The Margarets (Gollancz SF) [Paperback]

Sheri S. Tepper (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz; paperback / softback edition (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575080469
• ISBN-13: 978-0575080461
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,288,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fair to Middlin', June 12, 2007

By 

Mary L Wagner (Fayetteville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Margarets: A Novel (Hardcover)

As ever, Sheri Tepper starts with a very interesting concept. But her execution is becoming formulaic. The "magical aliens who save the human race, but we have to prove ourselves worthy" story, is becoming overused.
Each Margaret, in her individual world, could have been an interesting character, but since there are seven Margarets, no one gets enough time to develop. Tepper builds fascinating worlds, but with seven of them, there isn't enough time to explore.
The Margarets lacks the grandeur of Grass or Beauty, the immediacy of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, the surprise twists of Family Tree, and the humor of The Fresco. Those are the things that I read Sheri Tepper for, and I missed them here.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Margarets" -- the future of humanity, July 15, 2007

By 

R. L. Greenwood (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Margarets: A Novel (Hardcover)

"The Margarets" is a complicated book and it is necessary (and enjoyable) to pay close attention to all of the storylines while reading it. The close attention is certainly worth the trouble: no less than the future of the human race is dependent on single bored child, Margaret Bain.

"The Margarets" are creations of the mind of Margaret Bain is the only child on the Mars station, Phobos. The six Margarets that she invents have their own complex, and very different, personalities. As Margaret gets older, the invented Margarets split off from her, leaving only the original Margaret behind. This book tells the stories of all 7 Margarets in alternating chapters with that Margaret speaking in that chapter in the first person.

While I was expecting part the ending of the book, the more I read, the more possibilities presented themselves. The entire culmination of "The Margarets" was unexpected -- and completely unsuspected (at least by me)!

I really enjoyed this book and am going to read it again shortly so I can pick up anything I could have missed the first time around. I may even take notes! The story feels so real -- Sheri Tepper's novels are like that -- and rereading them is a joy. I always find something new in them, even when I reread them more than once.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Disappoints, June 18, 2007

By 

Teresa G. Whyte - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Margarets: A Novel (Hardcover)

Sheri Tepper has an amazing ability to take you to new places that not only facinate but make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I have been reading SF for over 45 years and she has the ability to surprise me by taking me to new places, new ideas, new thoughts while so many others have become predicable. She enlightens while she entertains. My only complaint is that she can't write faster. Her books are of the kind that you want to rush through because you can't put them down, but you also want to make them last. She is a gourmet chef of literary achievments.