Customer Reviews

Grass

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

Grass presents a very interesting alien world, one where the entire planet is covered by grasses of various kinds except for small treed areas, with a very original set of aliens. The Hippae and their associated Hounds are the type of thing that can give you nightmares, an enlarged, horrific parody of horses, capable of mentally controlling those around them, with a totally egocentric and blood-thirsty attitude. And the human society that has formed around the Hippae is also intriguing, somewhat modeled on the South American estancias, but with a strong English manor element, as the humans use the Hippae as mounts for the Hunt, a direct parody of the sport of fox hunting, with the object of the Hunt being the Foxen, a creature never really seen in its entirety, but only glimpsed from the corners of the eyes. The ecology and relationships of the various species of the planet form the major scientific underpinnings of this novel, relationships that are somewhat surprising and very interesting.

Into this world come Marjorie Westriding, her husband Rigo, her children Stella and Tony, Rigo's mistress Eugenie, and the family Catholic priests, sent as ambassadors from Sanctity, the controlling religious body on Earth, to investigate why Grass is the only known planet that does not seem to be infected with a fatal plague that is slowly wiping out humanity. The novel's action is driven by the consequences of the family learning about the strange social structures and alien life forms of the planet.

While Marjorie, the main character, is fairly well drawn with a fair amount of depth, most of the other characters are very much stick figures that are supporting spear carriers only. This is a pity, as Rigo, Stella, and the dom Sylvan show intimations of being intriguing people, but they are never portrayed in enough depth to make them come alive. The total cast of characters is fairly large, and at later stages in the book it becomes difficult to remember just who each one is due to their limited portrayal.

Grass is at least partially an investigation of religion, faith, and original sin for both humans and for two different alien races. As such, it invites some comparison with other science fiction works that have dealt with these themes - Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz, Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead, and the one closest in theme to this, James Blish's A Case of Conscience. Unfortunately, Grass does not meet the high level shown by these other books, as the crisis of faith experienced by Marjorie and the Foxen is dealt with somewhat shallowly. There is little deep explication of the problems, ambiguities, and paradoxes that entail from the concept of original sin applying to an alien race that were so well investigated by Blish's work. Marjorie's own changing concept of God from the traditional Catholic picture to one where humans are mere instruments of God's will, a virus that He unleashed to perform a specific action, where individual humans are not known by name to God, is a better formed and portrayed concept, but still not at the depth and emotional level that Canticle for Leibowitz achieved.

This is an ambitious work, with many sub-themes twined around the main one, each of which is deserving of in-depth portrayal. As written, this book is just too short to do justice to either the sub-themes or the main theme, not to mention the need for greater character development. It probably should have been twice its current length to fully develop all of the richness of ideas that Tepper presents here. Still, a very original work, more focused on anthropology and with difficult thematic material than is common in science fiction, items which make this a worthwhile reading experience.

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 was very impressed by the intense suspense created in me while I was reading this book. Like Marjorie and her family, I truly felt like I was on an alien planet, in an alien culture - I felt frustratingly confused by the dribbles of information (masterfully imparted by Tepper) and was made insatiably curious. However, I wasn't too impressed by the 'evolution' theory behind it all, but I'm going to give credit where it is due - the journey to that revealtion makes up for it. The characters and the interactions within this dysfunctional family are wonderfully portrayed, and gives an added dimension that most science/fiction fantasy books are lacking. Marjorie is an unlikely and unconventional heroine (not the normal romanticised figure - just a mother who cannot relate to her husband and daughter, but is innately competent) yet she is intensely appealing. Not only was I led to appreciate a new 'culture', but I also learnt to appreciate a new kind of character, one I don't often meet up with in fiction.

______________________________________________
"Grass! Millions of square miles of it... a hundred rippling oceans,
each ripple a gleam of scarlet or amber, emerald or turquoise... the
colors shivering over the prairies... Sapphire seas of grass with dark
islands of grass bearing great plumy trees which are grass again."

So opens Grass, Sheri Tepper's first fully-successful novel and
perhaps still her best. When I first read Grass, I realised that Tepper is
a genuine wild talent, taking SF in new and unexpected directions.

If you've read any Tepper, you'll have noticed that she takes a pretty
dim view of human nature, especially among men -- and of religion,
especially patriarchal religion. The standard Tepper themes are here --
of course, they weren't standard back then -- but handled lightly and
thoughtfully, with only a bit of the didactic ham-fistedness that mars
some of her later books. What I didn't remember about Grass is the
splendid sense of place she evokes -- Grass emerges as a fully-formed,
beautiful, and thoroughly alien world. The formative image of Grass,
to the Colorado-born & raised Tepper, is that of the American Great
Plains after a good spring, which is indeed an oceanic experience --
one that your Oklahoma-raised reviewer has shared, and misses.

Sanctity, the noxious world-religion of Tepper's Earth, is explicitly
modelled on Mormonism. Mormon readers ('saints') will not be
flattered -- though Tepper has exaggerated for effect. Sanctity is not
nice. At times it verges on cartoonish, but then I would reflect on the
banality of evil.... Tepper does a good job, handling evil. Beauty (1991)
is her masterwork of evil -- a remarkable book, but not for the
squeamish. "Down, down, to Happy Land..." Ugh.

