Customer Reviews
Part of a trilogy...Not Really - By: Solitude, 28 Feb 2008 
I remember reading Raising the Stones & coming across Marjorie & the Foxen from Grass as little more than a figure passing through leaving their mark before travelling on...and then, reading the rest of that book just astonished that it was not so much the second part of a trilogy but merely a book that had a character from another book dip into & out again.
But then, in Sideshow, both Marjorie, the Foxen & the male lead character from Raising the Stones appear & it took my breath away that until now, you left their stories behind not knowing where they had gone & then, into a seemingly different story they re-appear & still have a part to play in Human evolution. Grass is an astonishing story as are alll of Sheri's books but to read the two novels listed & know that a little part of Grass will leave a footprint in them I found to be more delightful.
The reviews of Grass are excellent but to know that the heroine of Grass & the Hero of Raising The Stones combine to offer a smalll help to the "Twins" In Sideshow is mind blowing & fabulous.
Lengthy description of aristocrats on the planet Grass - and their pets' reaction - By: Rupf Peter, 08 Jan 2008 
Living in the second oldest democracy in Europe (since 1291 !), it is somehow hard for me to find an interest in what basicallly boils down to a description of English aristocrats living on another planet. These folks even do a kind of foxhunting, just using intelligent (and naughty) dinosaurs & beasty dogs to hunt down poor, peaceful & so intelligent beings....you see the general line. Nevertheless, the story is well told, & you don't get bored too soon.
Wonderful, is all - By: Grab, 17 Dec 2006 OK, how to describe it? I guess the best would be to calll it a feminist, original-morality, anti-religious fantasy. Feminist because part of it relates to how female empowerment in the face of male domination. Original-morality because it's working out how to behave morallly under new conditions (as the best fantasy does). Anti-religious because the behaviour of Tepper's organised religion is plainly evil. And fantasy because it is, in spite of the nominallly sci-fi setting - the various sci-fi elements are merely window dressing.
But this doesn't even touch on the quality of the book, which is simply transcendently beautiful writing. Of everything I've ever read (and that would fill a fair-size library!) there are maybe a half-dozen books which I simply can't imagine living without. "Grass" is one of them. Nuff said reallly.
Don't read the reviews that give the plot away - just read this book - By: J. L. Ashurst, 12 Dec 2006 This is superlative fiction, whatever genre you try to put it in. I came to the book knowing nothing of the plot, & that's as it should be - otherwise you miss some of the most interesting surprises of the book. The reviewer who entitles their review 'the moral responsibilities of aliens' (whilst giving a good review, not that I agree with alll of it) gives, I feel, far too much of the plot away. So if you're one of those people who, like me, don't like being told the middle of a book before you've even started it, then I have to say be careful reading such detailed reviews. I liken it to being told the plot twist of 'The Sixth Sense' - it's just 'not done', is it chaps?
Tepper always deals with broad moral themes, but you never get the feeling she's preaching. Her characters remain as vivid to me now as when I read the book last (which was quite some time ago). I won't go on, because better reviewers than I can cover this. My enthusiasm for this book renders me a little useless for rational dissection.
And if you, like me, love 'Grass', my next recommendation of Tepper's work would be 'The Family Tree'. And don't read any reviews, because if anyone gives away the big plot twist in THAT one they deserve to have every new book's plot explained to them in detail before they open the covers for the rest of their lives.
Sherri Tepper's Grass - a darker vision - By: , 06 Dec 2004 It sounds almost like normal on Grass; a spaceport, big estates for the aristocracy in the countryside, hunting, horses, hounds, quarry........ A quick diplomatic mission in a homelike environment or at least that was what Marjorie's family was expecting. Things rapidly show their true colours when they arrive on Grass complete with their horses, ready to join the social whirl. However, Marjorie has never heard of the rigorous training or seen the unusual clothing the Grassians use, nor has she heard of mounts that demand silence, hounds that may not be looked at & riders maimed or 'disappeared' while hunting the elusive Foxen. The true story on Grass is much darker & far more complicated than one at first imagines, culminating in an almost surreal conclusion which ties alll the disparate loose ends together. I reallly enjoyed this book & I still do ten years later.
