Rating: 
Summary: The Fresco is a thoughtful read!
Review: An ordinary woman with low self-esteem has an encounter in New Mexico with aliens who hire her to transmit their message of peace to the powers that be in Washington. Benita Alvarez-Shipton is a book store manager with grown children in college, a bully of a husband at home & nothing to go back to.With more money than she's ever seen, as payment for her messenger service & the vibrating box the aliens gave her to deliver which squeaks like a two-year old having a tantrum when left alone, Benita starts a new life with a new purpose & courage. Somehow, with the advent of the aliens, Benita's faculties have sharpened & the battered, belittled spouse has sloughed away. I have read several Sheri S. Tepper books & although some of her stories did not click with me, they always held my attention. The worlds she creates are always different & she makes you reach to understand them. The Fresco is more of the same & while the setting is not as far out as most of her destinations, she still makes you feel as if you're living in it. A lot has been said about alien contact. When one stops to truly visualize how we humans have polluted the space around us, I for one, am beginning to wonder who's listening. As a member of this human race, there are times when I can feel the collar of the goat around my own neck & think I can smell the tiger. Thinking hard about what you're reading is Sheri S. Tepper's tour de force. This book will raise lots of questions about all of your life's experiences.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the same old theme
Review: I found "Fresco" to Be well written and attention grabbing but am I the only reader that wishes that Tepper would move on from her constant woeful refrain of downtrodden females and the rape of the environment? There are deeper issues to explore such as why women gave up their power in the first place and why corporations have in effect taken the place of goverments in formulating global policies. It is time for her to look beyond her simplistic themes which only frustrate people who are seeking real solutions. Aliesn solving all our problems at one stroke may be interesting and acceptable to children but some of us would prefer a novel with more 'bite' to it.
Rating:
Summary: "Take Me To Your Leader"
Review: Tepper rises to the challenge of writing this type cliché in an entertaining way. What this book is mostly is the author's recipies (disguised as the aliens) formula's for the world's ills: domestic abuse, overpopulation, women's rights, and the drug war. Heinlien and others have always done this unabashadley, mixing in their own politics in hefty doses. Sheris S. Tepper continues this tradition in bulldozer fashion. What saves "The Fresco" is that it turns out to be a pretty good story; delivering the right amount of action and interaction with a bit of resonable theological speculation and debate. Don't look for space opera here. PS: Although never mentioned by name, two of the active characters in this book are Bill & Hillary Clinton. (Always referred to as "the president" and "the FL.") There are other current political characters modeled under different names, although interestingly enough Ken Starr is mentioned under his own name. If you happen to be a Clinton-hater, you probably won't like the politics in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, but provocative
Review: The more I've pondered it, the more convinced I am that (in this book anyway) Tepper could be considered the "Anti-Heinlein". This is by itself a good enough reason to give this book a chance. Another considerable virtue of this book is how vividly it portrays the crusade against women by the Taliban in Afghanistan. One only has to imagine an ethnic or racial group under the same oppression to be struck with the incongruity of the world's relative indifference. However, it goes to the very heart of this book that Tepper seems to wholeheartedly endorse the Pistach's "solution" to the problem, their "Ugly Plague". Tepper clearly sees collective rights and needs as universally of more importance than individual rights. How one feels about the "Ugly Plague", the Pistach way of life, and the denoument of this book will reflect one's temperment and politics. As literature, "The Fresco" is less than negligible. As genre fiction, particularly science fiction, it is on average mediocre. It gets high points for originality, low points for its often stereotypical (and, I think, unconsciously and subtly bigoted) charaterizations. Still, if you are a reader such as I -- one who reads across the great breadth and depth of all kinds of fiction -- then this is not a waste of time. It's worth reading. And considering.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Heinlein Life Commentary of Society
Review: There seems to be much comment in reviews posted here about this book and all the men in the book being evil. First I want to say that this is a well written book, it keeps you entertained, on the edge waiting for more, and makes you think. The story starts out with Benita a woman in her late thirties, married young to an unsuccesful artist who has become an alcholic with two children. (Gee this has happened many times). She is met by aliens and she becomes an important link between the aliens and our government (some of who are not nice men - which has happened many times). There are also other "bad men" in the novel, but there are also good ones, Chad, the FBI Agent, the President., etc. Instead of looking at this book as a book written by a feminist about feminism, everyone should look at it as an entertaining sci-fi novel with interesting ideas pointing out some very realistic problems in our society (drinking, guns, rape, etc) and how one alien culture helps us to change these problems. I give this book 4 stars, yes there are some plot holes, but it is well written,imaginative, and a bit like a Robert A. Heinlein novel from a woman's view. The social commentary is similair to what Heinlein did in some of his novels. Who cares if this is a book with a liberal, feminist point of view, in this day and age it should not be an issue. Is it really written from a feminist point of view or is there too much reality in it to make some people comfortable? Read it and judge it for yourself. Teplper did a great job on this!
