Rating: Summary: Read this one twice! Review: I don't want to reveal too much about this book, because one of the most rewarding things about it is watching the expertly crafted plot unfold, doling out tiny hints and clues, but never truly revealing everything until the very end.This story takes place in three time frames. Stavia in the present, a woman and mother, forced to surrender her 15 year-old son to the warrior clan of men which claims most of the males of her society. Stavia in the far past, age 10, seeing her brother go to men's country and in the process, meeting a warrior of her own who makes her question everything she knows to be true. And last, Stavia as a young adult, compelled to break the rules of society for the warrior who has haunted her life. There is a fourth portion of this book, a play which is enacted every year in "Women's County," a play which seems a bit obscure at first, but grows into a key to reveal all the books secrets. My best advice is to read this book twice. I finished my first reading, turned back to page 1 and began again. The second time through, all the clues jumped out, screaming for notice. A lot of things I glossed over in the first reading became so VERY important. Most of all, the play takes on new meaning, revealing some things I would never have noticed without reading it a second time. I give this my highest recommendation. Everyone should read this book!
Rating: Summary: Tepper; Destined for Timeless Greatness Review: Sheri S. Tepper is, without a doubt, one of the finest science speculation writers of our century. Her crisp, innovative writing style gives plenty of exercise to the mind as she poses timeless questions to readers. The catch? She poses these questions from different perspectives. The Gate to Women's Country is a story which invites the reader to explore what our society might be headed toward. As she masterfully weaves her tale, the reader becomes part of the community of the book and cannot help but be in shock when the story ends. Tepper's world is vibrant and alive. The development of her characters is rich and deep. It is a book to be read time and time again because with each passing year, the questions Tepper asks become more pertinent to our lives. I have read nearly all of Tepper's novels and highly recommend them to all readers of science speculation. Her work is not for the faint of heart. If you are looking for a fluff piece of literature, go read a Star Trek novel. However, if you are looking for a piece of work that intelligently and relevantly speaks toward the general human condition, this book is for you. The reader will find the story fascinating and impossible to put down. If the reader has never read a Tepper novel, prepare for a delightful experience. The best part for a new reader is that once The Gate to Women's Country is finished, you can go right out and purchase Grass or Broken Stones or Sideshow. For those of us who have read everything we can get our hands on, it is a torturous wait for each new novel; but ALWAYS worth it. Take the Tepper plunge. You'll never regret it.
Rating: Summary: Gate to Tepper¿s Universe. Review: For all those who are unaware: Sheri Tepper has very strong view points. She is a feminist militant and a pacifist. Her books express parables of her sights. Even if I do not agree with Ms. Tepper I've enjoyed her work very much. Her imaginary universes always cast lights and shadows to our own world, allowing the reader to take a different perspective, to think, to argue. Never to be indifferent. Her prose is strong, her imagination fertile and her ability to write interesting stories is outstanding. The present tale is set in a post-apocalyptic world. After devastation, a new civilization is struggling to give humankind another chance. Nothing is easy. The new organization is composed by fortified city-states, where women rule inside cultivating the arts, sciences and agriculture aided by a small group of male servitors. Men are deployed outside as protecting warriors, centered in martial arts, wrestling and having sports competences. In the surface this arrangement is working sustained on complex rules and ceremonies. There are strong undercurrents and rivalries between both groups. The main character is Stavia, a Councilwoman of Marthastown, and her life is shown in three critical moments, allowing the reader to have an inkling of what's going on, at the same time that Stavia does. Even if these the three periods are not sequentially described. One more feature in this provoking book: Ms Tepper rewrite and retranslate the Greek tragedy The Trojans as a central myth of this civilization. A book to enjoy and draw independent conclusions.
