Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative and most enjoyable
Review: This is my second Sheri Tepper book - I enjoyed the first one, Grass, so much, I immediately bought another one. This one took a while for me to get into - but once I realized what was happening and how everything tied together, I loved it. Tepper has a wonderful imagination. Her story lines are original - they are adventuresome - and her endings are very satisfactory - no loose ends.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was a total flop. Should be put in the trash.
Review: I just couldn't get through The Family Tree! I finally had to stop reading at about the 100th page- Sherri Tepper kept introducing new characters, and it was WAY too much to keep track of. Also, I think that the way she jumps around to about a thousand different settings is stupid and laughable- one minute it was Dora, then Opalears, then Prince Izzy, then some weird fisher-folk. I don't care if they do come together at the end, there was still entirely too much going from one set of characters to another. I kept a character list after a while, to remind me of who these people were, and it was 1 page, front and back, and another half of one! I was very disappointed by this book- it is one of the few I've never finished and don't plan to. Plus, when someone told me the "surprise" at the ending, I had already guessed it. The other, smaller surprise a laughed at and asked if they were joking. They weren't. I was nearly rolling on the floor, it sounded so stupid and utterly far fetched. I have also slogged my way through an earlier book, Northshore, and found the same problems with it! I most definitely tell everyone that this book is not worth the paper it wastes. I would also not advise ever reading anything by this author, judging from what I've found to be true. Her books remind me of a 4-year-olds scrawlings. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: I ended this book with a huge smile on my face
Review: I enjoyed this book almost as much as 'Raising the Stones'. The plot surprise part way through was unexpected, despite the underlying theme. Deals with biodiversity and anthropomorphic arrogance as the other book dealt with religion. I recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Oddly Satisfying
Review: After having eagerly anticipated reading this book, I found that the wait was worth it - as I think it will be for any fan of Ms. Tepper's work. Having read the previous reviews, I think I can see the point of those who were disappointed, but I cannot agree. What I enjoyed most about this book is probably the same aspect that drove them crazy. I refer to the pace and predictability of the plot unfolding. I found the lack of the gut-wrenching tension strangely satisfying, which is not to say that I didn't care about the characters or their predicaments. Rather it was that you felt comfortable to let them handle things and curious about how they would do it. It seemed to me that Ms. Tepper created a true partnership with the reader and I felt as though I could trust her to guide the story with out any angst on my part. Or maybe it's just that everything happened just the way I would have wanted it too - noone being annoyingly stupid or making obviously dumb mistakes. All that aside I just thoroughly enjoyed the story itself and the characters and outcome. But this is not unusual for me as I find that I always love Sheri Tepper's books. If you do too, then you will like this one as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed with this eco-thriller/time-travel/ post-apocalyptic novel by Sherri Tepper. I read the first 300 pages with interest, and I feel comfortable in acknowledging that Tepper has more talent than most of the current writers in the sf genre. Ultimately, however, the last 150 pages of "Family Tree" were a huge let-down, as characterization went flat, the plot devices became increasingly formulaic (and tortured), and the author's heavy-handed moralism overwhelmed her efforts at story-telling. The novel starts out with several interesting elements: a sympathetic protagonist who emerges from a very deprived relational history; a contemporary social crisis deriving from the abrupt appearance of indestructible, fast-growing, semi-sentient trees; and an (initially) unrelated story line that takes place in a far future loosely resembling Richard Burton's "1001 Arabian Nights". Sadly, Tepper is unsuccessful in developing her protagonist, and the two basic plot lines become convoluted and crippled by overuse of stock sf devices, as well as by dramtically inadequate narrative development. In the end, Tepper's novel comes across as thinly-veiled political tract material -- the sort of which Earth First and the Environmental Liberation Front would be proud. Even literary luminaries like Ayn Rand have a difficult time pulling off such blatant proselytization without fracturing their efforts at storytelling... and Sherri Tepper isn't Ayn Rand. For those interested in reading wonderful stories that employ some of the same plot devices as in "Family Tree," novels such as Coontz's "Watchers" and Brin's "Startide Rising" are far more elegant examples of the genre -- and are also much more skillful in combining conservationist values with lucid storytelling. Ms. Tepper, I expected more from you.
