REVIEW: The Companions by Sheri S. Tepper

The Companions by Sheri S. Tepper
Publisher: EOS
Format: Mass market paperback, 549 pages.
ISBN 10: 0060538228

ISBN 13: 978-0060538224
Reviewer: Victoria
Copy: Purchased on-line.

On the Back of the Book. . .

Three planets in deep space were named by their human discoverers to reflect their environments: lush and foreboding Jungle, which swallowed up an exploratory team; Stone, phenomenally rich in rare ore; and Moss, the most enigmatic - and dangerous - of the trio.

Joining her half-brother Paul, the famed linguist, on a two-person scientific expedition, Jewel Delis has come to Moss to observe the phenomenon of dancing light and to help decipher the strange musical "language" that accompanies it.  But there are other mysteries alive on this exotic world covered in ever-shifting vegetation - and something more than illumninations has enticed her away from a disastrously overpopulated homeworld to seek answers at the universe's unexplored edge.  For Jewel herself is a question mark with a radical agenda that will put her at perilous odds with her planet's ruling powers - and with the inscrutable alien races she encounters - as she risks all for the justice of the endangered beasts of the Earth.

Sheri S. Tepper has a wonderful way with prose.  It's efficient,  lucid and beautiful.  Her world-building is superb, and in The Companions she provides us with a dead future Earth, social disintergration, and a glimspe of what what we as a species can become if we continue certain practices which singlemindedly harm our planet.

Jewel lives on a Earth that contains only algae farms and humans.  Three hundred storied towers coat the surface of the planet, and in them, humans struggle for space to live in and air to breathe in.  In public, Jewel dons the robe and veil that all humans wear on Earth.  This getup is to keep everyone anonymous and safe, and to keep aggression and violence to a minimum.

Jewel, originally brought up on Mars with her artist parents, struggles to eke out an existence by working at a shelter for dogs run by the secretive group called the Arkists.  The Arkists are a political group who firmly believe in preserving native flora and fauna that haven't been driven to extinction.  Opposing them, however, is the majority, who, out of an instinctual bid for life, believe all other life should be exterminated so that there is more air for humans.  Humans were made in God's image, they say.  Not dogs.  Not cats, nor any other form of animal.

Another major theme of the novel is language.  Tepper explores the subtlties of language and the very basic building blocks that form language and words.  Colours, scent and movement are all aspects of language which she plays with.

The first three-quarters of the book were intoxicating.  I soaked in every word.  The ending, however, felt flat for me.  It was a little too deus ex machina for my liking.  The use of dimensional shifts and planes felt a little too contrived.

All in all, it was an enjoyable book, the worlds Jewel visited were well fleshed out and real.  Her characterization was consistent and her style is to die for.  The ending got a little too mushy and convaluted for my tastes, but if you like 'softer' science in your fiction, you should be fine.

Plot:  7 (It's this low because of the ending.  It would have been higher if it weren't for that.)
Characterization:  9
Style:  9

Overall Rating:  8

REVIEW: The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper

The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; (1 Jan 1988)
ISBN-10: 0553280643
ISBN-13: 978-0553280647
Reviewer: Cara
Copy: Bought secondhand

From the back cover:
Since the flames died three hundred years ago, human civilisation has evolved into a dual society: Women's Country, where walled towns enclose what's left of past civilisation, nurtured by women and a few non-violent men; and the adjacent garrisons where warrior men live - the lost brothers, sons and lovers of those in Women's Country.

Two societies. Two competing dreams. Two ways of life, kept apart by walls stronger then stone. And yet there is a gate between them...

Of all the books by Sheri S. Tepper I have read, this is perhaps the most overtly feminist in that the post-apocalyptic society she describes is clearly matriarchal. Yet it is not an angry, man-bashing diatribe. Instead The Gate To Women's Country presents a fledgling eco-utopian society where the ultimate aim is balance and equality between the sexes within a pacifist, non-violent culture. The means by which the Women's Council set out to achieve this balance, however, are both morally and ethically questionable. As well as being a very well written story, with excellent characterisation and a strong plot, this book raises issues that stay with you long after the final page has been turned.

The book opens with Stavia, the central character, meeting with her fifteen-year old son who has made the decision to reject her and Women's Country for the life of a warrior in the garrison outside the town. From this poignant opening the story shifts between Stavia as an adult and member of the Women's Council and her earlier life from the age of eleven onwards. She grows up with her mother Morgot and older sister Myra in Marthatown; a place where sons are given to their fathers at the age of five to be trained as warriors for ten years after which they have the choice to remain in the Spartan-like garrison or return through the Women's Gate for a peaceful life of learning and servitude.

Women's Country is a low-tech culture, still recovering from the destruction that occurred in the time of the 'convulsions' when North America was devastated by nuclear war. Farming, manufacturing, metallurgy, trade, education, medicine; these are all undertaken by women within walled towns, protected by their warrior brothers, sons and lovers in the garrisons outside the gates. Stavia is the daughter of a doctor and Council member and looks set to follow in her mother's path until she breaks the rules or 'ordinances' by giving books to an older boy with whom she forms a close friendship. However, we know that his motives are not as benign as Stavia thinks. There are secrets in Women's Country and while the men in the garrisons do not know what these secrets are, they are very keen to find out, wanting more power and influence in a society that pretty much excludes them.

Without wishing to spoil the plot, the men are right to believe that the women are holding back significant information from them. By segregating the sexes and restricting mens' access to education and pre-destruction knowledge, the women are able to manipulate the technology they have to make advances towards a non-violent society. How this is achieved is the secret that could destroy everything should the men uncover the truth. It also raises a very real moral dilemma... do the means justify the hoped for end result? Certainly it gave me plenty to think about after I had finished reading the book.

Sheri S. Tepper's writing is gentle and allows the plot to develop gradually over time. I found Stavia to be a compelling narrator, particularly when she used her 'actor' persona to hide her conflicting emotions. I also really liked Joshua, the family servitor, who, although very much in the background, was wise and insightful and provided balance to an otherwise divided culture. To some degree he was presented as an idealised male archetype, something the society strived for, yet because he had rejected the warrior life, he was also somehow lacking in honour and not always given the respect he deserved. The men in the garrison, on the other hand, were largely stereotyped as aggressive, resentful and hungry for power and control. Another group, the 'Holylanders', misogynistic polygamous descendents of fundamentalist-type Christians were interesting in that they provided a stark contrast to the culture of the Women's Country.

Throughout The Gate to Women's Country are scenes from Iphigenia of Ilium, the traditional play that the Council put on every year before the summer carnival. This is a reworking of the Greek tragedy The Trojan Women and used as a guiding theme or leitmotif, as the adult Stavia prepares to play her part in the performance. I found this particularly interesting as it was treated almost as a religious text, and indeed, highlighted certain aspects of this post-apocalyptic society.

It is fair to say that I really enjoyed reading The Gate to Women's Country and found it gave me plenty to think about. Would I enjoy living in such a matriarchal society, where, apart from the servitors, contact with men was limited to two carnivals every year? While I appreciated the desire for a completely pacifist society, I am not sure I would be prepared to go along with the measures the Women’s Council practiced in their attempt to achieve this. To me this felt oppressive and lacking in basic respect for the men, and the secrecy surrounding this was deceitful to say the least. However, this is a society still trying to rebuild itself some three hundred years after a nuclear war; a war that was indiscriminate in selecting its millions of innocent victims and blighted large parts of the land; a war that was started and fought predominantly by men… our own current society.

Plot 8
Characters 9
Style 8

Overall 9/10