Rating:
Summary: Must read for Tepper Fans
Review: However, if you are contemplating this as the first book you've ever read by her, I would suggest that you start with the loosely knit "Grass" trilogy (Grass, Raising the Stones, Side Show). (I love that trilogy - have gone through several copies of each of the books -- they are very poignant and redeeming) In The Fresco, Benita is a wonderful, sympathetic character, an "everywoman" who sees her way clear to becoming her own person. She is a heroine to root for. I loved the protagonist aliens, as they altered their appearances to be more "friendly" looking. As always, I enjoyed the philosophy and theology which is present in all of the books that I have read by Ms. Tepper. It is thought provoking to think what would happen if someone or something came along and completely disproved our various holy books (bible, koran, rig veda etc.). Would we patch them back together and do what we could, or would we take the best of them, and approach the violent, ugly, "evil" parts with a grain of salt? Or would that someone/thing that disproved them, help us regain our sense of self? Even if you are agnostic, or atheistic, you will enjoy the religious/philosophical commentaries woven into Ms. Tepper's books.
Rating:
Summary: It's Tepper, but not her finest hour
Review: Sheri S. Tepper's books have kept me enthralled since I first picked up the paperback copy of Necromancer Nine many years ago. She is an adept author at creating true three-dimensional characterizations and stunning interactions. Having said that, however, The Fresco will not be considered one of her best. The book continues in the line of her female heroine series, like Gibbons Decline and Fall and Six Moon Dance, but seems disjointed and epigrammatic - as if Ms. Tepper abandoned the intelligence of her readers to strike them with a moral hammer. Certain aspects of the book display that Tepper touch, such as sub-themes of believable real-world bureaucracy, autocracy and fundamentalism, but the characters are less developed than her other books, resulting in almost steroetypical portrayals of the worthless husband and son and the peaceloving daughter and gay bookstore owners. This book does not have the power of Gate to Women's Country or Raising the Stones, the ingenuity of Plague of Angels or Grass, or the deft touch at creating situations like the True Game series, but it is nonetheless Tepper and therefore better than most. Tepper fans will be somewhat disappointed, but new readers will likely find the book enjoyable. For those looking for a feminist book, I do not agree that Sheri S. Tepper is a feminist author but rather one with a strikingly female point of view which can be read with feminist critique in mind. I would suggest Adrienne Rich or Camille Paglia for those seeking true feminist writings.
Rating:
Summary: A REAL review
Review: This is a good read. Some plot holes that bugged me, but certainly worth reading. Great, vivid alien cultures! It isn't ham-handed unless you don't read past the surface. It's an idea book more than an emotional, character-driven book, but so is a lot of literature. Also, the reviewers of this book who whine about how all the men in the book are evil just didn't READ it! I can think of three important male characters (Chad, Simon, President) who were VERY positive, and two more who learn to be positive, plus several other minor characters who are certainly not stupid or evil. Is this a book with a liberal, feminist POV? In some ways it is, but there's some opinions pretty far from those of liberals. The central theme seems to me to be about religion and belief and the relationship between that and morality. And Tepper doesn't give you easy answers, not unless you stop thinking when her words run out. I always assume a good writer doesn't expect me to accept all her ideas after "the end." This book made me think, and I thoroughly enjoyed it
Rating:
Summary: 3.5 Stars Superficial but thoughtful
Review: While this is the most approachable of Tepper's work to date it is also probably her most flawed. 'The Fresco' is a book that is both superficial (on the level of plot and characterization) and thoughtful (at the thematic level). The premise of the story is hardly something new in the annals of Science Fiction - aliens come to Earth and want us to join a Confederation of other intelligent life. The Pistach choose Benita Alvarez-Shipton to be their intermediary on earth. Benita is a likable character and by far the most believable in a fairly extensive cast. The story progresses through the Pistach's attempts to make humanity more 'neighborly' in order for humanity to join the confederation. Their approach is somewhat unique: for all kinds of negative and dangerous human behavior they devise opposite effects - guns no longer shoot their intended victims but the person doing the shooting, alcoholics can no longer drink beer. The political has never been a subtext in Tepper's work. Her beliefs are right there on the page, sometimes in long passages of polemic. There is no doubt in my mind that Tepper gives a great deal of thought to the political in her work. Her fault is that this is sometimes at the expense of developing plot and character. And this is where 'The Fresco' falls apart. Tepper seems completely unaware that the benign seeming Pistach are exacting cultural warfare on planet Earth in much the same way that the United States is often accused of doing in reality. Tepper never questions that what the Pistach are doing is right. Chocolate may taste good but it's not good for you....a distinction that Tepper seems unable to make. Don't let any of the above deter you from reading Tepper's work. She is one of the most original and intriguing writers of SF today. 'The Fresco' simply isn't her best work but is still a cut above most of the dross published these days.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly, Not Her Best
Review: I have been a fanatic fan of Sherri Tepper's for many years, even going to the extent of finding her out of print books online so I can read everything she wrote. Generally, I greatly admire her story telling - but have to admit that "The Fresco" really goes nowhere. While I wouldn't portray her as shrill, I would say that this novel does go a bit over the top with friendly aliens appearing and solving all the world's problems for us by forcing everyone to be openminded. I think this could have been a much better novel if it had focused on The Fresco itself and the fact that once it is uncovered it represented something totally different than the aliens believed and how that affected their society. I definitely will continue to read Tepper's novels but doubt I would ever recommend this particular one to friends.
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