Six Moon Dance [Hardcover]

Sheri S. Tepper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

It was many years ago that humans came and settled the world of Newholme. In these early days, the first wave of pioneers struggled to make a home on the harsh, alien planet. As others from Earth came, the humans learned to bend Newholme to their will, to set down roots and raise up cities and farms and a grand temple to their goddess. But now strange things are happening. The very ground is shaking with volcanic eruptions, and all of Newholme is in peril.

And so it is that the great Great Questioner, official arbiter of the Council of Worlds, decides to pay a visit to the isolated planet to find out what is causing the increasingly violent disturbances. For rumors have long swirled throughout the Council about what really happened to the first settlers from Earth all those years ago-whispers about a terrible secret that lies buried deep within Newholme's past.

It is on Newholme that the Questioner will meet Mouche, a beautiful youth of uncommon cleverness and spirit. It will fall to Mouche to discover and embrace that which makes him unique among humans. For Newholme's past is not dead, not completely. And the survival of an entire world depends upon Mouche appeasing something dark and terrible that's coiled within...and in his total surrender to the mysterious, ecstatic revelry that results when the six moons join.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Six Moon Dance, veteran fantasy and science fiction writer Sheri S. Tepper tells the tale of the strange planet Newholme. An intriguing human society occupies the metal-poor planet, a society with gender values quite different from Earth, resulting from a virus that kills 50 percent of baby girls at birth. Newholmians use the best and the worst of dogma, religion, and "patriarchy" to uphold a society where men manage the money but women hold the keys to power through church, reproductive control, and their own short supply. "Family men" pay exorbitant dowries in order to gain a temporary wife, contracted for wifely duties and reproduction for a number of years. When their marriage contracts are finished, the women, relieved of duty, retire to enjoy the sexual services of male "Consorts."

The plot here involves an official Questioner who visits Newholme to investigate reports of human rights abuses, the strange native inhabitants whose biology may hold the key to human survival on the planet, and a disastrous lunar alignment. Although quite creative, Tepper's plot is simply not as gripping as the sociology and society she invents for Newholme. She uses her feminist instincts and knowledge about the sexes and religion to create a world worth taking a look at. James Tiptree, Jr. Memorial Award judges should be sure to take a look at Six Moon Dance for its unique take on gender roles. --Bonnie Bouman

From Publishers Weekly

Ambitiously choreographed and executed without a misstep, Tepper's complex new novel follows her acclaimed The Family Tree into a profound ecological and sociological commentary on human individuality. Originally settled by now-vanished immigrants from the testosterone-rich planet of Thor, the matriarchal world of Newholme faces imminent volcanic destruction. To determine whether Newholme's ruling Hags and their society deserve to be saved, the galactic Council of Worlds dispatches a cybernetic super-grandma, the Great Questioner, who collects a brilliantly conceived multispecies team to probe mysteries deep in Newholme's past. Tepper courageously tackles touchy issues like gender dominance with grace and wit. Through handsome charmer Mouche, sold by his parents into Hunk toy-boy training, Tepper unveils the Hag-ridden female will-to-power, just as threatening to individual freedom as that of the horrid male supremacist-schemers she depicts. Tepper deftly conjoins a superb awareness of otherness with penetrating insight into selfhood in this shining, bravura performance. (July) FYI: Tepper's Beauty (1991) was voted Best Fantasy Novel of the Year by readers of Locus magazine.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 454 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager; 1st edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380974797
• ISBN-13: 978-0380974795
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,137,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute gem, October 6, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Six Moon Dance (Mass Market Paperback)

There are those who say that Sheri Tepper has only one story to tell and that she tells it over and over again in her books. There is a degree of truth to that statement. Certainly, in "Six Moon Dance", Tepper spins her usual futuristic speculative yarn of mankind threatening a wider planetary intelligence through ignorance and greed, in a world run by a matriarchal society rigorously controlled through the creation and manipulation of religious taboos. As usual, her tale is supercharged with gender issues and cultural curiosities, as she holds up her giant mirror for us all to gaze upon. No doubt many readers of her works will feel they've heard it all before...

With writing this good, though, I for one will forgive Tepper her constant recycling of ideas (and it has to be admitted that she draws on a good many ideas from her earlier books here). Indeed, I consider this to be her best book to date, featuring an involved and complex plot, crafted with Ms. Tepper's impeccable eye for detail, as well as her uniquely wry sense of humour and wit - to say nothing of her sense of the bizarre! All of the book's many strands fall beautifully into place, constantly luring the reader on, whilst continually keeping one guessing.

As always, there is the deep, dark secret - alluded to throughout but kept carefully concealed until the end. And naturally, there are the usual shocks and jolts for the reader along the way, too. Indeed, she manages to keep the surprises coming right through to the very last page, this time.

This book may make you mad, or it may make you weep, and even at times laugh, but ultimately its true worth is like that of the special pool it features: impossible to pass through without being altered forever. Highly recommended, whether you're an established Tepper fan or just looking for a cracking read.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe this is Tepper's best book yet!, April 6, 2001

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Six Moon Dance (Mass Market Paperback)

I love most of Sheri Tepper's books. But I keep going back and re-reading this one over and over. It's just fascinating!

The plot involves a planet with some DEEP problems; earthquakes, mysterious monsters, a virus that kills 1 of about 2 girl babies at birth, and worst of all, a visit pending from the Questioner; a robotic device designed to make sure all sentient planets are in compliance with "human" rights laws. OR ELSE!

The society on Newholme is downright strange; men wear veils so their faces won't excite lust in women. Women are the dominant sex; they go for high bride prices and the birth of daughters is a cause for celebration. They make or break a family fortune. Every man gets to father his own genetic line, that is, if he can afford a wife. And so that women are not just chattel, when they are finished with their procreative contracts, they are free to hire consorts, or trained companions of the opposite sex. Consorts are fantasy men, who dance, know wines, duel gallantly (but mostly harmlessly) and accompany their patronesses to cultural events, plus give them the love and companionship missing in their contractual marriages. Married men are free to conduct business and need not spend the time to pleasure their wives. Everyone gets something they want.

But all is not totally peachy on Newholme and this forms a very inventive plot for a cast of very diverse and interesting characters. This is one fun and interesting book. I think it's one of the most inventive science fiction novels in years and it is fun to read. Don't miss it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow Start But Fun Reading, January 1, 2000

By 

Andy Rector (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Six Moon Dance (Mass Market Paperback)

Things I liked about this book: the imaginative cultures and scenery; the way Ms. Tepper wove the plot together at the end; the Questioner character. Things I felt needed improvement: character development - I found it hard to care about the characters; plot-driven ‹ because the plot was so intricate I felt little time was given to character development; slow-start - I didn't "get into" the story until after about 250 pages. Overall, I'm glad I gave this book a chance because it got interesting mid-way through. I felt the characters had the potential to be more interesting but because there were so many of them and such an involved plot, I didn't feel like I got to know them. Would like to see more books with these characters in further adventures. I will probably give other of Ms. Tepper's books a shot to be fair.