Rating: Summary: well-written post-apocolypse tale Review: Tepper's tale of a post-apocolypse society is well-written. The story centres around Stavia, a woman in Women's Country. At the beginning of the story, we see Stavia's 15-year-old son renounce his mother and become a warrior. Tepper expertly weaves adult Stavia's life as a Councilwoman practicing for a play, the play itself, and flashbacks to Stavia's childhood. Adult Stavia is a Councilwoman for Marthastown in Women's Country. In Marthastown, as in all other towns in Women's Country, the women live inside the walls of the town. Warriors live in a garrison outside the town to protect it. When women have male children, they send them at five years old to their warrior fathers. The warriors, women, and children have a carnival twice a year; outside of this biannual celebration, the warriors and women have little contact. At age fifteen, the boys are given an opportunity to return to the city as servitors. At age twenty-five, the boys become full warriors, able to take part in wars against other towns. The story explores the complex relationship between the women, servitors, and warriors. As each piece of the puzzle falls into place, we see how the women plan to use evolution to save the world from another nuclear apocolypse. This book warrants a very close read. Details which seem unimportant are major clues to the scheme revealed at the end. I did not consider the tone to be overly obnoxious, although the tone is definitely feminist.
Rating: Summary: reading tepper can change you Review: i often have to bite my tongue around people who claim to read science fiction, since, all too often, their choices of authors are limited to the safe, middle-class mediocrities of mass popularity, the current equivalents of tom swift. tepper is not safe. she is not middle-class. she is not comfortable. but she has a truly limitless imagination and an amazing grasp of human nature. she can also write--superbly, movingly...adjectives fail me. no-one is better at world-building, and very very few are even as good. in this, and in her other novels, everything springs logically from the basic vision. and her vision is breathtaking. i don't like post-apocalytic novels--if we have an apocalypse, there's not going to be anything left except maybe cockroaches. but this post-apocalyptic novel doesn't pretend the devestation won't be all that bad, that we'll just continue on, but with fewer cable channels. it also doesn't indulge in the 'mad max' sort of thing. it is, in its way, realistic. i don't always agree with her viewpoint, in this or many of her other novels. but, as other reviewers have noted, you can't read her books without starting to think about some of the really big questions--ethics, morality, where we're headed, what we are doing to ourselves and the world. you will find yourself questioning all your assumptions, and probably abandoning most of them. and you'll enjoy the process.
Rating: Summary: Tepper really ought to be worshipped Review: One of the best "post-apocalyptic" pieces of fiction ever written. This was short-listed for Hugo and Nebula the year it came out. It's also an excellent introduction to one of the most overlooked authors of our time. Set after the next big war, women live in walled cities. Most men live in barracks outside the cities. When a boy comes of age, he chooses to go through the men's gate and join the armies who fight their battles between barracks or to stay in the city and act a servant to the women. Of course nothing is as it seems. The whole story is played out in alternating chapters... the intervening chapters are pages from the imaginary play "Iphegenia at Illium" which the women perform every festival when the men of the barracks are allowed in to fraternize and further the species...or so they think. Thought-provoking and very well written.
Rating: Summary: A good book to disagree over. Review: This book makes good speculative science fiction. In this case the hypothesis is a social system. To any male reader, be aware that there are a large number of pretty unsympathetic and unsalvagable male characters. However they are a believable product of a severely squewed upbringing that is integral to the plot. The author does not enforce any particular moral interpretation of the events as they unfold. You do not need to accept the opinions of characters as fact in order for the story to make sense. Unfortunately, the main character doesn't actually do much to advance the plot but be repeatedly suckered by the unlikable boyfriend. She is really just a plot device to tie the story together with one emotional arc. Perhaps the real pleasure in this book comes from its moral ambiguity. That leaves a lot to debate. If you found it uplifting then you are probably now in an excellent position to appreciate the comedic elements of the first world war. On the other hand guys, if you read this far maybe you would be a winner in this society.
Rating: Summary: Really makes you think Review: It's not a solution to the problems of our world but it makes us look more closely at them and examine our own natures. It is also an exciting story with an engaging plot and interesting characters. Can be enjoyed on so many levels.
Rating: Summary: Great read! Review: Wonderful sci-fi story; reminds me of Margaret Atwood's disutopias. Would give it 5 stars except for the underlying homophobia. Of course, it was written in 1988, but still....
Rating: Summary: A colony of Hillarys, surrounded by Sparta Review: This is a truly beautiful book. The writing is very clear and the characterization is excellent. "Gate to Women's Country" is about a colony of women organizers after a nuclear apocalypse who exclude the males from their society into a Sparta-like lifestyle. The men who choose to not be a warrior can live with the women instead as a servitor. This book follows several characters through this interesting world. It is very feminist, but not militantly so. The goal is to create a peaceful society where men and women can once again coexist. Word Ninja
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