Helpful Score: 4
Oh man... this was a great book! Set in post-nuclear war (surely) time, it follows the new world order. Men basically screwed the world up, so women have taken over. Very feminist, but beautifully told. I'm not a sci-fi fan, but one of my favorite books is Alas, Babylon - it's no wonder I loved this one as well.
I did find the play a little tedious. I get the symbolism and that, but I got the names all confused. There were already enough characters in the book for my short term memory issues!
I found the stark contrast between the Holylanders and those in Women's Country to be interesting. The different ways of life the educational issues of course; but also the inbreeding (on both parts, remember, there were only about 200 fathers in Women's Country!).
I was disappointed to see this book end. I wanted to know what happened next, were they successful in rebuilding society? Did the current class system work? It was apparent that Stavia and Corrig were in love (at least it was to me!); I wonder if it was ever acceptable to announce that; it seemed that everything was so secretive about the servitors.
I did find it extremely unlikely that the council would spill all it's secrets to Stavia after they just found out she'd broken the ordinances several times. Come on, now...
... I was left wondering exactly what the special weapon was... I just couldn't visualize it... *laugh*
I did find the play a little tedious. I get the symbolism and that, but I got the names all confused. There were already enough characters in the book for my short term memory issues!
I found the stark contrast between the Holylanders and those in Women's Country to be interesting. The different ways of life the educational issues of course; but also the inbreeding (on both parts, remember, there were only about 200 fathers in Women's Country!).
I was disappointed to see this book end. I wanted to know what happened next, were they successful in rebuilding society? Did the current class system work? It was apparent that Stavia and Corrig were in love (at least it was to me!); I wonder if it was ever acceptable to announce that; it seemed that everything was so secretive about the servitors.
I did find it extremely unlikely that the council would spill all it's secrets to Stavia after they just found out she'd broken the ordinances several times. Come on, now...
... I was left wondering exactly what the special weapon was... I just couldn't visualize it... *laugh*
Helpful Score: 3
Loved this book. It was my first introduction to SCI FI feminist fiction and it's great!
Helpful Score: 2
Very thought-provoking and challenging. Highly recommended!
Helpful Score: 2
highly recomended if you like futuristic novels
Helpful Score: 2
One of my all-time favorite books! It is a chilling look into a different sort of society, divided on gender lines. Unbelievably well-written.
Helpful Score: 2
Good read...nice twist at the end.
Helpful Score: 2
Loved it! Tepper has such talent at creating and drawing the reader into alternate realities that are so believable. This story with its matriarchy/patriarchy theme was my second fave of all her works. My favorite Tepper work? Grass.
Helpful Score: 1
Not as great as some of Tepper's other books, but still a great read.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of the great books of speculative fiction from a master sci-fi author. This is one not to miss. Tepper creates a dual society in which the peace-loving women live together in one city, and the warrior men live nearby in another city. They do interact on occasion (where else would the babies come from?). While certainly fantastical and speculative, it is not implausible as a possible future and is very well developed by the author. I recommend every book by Sheri Tepper.
Helpful Score: 1
This has to be one of my favorite SF books - so thought-provoking!
Helpful Score: 1
This was a fascinating book, if scientifically dodgy in parts.
In the post-apocalyptic future, women lead in the new towns while boys above five and most men stay enclosed in their barracks except for occasions when the go out to fight each other. On reaching adulthood, they have the option of returning to "Women's Country" in the town as servitors, who seem to be treated pretty well but definitely aren't equal citizens. (Lately the men have started noticing that more and more of their youths are deciding to go back to Women's Country, which disturbs them.) The women's intention (at least, somewhat - there's more to it which we discover later) is to keep men from destroying civilization again, while still giving them some outlet for aggression and having some protection for the town should they ever need it. And yes, it's presented as a dodgy situation.
The women put all their energy into rebuilding civilization and trying to make sure such a dramatic collapse can't happen again: to preserve skills and knowledge, every woman must become an expert in at least three fields (an art, a science, and a craft), and they have continuing education classes their whole lives. Reproduction is fairly regulated: each woman has three children (conceived during an annual carnival in which they get to mingle with the men), and once a town reaches a given size, some of the population goes and founds a new town on the border of the non-reclaimed areas. It's to Tepper's credit that she shows both the good reasons they run things this way and the downsides - for instance, Stavia's sister has issues, but it's recognized that if she'd been allowed to focus on her passion for dance instead of being forced to spend so much time on two other fields, she might have had a better time of it.
The narrative jumps back and forth between different points in Stavia's life, from childhood until the day her son refuses to return through the door to Women's Country because he likes being a macho warrior too much. A major element is Stavia's forbidden friendship (later romance) with a boy inside the barracks, who quickly shows himself to be one of those people you meet who seem nice until you have opinions that differ from theirs, and then they act hurt that you're being so unreasonable and you start doubting yourself and feel like you have to forgive them or you are just being mean. And somehow it compromise always means you cave to their wishes, never the other way around or something in the middle. It's a frustrating dynamic which a lot of us can probably relate to!
