Shannon C.’s review of Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
Science fiction novel released from Spectra 1 Jul 90

There are some books you can breeze through in a matter of hours, close the book afterwards with a satisfied smile and reach for the next. Then there are the books that practically demand to be savored, with the reader moving along at whatever leisurely pace the author sets. As someone with a huge stack of books on my To Be Reviewed list, I don’t often take time to read the books that need savoring. However, as soon as I started reading Grass which was originally published in 1989, I knew I’d stumbled upon a treat, and I further knew I couldn’t just rush through it or I’d miss stuff.

Plague has spread throughout the galaxy that humans have settled, decimating the population as it goes along. The only place where it seems to be immune is the planet Grass, which is, unsurprisingly, entirely covered in various multi-colored types of grass. The officials of Sanctity, the galaxy’s huge major religion, want to know what’s so special about Grass, so they send Rodrigo Yraear and his family to Grass to discover whether the plague has spread there and what can be done about it. Rodrigo’s family is chosen because he and his wife, Marjorie, Lady Westriding, are both accomplished equestrians and they figure that will help them make friends with the somewhat insular Grassians. However, what they find on Grass is so much more than mere plague. The more she is on grass, the more Marjorie Westriding is intrigued, and the more enmeshed she becomes in something that could either save or destroy mankind.

This isn’t a very good synopsis. I haven’t even mentioned the other threads, like the story of Rillibee Chime, an acolyte of Sanctity who came to Grass against his will and gains some prominence because he is an adept climber. There’s also the story of the aristocratic Grassians known as the Bons, who engage in ritual fox hunts that are much, much more sinister than the ones back on Earth, or the Foxen, a truly bizarre alien race concerned with metaphysical matters. Of course, if I started explaining all the plot complexities, that would lead to spoilers, and this book shouldn’t be spoiled.

What really drew me to this book was the writing style. It is lush and evocative, and I got a sense of how grass could be majestic as well as frightening. The prose is also rife with literary allusions–I caught references to Moby Dick and Walt Whitman, and I’m sure there are others–and yet, for the most part, it is readable. The characters are well-drawn. Marjorie, the protagonist, is a complex woman struggling with questions of faith and duty and what her place is in the universe. She is an older woman, and somewhat introspective, and though she does get to star in some riveting action scenes, she isn’t really the kick-ass type. Nonetheless, she is sensible and charismatic, and Tepper portrays this well without Marjorie coming across as a Mary Sue. I also had to admire Marjorie for putting up with her husband, Rigo, who, far from being made a villain of the peace, is simply stubborn, passionate, and utterly misguided about what’s going on around him.

Other characters are equally well-drawn. Rillibee Chime, the reluctant Sanctity acolyte, was a particular favorite, and I equally loved his mentor, the old and wise Brother Mainoa, who gets some of the funniest lines in the book. Even the human villains are drawn with enough detail that it’s possible to feel sympathy for them even when it’s clear they’re in the wrong. And Tepper manages to make the aliens on this world–from the gentle, contemplative Foxen to the fierce, malicious Hippae–unique and, actually, alien.

The plot meanders, as I said, for the first half. However, around the second half of the book, everything picks up speed. This isn’t to say the first half was boring, because it wasn’t and I actually liked it better. By the second half of the book, though, Tepper starts to play around with some of her ideas about faith and sin and salvation, and there were a few moments when she almost lost me. And then there was the romance that develops, which left me with a lot of questions I couldn’t answer on face value. However, the book winds up with a fantastic climax and a very satisfying ending that leaves Marjorie open for new adventures and new possibilities.

Sheri Tepper is one of the major feminist science fiction writers, and as such I’ve been meaning to try one of her books for a while. I’m glad I finally did, and I highly recommend this book, especially to those people who like something a little more literate in their science fiction.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Here is a novel as original as the breathtaking, unspoiled world for which it is named, a place where all appears to be in idyllic balance.

Generations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known as Grass. Over time, they evolved a new and intricate society. But before humanity arrived another species had already claimed Grass for its own. It, too, had developed a culture…

Now, a deadly plague is spreading across the stars. No world save Grass has been left untouched. Marjorie Westriding Yrarier has been sent from Earth to discover the secret of the planet’s immunity. Amid the alien social structure and strange life-forms of Grass, Lady Westriding unravels the planet’s mysteries to find a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself.

No excerpt could be found.