"Marianne, the Magus, and the Manticore" is a fascinating and original fantasy. Sheri Tepper's imagery is terrific (the dinner made me hungry!), her prose is lucid and beautiful. A strong and vulnerable heroine, an equally strong and vulnerable hero, some pernicious villains and a great supporting cast. Not to mention one of the most inventive plots I have ever seen in a fantasy. I wish they'd reprint the entire trilogy!

All three of the Marianne books are full of wonder on every page. No one could fail to love Mariane, and delight in her incredably imaginative experiences, in the most original of alternate realities. As deeply enjoyable as the first two are, the third and final book, Marianne, the Matchbox and the Malachite Mouse is even better.

Marianne, Magus and the Manticore, is the first in the Marianne trilogy. I picked up a copy of this trilogy at Harrod's in London England when I was travelling in 1992. It's my favourite book, and irreplacable to me. I'm hoping that they will reprint this book at somepoint. I would love to purchase this for gifts. Her dream imagry is amazing. I work in a library and I particularly enjoyed the dream sequence where she is trapped working in the library. It's not unlike nightmares I've had! :-)

This book is for everyone, not just science fiction fans. From the gentle slopes of a backwater agricultural world to the rocky shores of a decadent male-dominated military civilization, Tepper takes us on a tour de force journey through the human heart and mind. Encompassing the very natures of Love and Hate, the roles of innocence and compassion within society, the depredations of sexism and greed and the last bastion of human salvation, forgiveness, this tale brings us face to face with our own reflections. Tepper deftly weaves the reader's own emotions into her complex yarn, making us hate and making us fall in love; teaching us to forgive but never forget. If you have ever loved at all, if you have ever felt the hardness of hatred and the blessing of forgiveness, then this is the book for you. Here is that rare book that you will treasure forever and compell all of your friends to read as well.

A few years ago I wandered into my local newsagent to buy a paper, and thought I'd check out their bookshelf. A book caught my eye for the simple reason of its having a yellow cover. I picked it up, read the blurb on the back, and figured I may as well buy it. Well, I was hooked within two paragraphs! This book has every thing-- love, hate, gods, monstrous evil, sacrifice, redempton, miracles. Sheri S. Tepper writes a prose so lovely it can make you cry, her characters are 'real' people.... in fact, the only complaint I have is that her books come to an end. But then even the endings are satisfying, so what can I do but go and buy another? Read "Raising The Stones", read anything that has Sheri S. Tepper's name on the cover!

Another world, another culture, and how 'we' subconsciously view the cute little natives and well-meaningly interfere with their 'barbaric' customs. Ms Tepper REALLY makes you reflect on how YOU live, how YOU think and how would YOU fare in a situation like this. Each book is mind-expanding in a different way - how does she do it? More please!!!

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.

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.

Teppers sensabilities awaken a primordial longing for simpler times as well as a desire to see in to the future.

I have been feverently thanking whatever benevolent god led me to the original book "True Game"- Found in a Library Pitch Sale. Well, I feel very sorry for which ever idiot pitched that triology, because they were incredible books. Usually I don't read fantasy books with male heros, but in this case, Peter captured my interest from the first page and onward. With the addition of Jinian, I really felt that my satisfaction was complete. But the discovery of three new books -"The End of the Game"- all told from Jinian's point of view made me- well, desperate/anixious/panicked/furious/hopeful. If you follow that. And though I tried, I couldn't find any of them until a month and a half when I unearthed the first. I was disappointed to find it fairly dry and perhaps a little tedious. But "Dervish Daughter" certainly made the first book worth while. Scene One, Act one. Jinian, Quenyt, Chance and Peter, plus assorted Kyrlbobs(?) Are searching for the mysterious StormGrower and DreamMiner, two enities who have it in for Jinian. As important as the central plot, however, are the other plots that wind throughout the lush- if slightly confusing- landscapes. The conflicts between Jinian and Peter are certainly an example, but there are other subplots less romantic- and in my jaundiced opinion, less rewarding too- including the disturbing persistence of the slighly pesky and very enigmatic Oracle. Evil or Good? It seems fairly decided that Oracle is Evil now, but then again, one never knows; it did sort of help Jinian before. Still the idea of a large colony, even a race of 'Oracles' makes my skin chill. Good. Very Good. Read it.

