Customer Reviews

Shadow's End

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

 

 

I think I'm the only one I know who loves this book--so I have to stick up for it. OK, I would have given it 4 1/2 stars, if that had been an option, because I don't think Tepper has ever quite come back up to the standard she set in "Grass," "Raising the Stones," "After a Long Silence," and "Gate to Women's Country" (although "Fresco" comes close, and "Gate" has had trouble holding up over time).

The theme of "Shadows End" is invisibility. What (and whom) do we see and not see in our worlds? What stops us from recognizing what's there? Tepper returns to this question in a myriad of ways, both directly and obliquely (visibly and in shadows). It spoke to me deeply. And in such remarkably lovely, deft prose!

The end of the book (stop here if you don't want a real hint) breaks all the rules of writing--it's exactly what your English teachers told you never to do. It's absurd and a little unbelievable, but it also left me in awe at the author's deliberate violation of all conventions. Wow!

She did it to me again. Tepper builds a solid, clear and convincing world, creates a compelling and three-dimensional set of characters, sets up an intriguing plot that builds logically and excitingly to a climax and then-- well, I still am not sure exactly what the heck happened. It's like someone else finishes the book for her-- all of that solid logical specific foundation disppears ion metaphysical poetically vagur fog. Perhaps a reader more gifted than I would get that part, but for me it was 9/10ths of a great novel.

Every time I read a Sheri S. Tepper novel I finish with that shivery feeling that comes from reading a great story -- one that is equal parts uplifting and disturbing. "Shadow's End" is no different; once again, Tepper has taken the archetypes of speculative fiction and given them new life, making them her own.

On the surface, this is a quest story; the quest of a group of people for the salvation of the human colonial enterprise across the stars. But what they find is far from what they expected, and in the climax and stunning denouement, Tepper has incorporated some important commentary on motherhood, patriarchy, and both individual and communal responsibility, without once resorting to preachiness or moralizing. A VERY impressive book.

Though Tepper is my favorite writer of all time, they can't all be winners. Shadow's End is a mishmash of themes, none of which is satisfactorily fleshed out. If you're a fan it's worth a read, but if you're new to the amazing worlds and wonderful prose of Sheri S. Tepper, read Beauty, Grass, or Raising the Stones instead.

Like all of Tepper's work, this novel is a brilliant demonstration of her skill at world-crafting. Tepper constructs the most beautiful and bizarre societies I have found in speculative fiction, which are all the more real for their strangeness. In this masterpiece, as in Raising the Stones and Singer from the Sea, she evokes a powerful religious paradigm rich with myth and archetypical significance. the end is haunting, compelling as the story itself. it is impossible to forget; these are books that can change the world you live in if you let them. Tepper also has interesting arguments to add to the dialogue on feminism, ecology, and technological advancement; these, too, are impossible to forget, and will keep you thinking and turning new sides of the issues around for a long time. I enthusiastically recommend this novel, and all of Tepper's work, to every intelligent SF reader.

One hundred years ago, millions of inhabitants of Alliance Central worlds disappeared, allegedly at the hands of the mysterious Ularians. Now it appears to be happening again, and the primitive planet of Dinadh is the only one spared. Alliance Central's Procurator coerces Lutha Talstaff, a linguist with an autistic son, into going to Dinadh to gather intelligence, reasoning that she will be allowed admittance to the closed society by her common-law marriage with Leelson Famber, descendant of the scientist and explorer Berenhson Famber.

Dinadh and Alliance Central (formerly Earth) are both full of nasty secrets and lies. One of the subplots follows Snark, a "Shadow" who is enslaved by the Procurator, then used as bait on Perdur Alas, a world under siege by the Ularians. Another major character is Saluez, a young pregnant woman who is maimed by the Kachis, mysterious nocturnal creatures on Dinadh.

Tepper builds a complex, believable world, but as the story progresses she bludgeons the reader with the major theme - that men are evil and cause all the problems of the universe, by oppressing women and committing environmental crimes. I was still engaged in the narrative until The Beast of Babylon showed up. What the @%&*???

Tepper is a very gifted author, try Grass (S.F.Masterworks S.) or Beauty (Spectra Special Editions) instead.

There can be no doubt that Ms. Tepper is one heck of a world builder! You can almost taste the dry dusty wind every time you open the book. It is that perfectly detailed, yet she manages it without the verbosity that so many other get trapped by in writing.

As for the story, it is clear that this would be classified as feminist fiction in some ways. But that doesn't make it bad, just a bit more frank that some readers are comfortable with. You'll get some bitter reviews from men who wander into this book accidentally and aren't ready for the theme.

While I'm not in the mood to ruin your fun by writing spoilers, I will say that the accusation that she write of males as being the source of evil in the world is an over-the-top assessment of this book. It has to be put into context. In a future where hundreds upon hundreds of worlds exist, each one having started by groups with either business or cultural identity in mind, there will naturally be a wide range of male/female relationship norms.

This story focuses on just a smattering of those worlds with the primary one being a small, out of the way planet where the culture has developed in ways that we might generalize as being much like the uber-patriarchal societies of the extreme right wing in the U.S. or the Taliban or strict muslims in the Middle East. There isn't a way to pretty that up and make it seem fine. Men who aren't like that will probably be offended at seeing other men portrayed as being like that. Perfectly normal and natural...and certainly an invitation for bad reviews! The beauty of her writing is that so many people are made to feel a little uncomfortable as they see some secret part of themselves in each of the characters. The metaphor for the damage it causes being written on their faces physically rather than the more easily ignored and unseem damage to minds and hearts today is a compelling one that enables the reader to take a firm side and as such, is entirely effective.

I'd give this one five stars but I'm notorious for not giving 5 stars to anything less than the absolutely perfect. This is close.

There are only a few unique storytellers in the world, and Sheri Tepper is one of them. Anyone with a keyboard and a formula can churn out drivel for the masses - she's far above that. Sheri Tepper is instead the thinking person's storyteller, and is easily within the ranks of masters of their art such as Harlan Ellison and Theodore Sturgeon.

She's often labeled an eco-feminist, but I think this is misleading. She is, in fact, a realist, who isn't necessarily blinded by cultural or religious conventions and seems to prefer challenging them rather than pandering.

Don't go into a Sheri Tepper book expecting the same as the next name on the bookshelf. You'll either be delighted or disappointed.

The reader overacts and has some whiny character voices, which grate the nerves. It's hard to pay attention to the story. For instance, one of her characters is supposed to "bark" the dialogue, but the reader still whines. The story itself may be a good one. I couldn't tell.

Pretty great, abit slow at first, with an unbelievable ending that didn't seem complete. BUt still worth buying and reading. An altogether interesting, facinating experience!