Meanwhile, other parts of the world start intruding into Stavia's life - the roving bands outside the towns, which include some women who ran away to live "free" (sometimes this works as advertised, and often not), a few decent traveling traders and such, and waaaaay out in the hills somewhere, a tiny town in which a a nasty theocratic patriarchy runs the show. But it isn't as simple as "out there bad, our towns good" - as I said, Women's Country is a bit dodgy itself, and Stavia starts learning exactly how much.
My main beef with this book is that it relies heavily on biological determinism - most men are "naturally" violent, and most women "naturally" aren't. There's a tiny bit of sketchy evidence that violent behavior may be someone influenced by genetics, but as far as I know, the nurture side is much more important than the nature side. I don't think it's nearly as clear-cut as the book makes it out to be, and so I doubt The Plan would actually work (I can't explain better without spoilers). There's also a totally gratuitous one-line reference by a character stating that homosexuality is a "genetic defect" which they can "fix." I suppose you could read this as another example of Women's Country having some really sketchy views and policies on reproduction, but it came across as an unnecessary barb.
The bits about their annual play, a retelling of the aftermath of the Trojan War with the now-ghost women as major characters, were neat, though.
In the post-apocalyptic future, women lead in the new towns while boys above five and most men stay enclosed in their barracks except for occasions when the go out to fight each other. On reaching adulthood, they have the option of returning to "Women's Country" in the town as servitors, who seem to be treated pretty well but definitely aren't equal citizens. (Lately the men have started noticing that more and more of their youths are deciding to go back to Women's Country, which disturbs them.) The women's intention (at least, somewhat - there's more to it which we discover later) is to keep men from destroying civilization again, while still giving them some outlet for aggression and having some protection for the town should they ever need it. And yes, it's presented as a dodgy situation.
The women put all their energy into rebuilding civilization and trying to make sure such a dramatic collapse can't happen again: to preserve skills and knowledge, every woman must become an expert in at least three fields (an art, a science, and a craft), and they have continuing education classes their whole lives. Reproduction is fairly regulated: each woman has three children (conceived during an annual carnival in which they get to mingle with the men), and once a town reaches a given size, some of the population goes and founds a new town on the border of the non-reclaimed areas. It's to Tepper's credit that she shows both the good reasons they run things this way and the downsides - for instance, Stavia's sister has issues, but it's recognized that if she'd been allowed to focus on her passion for dance instead of being forced to spend so much time on two other fields, she might have had a better time of it.
The narrative jumps back and forth between different points in Stavia's life, from childhood until the day her son refuses to return through the door to Women's Country because he likes being a macho warrior too much. A major element is Stavia's forbidden friendship (later romance) with a boy inside the barracks, who quickly shows himself to be one of those people you meet who seem nice until you have opinions that differ from theirs, and then they act hurt that you're being so unreasonable and you start doubting yourself and feel like you have to forgive them or you are just being mean. And somehow it compromise always means you cave to their wishes, never the other way around or something in the middle. It's a frustrating dynamic which a lot of us can probably relate to!
Meanwhile, other parts of the world start intruding into Stavia's life - the roving bands outside the towns, which include some women who ran away to live "free" (sometimes this works as advertised, and often not), a few decent traveling traders and such, and waaaaay out in the hills somewhere, a tiny town in which a a nasty theocratic patriarchy runs the show. But it isn't as simple as "out there bad, our towns good" - as I said, Women's Country is a bit dodgy itself, and Stavia starts learning exactly how much.
My main beef with this book is that it relies heavily on biological determinism - most men are "naturally" violent, and most women "naturally" aren't. There's a tiny bit of sketchy evidence that violent behavior may be someone influenced by genetics, but as far as I know, the nurture side is much more important than the nature side. I don't think it's nearly as clear-cut as the book makes it out to be, and so I doubt The Plan would actually work (I can't explain better without spoilers). There's also a totally gratuitous one-line reference by a character stating that homosexuality is a "genetic defect" which they can "fix." I suppose you could read this as another example of Women's Country having some really sketchy views and policies on reproduction, but it came across as an unnecessary barb.
The bits about their annual play, a retelling of the aftermath of the Trojan War with the now-ghost women as major characters, were neat, though.
An excellent novel, with a unique twist on a post-apocalyptic situation. The novel is written very well in terms of suspense, and the way secrets are revealed. Also, the idea behind what the women are doing ... it's something I have thought about a lot! Except, I thought about it in terms of the whole human race, not just one gender.
5 stars, would recommend this to others. This is Sheri Tepper at her best.
5 stars, would recommend this to others. This is Sheri Tepper at her best.
This was a well written story. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Was disappointed when it ended and longed to hear more of the society as it progressed.
In a post-apocolyptic world, women live inside the walls and give their sons to the men outside the walls. At the age of 15, the sons can stay outside as warriors or come inside as servitors. There are many currents running beneath this apparently straight-forward arranagment. The female protaganist, Stavia, explores the limits on each side.