And pray you find Star-Eye.

Jinian, Peter, Queynt and Chance are now on their way north in a cart drawn by Yittleby and Yattleby, two giant krylobos, native birds of Lom. Their quest has turned into a hunt for the source of a yellow crystal even the slightest taste of which will cause its possessor to fall victim to a deep sense of peace and then die. Jinian has buried whole families who have chosen to die by the road, and she knows something is horribly wrong with the world.

They follow the trail to Bloome, where a continuous series of festivals are held to use up the products of the cloth mill before more is produced. The Dream Merchant's Man seeks them out hoping to trap them into taking his job and finds himself trapped into letting Queynt take over for them (you have to have been there). For coming to Bloome are the Duke of Betand, Huldra the witch, Dedrina Deadeye, and Valearn the Ogress, all folk who have plotted evil against Peter and Jinian. They are on the way to Fangel to meet with the Dream Merchant and make their deal with Storm Grower and Dream Miner. Jinian's sense of evil tells her that this is the route to the source of the deadly crystals, and she intends to travel along.

Once again, we find ourselves on a tricksy tale that will march from Bloome to Fangel and thence under the Great Maze to the Backless Throne and the evil upon it. Distracted by the ripples of her relationship with Peter, Jinian's survival skills are put to the test. Soon she finds out that the secret of the crystals are of deep importance to the entire world, not just the Lands of the True Game.

Tepper continues to deliver a story that is always, somehow, more than we could expect. Jinian is conflicted between her feelings for Peter and her need to complete the Wyse-ard term of celibacy. Peter is confounded by the sudden appearance of his first female partner and the child he did not expect Queynt reveals an unexpected story, and Jinian learns even more about the Dervishes, her true people. Last, but far from least, the reader discovers that this isn't a story of Peter, or Jinian or any group of Gamesman. The true game belongs to Lom, the world itself.

I absolutely love this book set about Jinian. I want the other so bad just to see what happened elsewhere. This is just too good.

(yes, I meant the pun in the title. read the book, re-read my review, it'll seem funnier. really.)

Tepper, when asked why so many of her stories had small furry creatures who sing in them, said 'Cats singing on my desk as I work.'

I read this book when I was 15, and I have to admit, it was a helpful thing to learn; that everyone remembers things differently, and only by pooling our stories can we possibly attempt to reach the truth.

The book is a little slow to start; revealment is layered, and occasionally could be sped up a little. Additionally, like many of Tepper's early books, the bad guys is bad. Her more recent bad guys tend to have a little more depth.

Tepper is one of the best SF writers at creating worlds and the aliens that inhabit them. Her aliens nearly always have real depth to them and a real impact on her storylines besides the usual shoot-em-up space opera SF. This book in particular [surprised] me because I wasn't sure I was going to like it after the first couple of chapters but I ended up amazed at her handling of humans and aliens and plots. This was my 2nd Tepper book (after Sideshow) and by the end of this book I was determined to read everything she'd ever written. Still am, too! I loaned this to my sister and it had the same effect on her even tho she's not as much of an SF fan as I am, so I would recommend this as an introduction to Tepper too.

As a confirmed fan of Sheri Tepper's books (and I've read almost all many times) this just might be my favourite. I know the story well from reading it again and again but the little touches she excells at still delight me.

I am not sure that this is Sheri Tepper's first novel, but it is certainly the one that put her on the creative map. Tepper introduces a now world, an unusual theory of magic, and a striking hero. One of the things I appreciate while reading it is that it refused to lie down and just be a 'coming of age' tale of a new mage. Instead, every time you settle into what most would think was 'the plot groove' something unusual happens to prove that not only is nothing as it seems, but that the price of power can be dreadful.