Rating:
Summary: Slow without closure
Review: This is a book that wants to be better than it is, it limps along without a focus. WHen we find the focus, it does not make sense! I wish I could get my money back.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant plotting and hilarious humor
Review: This is a Tepper book you could give to people who say, "Oh, but she just hates men." The author treats the sexes fairly, recognizing that some men are more human than some women and that some women are just plain stupid (eg acting like walking wombs!) The best thing about it, though, is the humor. Some parts are satirical in a way I think Jonathan Swift would have appreciated (you'll really laugh at the religion of 'Bubblianism' but the author is making a serious point with it!) Much of the treatment of magic is very witty as well (Sorc-a-Power...) Other jokes I couldn't tell you without giving away the plot, which brings me to the next great thing about the novel: its outrageous storyline and bizarre twist in the middle! Tepper is known for clever plotting and this is perhaps the best example; she throws one helluva curve ball halfway through and both the reader and the characters discover they have been misled to an extreme extent. (think The Crying Game if you went to see it not knowing the "secret"...) The only reason I don't rate it 5 stars is that the politics, while not as out in front as in some other novels, are sometimes irritating. Tepper seems to believe in harsh eugenics, that modern medicine is weakening us, and that some people are so hopeless they should just be allowed to self-destruct as a kind of mercy killing. Also, it is clear she believes humans are a cancer on the planet and most of us deserve the death sentence for what we have done. Nevertheless, the book is so entertaining (can't put it down!) that this can be forgiven, which is really saying a lot.
Rating:
Summary: An engaging disappointment from a master of the genre.
Review: I've been a fan of Sheri S. Tepper's ever since I ran across her excellent /Sideshow/ in high school. I've admired her ability to seamlessly construct her books, artfully balancing exposition, wonderful prose, world building, characterization, and plot to make a point without being preachy. All this explains why I had high hopes when I began /The Family Tree./ Unfortunately, my hopes and expectations were quickly let down. /The Family Tree/ is a pageturner, but of the worst kind - I found the sections set in the far future so annoying and cloyingly cute that I read on as quickly as possible, desperate to find out about the weird goings-on in the present day. The sections set in the present are engaging, but curiously flat. Where did Tepper's enormous skill at characterization go? Dora and Abby are likable characters, but not very rounded. They're too pleasant and nice to be truly interesting in their own right. I read this book right after rereading Tepper's /Grass/ (a Hugo finalist for Best Novel) and the contrast was striking. /Grass/ was filled with fascinated, flawed characters that had real moral dilemmas and issues to work out. /The Family Tree/ is populated with likable but dull archetypical characters. /Grass/ has wonderfully evocative prose that brings its worlds alive. /The Family Tree/, in an effort to keep the identity of the citizens of the far future secret, is rather skimpy on descriptive prose, and the whole is suffused with a sort of not-very-good-young-adults book feeling. /Grass/ had a multitude of themes, including independence/interdependence, the impact of custom, and the relationship between God and humanity - complex themes, stated subtly. /The Family Tree/'s message - we're ruining the Earth by overpopulation and waste, and animals have a right to an unspoiled planet as well - has already been done (very well in Tepper's /Beauty/) and is so baldly stated that it makes me cringe. Instead of leading us through ideas like /Grass/ did, /The Family Tree/ hits us over the head with preachiness. I would be more disposed to look on this book kindly if it were a debut. The plot is ingenious and often surprising, and it manages to link together many fascinating ideas. Unfortunately, the plot also feels gimmicky - I felt distinctly tricked when the identity of the far future people was revealed. In sum, /The Family Tree/ is a somewhat entertaining read, but we deserve more from one of SF's finest novelists. Do yourself a favor and hunt down a copy of /Grass/ or /Beauty/ instead.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read.
Review: Tepper's books are like works of art or exquisite pieces of music. Family Tree is one of her best, if not her best novel to date. This book should be required reading. Along with Grass, Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and Beauty. I can't say enough wonderful things about it. BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic - in every sense of the word.
Review: I've always loved the way Tepper's books thrust you into the middle of the action, without the patronising and tedious explanations so beloved of other fantasy writers.."As you all know the war between The Gloops and the Orcs began 20 years ago when the legendary sword...'etc. I don't want to say much about the plot - I hate it when people retell the story in these reviews... This book delights in taking our preconceived notions and stereotypes by the scruff of the neck and giving them a damn good shake. Combine this with an exciting quest/adventure, ecological fable, literate writing, and well-drawn characters, and you have another excellent novel from this, one of my favourite novelists. Don't just take my word (write?!) for it. READ IT!!!
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