The Hippae aren't nice, either. Neither are the Hounds, another
Grassian species she introduces in the Hunt, and splendidly develops
as the novel progresses. I've seen criticism of Grass's ecology, but to
this non-biologist it seems reasonably sound, certainly good enough
for fictional background.

The extreme isolation and strange behavior of Grass's rural
aristocracy are again drawn from Tepper's Western experience. Larry
McMurtry has written eloquently of just how strange isolated
pioneers could get [note 1], and I remember similar stories from
Oklahoma. Tepper, McMurtry and other senior Westerners (like me)
are just one lifetime distant from the frontier...

Marjorie Westriding -- besides having a wonderful name, and a
remarkably irritating husband -- remains Tepper's most memorable
character. The NY Times says she's "one of the most interesting and
likable heroines in modern science fiction." Well, "me too."
Westriding appears in two more of Tepper's books, but is far less
memorable in those (sigh). But she's *great* here.

The Great Plague, ah, that's where the dodgy biology lies, and it's a
pretty contrived Maguffin, too. And the wrap-up gets a little mooshy
and pat. But these are quibbles. I had a great time re-reading Grass,
and you will, too. Highly recommended.
______________________
Note 1.) -- in his recent essay collection, Walter Benjamin at the
Dairy Queen (highly recommended), and in almost all of his
historical novels. Of course, many of the pioneers were pretty strange
to start with....

Review copyright 2002 by Peter D. Tillman

The premise is that the story is set in about 2800. Terra (Earth) is run by a bunch of doctrine-spouting guys called Sanctity who have a lot of influence throughout the galaxy. Their control is threatened by the arrival of "plague" - it sounds a lot like leprosy to me, but hey, I'm no doctor. While plague might control the world's population (a major problem), it's not selective and Sanctity are equally susceptible.

Word gets out that there is no plague on Grass (a planet), and further, that if a person arrives on Grass with plague, they leave "cured". However, the rather inbred ruling class on Grass don't like visitors. Sanctity hears that the Grassian nobles "ride to hounds", so they try sending an Olympic medal-winning horseriding family as ambassadors to Grass.

The story revolves around the ambassadors' family's attempts to ingratiate themselves with the Grassian nobles, while surreptitiously trying to find out whether there is, in fact, plague on Grass. There are a number of underlying plotlines which aren't hugely relevant to the outcome but do paint a vivid picture of the world of Grass. The thing I found most fascinating is the description of "the Hunt" on Grass, despite the fact that I have no interest in horseriding myself.

It's difficult to say too much about why I rated this four stars instead of five without giving away important parts of the plot. I can say that the major criticism I have is that the Hunt appears to me to be the basis of this story (and the best part of it, in my opinion), but once I'd found out the secret (which is slowly and teasingly revealed), I wasn't that interested in the rest. It sort of ran out of steam for me.

Having said all that, it's an enjoyable read and a good introduction to Tepper's works.

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 amazed that in these reviews, there is so little mention of Tepper's signature ability--to drop little hints here and there that things are not quite what you assume they are. As in the early descriptions of the training the riders go through in order to simply survive riding to the hounds. The "Aha! omigod!" moment when you suddenly understand the reality of the particular world she has laid out for you is present in this novel, and in most of her work. If you enjoy hair-curling moments like these, and darn good writing with descriptions of alien societies familiar enough to be understood but so tantalizingly different, you will enjoy this book and all of her other ones. Long live Ms. Tepper!

Spoiler alert!

I think it is interesting how the author portrays how the outsiders (Marjorie's husband Rigo and the rest of the family) are sucked into this obsession that the Bons have with hunting and their "entitled, hereditary" lifestyle which has been encouraged by the Hippae in order to kill their hereditary enemy the foxen. It is a truly suspenseful obsessive spiral that we don't fully understand until late in the story. The use of sexual gratification and mind control to the 'humans' by the Hippae is truly inspired.

This was the first Sheri Tepper book that I came across and, I have to say, reading her novels has changed my viewpoint forever.

Grass is unquestionably first-rate science fiction: a well-crafted story of engaging ideas and characters in a vividly imagined universe. The book is almost worth reading solely for its exceptionally imaginative world and ecosystems -- easily in the same league as Dune and the Helliconia series. I'd begun to lose interest in science fiction, but Grass reminded me of just how engrossing the genre can be.

So why a rating of 7? One of my pet peeves about science fiction is its frequent ignorance in religious matters, and Grass is at times yet another example of this. It's not simply that Tepper tells some theological "whoppers" (e.g. her explanation of original sin), but that her insight never goes beyond the superficial. The central characters are supposedly devoted "Old Catholics," yet Tepper's portrayal of their "faith" never gets any deeper than the typical pasteboard cutout stereotypes. When the idea of a postmodern-type nihilist group was introduced and their motive discussed, I began to wonder if I'd underestimated her insightfulness, but it proved a false hope when later the group turned out to be nothing more than stereotypical crazed religious fanatics who were in fact anything but nihilistic. None of this might matter if not for two things: 1) Religious issues have a central place in the story, so a superficial understanding of them is not a trivial flaw; and 2) Since a turning point in the story is a character's faith being shaken, having that faith be totally insubstantial is a serious strain on believability.

The bottom line: A first-rate read, but with some flaws in its religious facets.