Peter is a young student at Mertyn's school at Schooltown, where young potentials go to find out if they will be players in the true game, or pawns. He is still a novice, and has demonstrated no great skill when Mandor, a Prince and gamesmaster, takes advantage of their friendship. Mandor deliberately tries to sacrifice Peter in an unsanctioned game declared against King Mertyn. While Mandor is undone and banished, Peter is badly injured. Mertyn decides that it would be best to send Peter to study at the school at High Demesne.

Peter, accompanied by his friend Yarrell and Chance, who serves as cook, advisor, and guide, set out across the lands of the True Game, The reader gradually learns the language of the place, with mind reading demons, princes full of glamour, heralds who fly and are the voices of kings, and perhaps a shape changer or too. All of this sounds wonderful until you find out that what fuels power is heat. When the heat in the great furnaces fails then the pawns are drained like sticks of wood. In Peter's world, a game once called is a death sentence for those who fail.

Eventually, Peter will meet with Himaggery, the wizard of the Bright Demesne, Silkhands the Healer, and many other quirky and sometimes horrific characters. He discovers that he is being sought by suspicious characters a purpose he does not comprehend. With danger all about him, Peter enters a quest that will grant him insight into his history, his powers, and the importance of heresy.

This book is a treasure of modern fantasy. The characters are compelling, and Tepper has the minimalist's skill for bringing images to life with a few sure strokes. She also has a solid sense of the mechanism and ethics of magical powers, and manages to demonstrate this without overbearing lectures or any more tragedy than is absolutely necessary. "King's Blood Four' and its sister volumes are required reading for those who want to understand how modern fantasy came to be more than a perpetual rehash of archetypes and elves. By all means, track down the volumes of the story of the True Game. They are each short, and will stay in your mind forever,

Sheri Tepper's True Game series starts with this book, which is an easy read. While not as deep and insightful as some of Tepper's other work, this book does quite well and stands alone, although the reader will be interested in the sequels (which are also excellent)

Sheri Tepper writes in a very mature fashion. This book (and the others in the series) are an excellant read. She has a way of inventing a world and making it believable. The way she unfolds the mystery makes you want to keep reading.Awesome.

I enjoyed the book (Sheri Tepper is one of my favorite writers). This book (combo of two volumes) definitly has a plentitude (?) of twists, plotting, romance, and details. Once started I didn't want to put it down....HOWEVER, while you learn a LOT about the Thraish, the Talkers, and the Trecci...it is rather annoying that more detail and attention was not given in developing the Strangeys, their contribution to life on the planet, and the conclusion of the Lila substory. In some ways it feels like the needed explanations were cut out in the editing and unfortunately, the result left me feeling that there is a fairly large hole in the narrat sligtly wanting. Ultimately it was hard for me to give an rating - I think 3 and a half stars really more accurately reflects my feelings.

Started out great, as usual with Ms Tepper. However, on reaching page 161, up popped a short story or something entitled, "All Flesh is Clay," followed on page 168 by "Twenty-two and Absolutely Free" and on page 190 by "Hooked On Buzzer" which ended on page 192 with the reappearance of The Awakeners' page 193.

What I read was fine but the missing 30 pages ruined it. Obviously the publisher, Orb, ripped you off as well as me

I've been a great fan of Sheri S. Tepper's for years, but somehow I missed this book, perhaps because it was published before I started her books. I'm glad I finally found it! Ms. Tepper is one of the few authors whose work seems to be detiorating with time; the quality of her books have been going downhill since "Gibbon's Decline and Fall". But this is vintage Tepper: a great plot, compelling and interesting characters and even a message about the nature of humans. Don't miss this one!

