not seem to emphasize lush description or detailed scene-setting, sharing ideas is always central and handled well. In fact, during "Decline and Fall" I could not help thinking that Tepper wanted to write a book of non-fiction -- thoughts on male supremacy, feminist history, multiculturalism, anthropology -- but couched it in a millennial storybook for reasons unknown.

The best thing about Tepper is that you can LEARN from her books. You come away from them with ideas and new perspectives. Despite the fact that her books aren't going to provide a "wild ride" (i.e. for those who prefer David Eddings, Stephen Donaldson, Robert Jordan), they are going to be entertaining and thought-provoking.

Most importantly... In the middle of "Decline and Fall" I had that familiar rush: I didn't want the book to end.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A big dissapoinment, January 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gibbon's Decline and Fall (Paperback)

I was so dissapointed by this book. I had heard so many good things about Sherri Tepper, but this makes me wonder why she is so highly rated.The politics are unsubtle, the characters unengaging, the plot devices either poorly-thought out or frankly ridiculous, and the writing is at best patchy and reminiscent of the worst of Danielle Steele and the like. There are some brilliant feminist sci-fi and fantasy writers out there (Ursula Le Guin, Pat Cadigan, Marion Zimmer Bradley), but, at least on the basis of this book, Sherri Tepper is not one of them. And I had so wanted to like this book...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Potent but dark Millennial prophecy, November 8, 2000

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gibbon's Decline and Fall (Paperback)

In "Gibbon's Decline and Fall" (the joke reveals itself as the book progresses) Sheri Tepper presents her usual dark view of the future of mankind. Set in the year 2000, if it were going to happen, this particular future would be upon us by now, of course. And perhaps, in a way, it is?

The book concerns itself with the perennial battle of the sexes but on a scale far greater than in any of Tepper's other books and with an atmosphere of such immediacy that it is far more discomforting and terrifying than in any of her other stories. And yet while the war is global, she portrays the battles as intimate, personal affairs, as indeed life usual is. As usual for Tepper, the book is peppered with the author's perspicacious observations of the way the world works, as well as countless instances of her wry and acerbic humour. It is nice to see Tepper for once giving us a greater insight into what drives her main protagonists than we usually get, though: a nice touch.

All of the classic Tepper hallmarks are there, of course. This tale is as potent and as gripping as anything she's ever written. Indeed it tightens its grip relentlessly right up to the very last moment. And it's amazing just how many things one doesn't see coming, even though she's left them out in plain view throughout. Great stuff - unless you're even the slightest bit depressed!