Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic, witty, astonishing
Review: A few days ago, early in the morning, I sat down with Tepper's latest and a cup of coffee, thinking I would read a few chapters and then get started on the day. When I finally paused and looked at my watch, it was 2 p.m. This book is totally enthralling, filled with witty word-play, linguistic puns, a thrilling quest story, and compelling characters. It also has two quite amazing surprises that will astonish you. In some ways this book reminds me of "Grass", in the sense that you think you know what is going on, or even what a creature or person looks like; however, surprises keep coming. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this to anyone who wants a good, literate story, and it should not be considered a book only for science fiction fans (I am not)
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!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Passable but uninspiring
Review: I never stopped reading it because it was terrible, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone either. To be fair, it has a couple great plot twists, but all in all 5 pages of surprise aren't worth 500 pages of filler. It's a fence sitter book, that is, it sits on the fence between satire and serious and doesn't manage to do either well. The story is filled with "funny" place and character names (like Sultan Tummyfat and the harbours of Gulp and Guzzle) that make the writing whimsical without any kind of humour. In between this "hilarity" the book preaches a half baked stance of eugenics and environmentalism without any rational justification or explanation. Any kind of credibility Tepper gains with the latter is instantly torn down by the former. She has some interesting things to say about animal rights, but ultimately her Nazi-esque ideas about solving human over-population prevent me from taking her at all seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Reviews will spoil this book!
Review: If you like Sheri S Tepper, you can be pretty sure that The Family Tree is a good buy. It's considered one of her better books. It's certainly well-written and the plot is fascinating. If I say any more, I'll spoil the fun. You'll thank me for not saying any more, I promise you.If you don't know Sheri S Tepper, this book is as good as any to start with. Choose this one or Beauty to start with; they are IMHO amongst her more inventive books. Tepper writes allegorical sci-fi/fantasy crossover fiction with a deliciously dark horror element under its colourful surface. When you agree with her thinly-veiled politics, you will laugh with glee over the over-the-top imagery with which she expresses her allegory. When you disagree, she's likely to make you hopping mad at how ridiculous and one-sided her parables are. However, if you're anything like me, you'll also have some quiet admiration for her gumption, even if you don't like the message she brings. If that sounds like your idea of fun, you will find Sheri S Tepper monumentally entertaining and thought-provoking. I gave this book 5 stars because it was just so much fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: Really fun.
Review: As a compulsive ending-guesser, I'm rarely completely surprised or totally wrong. This time I was and far from being feeling mislead, I was totally delighted at Tepper's inventiveness. Stop reading these reviews -- they do give away some of the surprise -- and try out this book. The book begins with uncontrolable plants begining to take over towns and cities forcing people to finally respect nature's boundaries. Our heroine, Dora, respects the plants, but what will happen to people? A second plotline in a different world eventually collides with the first to give us our conclusion.
Rating: 
Summary: Family Tree (Warning: slight spoiler)
Review: I was intrigued, until I got to about half way through the book, when half the characters were revieled as animals. After that the book became a massive cliche fraught with preaching and a predictable ending. Also, most of the characters were under developed and one sided. Other than that it was fun to read, all of it, so if you don't mind preachyness, then this is a good book.
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