"Jinian Footseer", "Dervish Daughter", and "Jinian Star-Eye" were all published in "The End of the Game." This is a sequel to "The True Game" and tells the story of Jinian, who appeared in the third story of that book, "Wizard's Eleven".

Jinian grows up in an unfriendly family, hated by her mother and tormented by her older brother. Her only source of support, love, and care are the "Old Dams" who teach her the "Wize-Art" and make her a Wizard. When she is kidnapped as part of a game, she discovers that she has more enemies who want her dead than do most teenage girls. Fortunately, she discovers as she saves Chimmerdong Forest that she has friends in high places as well, including the Old Gods, whom nobody involved in the True Game is aware of. Those friends also include Peter, whom she has had her mind on since well before the start of "The True Game" -- it seems she c! ast an unWize spell at one time early on.

The story ends with a summary of the events of "Wizard's Eleven" where we learn what REALLY happened in certain cases. (One of the reviews here was quite correct about deception and misleading.)

One of my greatest regrets was not buying this book in the 1980's when it was generally on sale. Years later, I've finally acquired it, and I am not disappointed.

Set in the Land of the True Game, it continues where the "True Game" trilogy left off. A fantastic and original read, I simply can't understand why these books were withdrawn from print.

Sheri S Tepper is consistently excellent with a wonderful imagination, and the plot keeps you interested throughout. I would recommend this to anyone, but make sure you can lay your hands on all 3 of the trilogy (Jinian Footseer, Dervish Daughter and Jinian Star-Eye) first!

In this account of the happenings in the lands of the True Game, the story is recounted by Jinian of Stoneflight Demesne, a companion of Peter the Wizard. The strength and complexity of the characterisation of Tepper's characters is clearly demonstrated as Jinian recounts in her own words events that occured in Peter's accounts in the previous True Game books. Jinian tells her story a little differently and it would appear that Jinian deliberately misled and inveigled Peter to her own ends. It is a delightful discovery, that like Peter, we readers have been a little deceived! My only regret is that this book, like all of those set in the Lands of the True Game, are too short. Highly recommended

The Visitor, by Shari S. Tepper, is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel set 700+ years after a giant object slams into Earth. I've heard many good things about Tepper, and I read one of her books a long time ago (After Long Silence) and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to dipping back into one of her books. However, after a very promising beginning and middle, the book screeches to a halt, falling apart at the seams.

Tepper really has a flair for interesting characters. The story of Disme is almost heart-wrenching at times, as we see her go through despair after despair at the hands of her stepsister, Rashel. Tepper portrays her vividly, making the reader care deeply about her. From the very first pages, when she goes out alone at night to get away from her family and to think about things, she is seen as an innocent who seems fated to feel nothing but despair. It seems that every time she is shown to love or treasure something, Rashel is there to take it away. As the story progresses and Disme grows into what she will become, you are overjoyed with the way she starts to handle things. The book follows her from a very rough childhood to when she becomes a woman who can look after herself, and the transformation is remarkable. She is a wonderful main character.

The villains in the novel are also well-portrayed. Rashel, of course, is thoroughly evil, but Tepper provides enough backstory to show not only why she is, but also makes you almost pity her instead of hating her. Her mother saved her life once by making a dreadful bargain, a bargain that Rashel must live with for the rest of her life. It feeds on her natural selfishness, but you still feel a little bit sorry for her even as you're rooting for her to get her comeuppance. She is a completely three-dimensional character. I didn't like the fate Tepper gave her, however, as it seemed a bit pointless and unfinished. I'm sure Tepper was making a point with it, but I couldn't fathom what it is. It just seemed a bit lazy, and I was beginning to wonder if she was going to finish Rashel's character arc. She does, but in a perfunctory fashion.

I have heard from other readers that Tepper has a tendency to make her male characters evil, following from her feminist tendencies. I'm glad to say that this time, she generally avoids that. Of course, there are only a couple of them to worry about, but Doctor Ladislav is a very good man. He's dedicated to his craft, his patients, and to the eventual downfall of the despotic regime that has a hold of Bastion. He's very kind, and he becomes very protective of Disme. He is a great help to her on her quest, and he has a fine mixture of warmth, intelligence, and humour to help things along.

What can I say about the plot? I loved the way Tepper balanced things, telling the story from many different angles before having them all come together in what is almost an explosion of tension. At first, you have trouble deciphering what all of these disparate plot elements have to do with each other, but Tepper really handles it well. She uses Nell's Latimer's journal to give a bit of history about this world and what happened to it up until the time the asteroid hit. She then uses effective exposition to inform about what happened afterward, but avoids the massive infodumps that some authors use to explain this. Instead, you get snippets that you have to put together. I found the world Tepper created to be very interesting.

Unfortunately, the book has to end. The Visitor, after chugging along so wonderfully, just completely collapses at the end. I will avoid giving any spoilers about the ending, but I can tell you that, after the exciting story that has been told so far, and after avoiding all of the political, social, environmental, and feminist dogma that she is supposedly famous for, Tepper all of a sudden spends three whole pages lecturing the reader on almost every one of her pet causes. The book slams to a halt, losing all sense of momentum that it had reaching this point. When Tepper explains what the book has been about, when our heroes finally meet their destiny, we find that destiny to be one of fulfilling all of these social dreams that Tepper apparently has for making our current world a better place. As I was reading this book, I found myself saying "It looks like she's avoided everything bad I've heard about her." And then I get to the end and I almost screamed. It completely destroys almost everything I liked about the book. What a complete waste. I felt betrayed.

I find I have to give the book a marginal recommendation, because the evocative world that Tepper has created, and the sheer wonderfulness of the storytelling up to that point. If you like science fiction, you will love everything about this book. Until the ending. Of course, if you like being preached to, then you won't mind the ending and you will really love the book. Keep the ending in mind, be ready for it, and maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did.

It's sad, really.

_The Visitor_, Tepper's latest novel, is filled with plot reminscent of some of her earliest works. As in her 'True Game' series, Tepper tells the story of a Far-future world that has lost technology. Both stories have characters that gradually realize that they are avatars of mythic figures. For all the similarities though, the two tales are very different. Sheri Tepper has grown in her abilities over the past 15-20 years. She is able to write a more cohesive and fluid novel now, making _The Visitor_ what one reviewer called 'Tepper's most accessible novel yet'.

_The Visitor_ will appeal to fans of both fantasy and science fiction. Fantasy fans will enjoy the mysterious pillars that reveal character's 'true selves' to them. They will thrill to the gigantic monsters running over the earth. Meanwhile, SF fans will enjoy the hidden research lab where humans (who survived a giant cataclysm that sent the earth into its current state) monitor humanity and record its history.

_The Visitor_ is an enjoyable novel, but it's not a wholly successful one. There is a sameness running through it that catches up to the reader by the end. I think that it could have been a much tighter novel were 50 pages of exposition cut. In the end, _The Visitor_ is an entertaining book that had the potential to be a standout novel.

Tepper has a strong and vibrant voice in her books that knits incredible, terrifying, beautiful worlds together. The Visitor is a shining example.

A book to answer the questions of what happens to us in the very near future after the Earth is struck by an asteriod, it leaps eons to raise issues of science, magic and science as magic. Its underpinnings are futuristic and fantastic, but its story is an emotionally honest tale of the herione's life, disasters, and future consorting with "gods."

The characters in this book are wonderfully broad and deep, providing true warp and weft to a fantastic story. Tepper reaches into each of them, pulls out their loves, dreams and fears, and lays them bare for reweaving into a solid story. The imagery of the book's unbelievable violence is tempered by the delicate empathy in its touching humanity. Strong, warm, bloody, icy: you care about the people in this book.

Strongly recommended, I wish it had never come to an end.