Rating: 
Summary: Poor editing and Deus Ex-Machina rule in this book.
Review: Ms. Tepper starts with an interesting premise and an interesting puzzle. Unfortunately somewhere around two thirds of the way through the book, the puzzle becomes evident and the climax which happens later seems forced and not really a true climax. This book could have used several rounds with an editor. It appears to this reader that the book got read by someone who pointed out a few flaws causing Ms Tepper to make some changes. Those changes were not reflected everywhere in the book.Once again Ms. Tepper insists on having a moral too her story and rather than leaving it to the reader to pull the moral from the story, she insists on hitting the reader over the head with it. Whether you agree or not with Ms. Tepper, I find having a position forced makes for unnatural and uncomfortable reading.
Rating:
Summary: Poor editing and Deus Ex-Machina rule in this book.
Review: Ms. Tepper starts with an interesting premise and an interesting puzzle. Unfortunately somewhere around two thirds of the way through the book, the puzzle becomes evident and the climax which happens later seems forced and not really a true climax. This book could have used several rounds with an editor. It appears to this reader that the book got read by someone who pointed out a few flaws causing Ms Tepper to make some changes. Those changes were not reflected everywhere in the book. Once again Ms. Tepper insists on having a moral too her story and rather than leaving it to the reader to pull the moral from the story, she insists on hitting the reader over the head with it. Whether you agree or not with Ms. Tepper, I find having a position forced makes for unnatural and uncomfortable reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Good work, not quite finished
Review: Ms. Tepper, in this book in particular, reminds me of a strange mix of Vance and Le Guin. The cultures depicted have that strange sort of allure, institutions are plausible in their bizarre nature and interesting words pop up at charming frequency. Unfortunately, as was the case with Beauty, Ms. Tepper doesn't allow a good story alone to serve as an allegory. At times points are made that stick out at a disturbing extent. Some of the characters and plot twists seemed superfluous. The characters, although interesting, were never properly developed. The story, observing different groups of people at different times, became fractured and never gained the momentum it deserved. All said, I still enjoyed reading the work for its aesthetic value, occasional laugh and message. Six Moon Dance ascends over the average entertainment novel in that it powerfully engages the brain and questions social values and systems. It causes you to ask pointed questions, but doesn't pretend to know better answers. The back cover blurb reassures the reader that the book is enjoyable by both genders. Perhaps Ms. Tepper has managed to convince someone that such a warning is in order with deeds of the past. Six Moon Dance certainly doesn't deserve such an insulting phrase. If there is an agenda that offends any one gender, I am too thick-headed to discover it. As with so many other books I have read lately, I do wish publishers would find and employ skillful editors that can send manuscripts back to established authors and tell them to fix it. Six Moon Dance has a promising premise and characters, but unfortunately the delicious dough was not fully baked.
Rating:
Summary: Too much Tepper?
Review: Perhaps I have read too many of Tepper's books now. I found "Six Moons Dance" just a bit too formulaic, a bit too much like everything else she has written in the last ten years, without the usual spark of inventiveness that normally lifts Tepper's books above the run of the mill. I just didn't get that spark from this book. All the usual Tepper elements were there: the suitably bleak distant future setting, the bad guys complete with physical deformities and sexual deviances, the topsy-turvey gender system - and a couple of political issues thrown in to make better citizens of us. But there wasn't much else, and as a veteran of some ten or so Tepper novels, I found that wasn't enough to keep me enthusiastic. My advice: Buy it if you're a collector or if you can't get it from a library. Otherwise, spend your money on one of Tepper's better books. Beauty, for example.
Rating: 
Summary: Sad disappointment, a discombobulated mess of a novel
Review: Sherri Tepper is a genius and a brilliant writer. I think perhaps someone else wrote this book. It pales in comparison to _Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ and _The Gate to Women's Country_. Tepper falls into the same trap as in _Sideshow_. One of the interwoven plots is interesting, but you have to wade through the rest of the lackluster, rehashed plots to get to the interesting stuff. Not worth the effort or the tree it was printed on. Don't bother- I couldn't even finish the book.
Rating:
Summary: Lugubrious start.
Review: SIX MOON DANCE could be a good story. Newholme, the new planet, is the place where men are homemakers and women are scarce. But, the good part, there are custom trained young male Consorts to cheer up the women in their expected boredom of marriage. What's more, there are indigens, invisible entities who do all of the grunt work. Then along comes the super woman, the Questioner, who is every Old Earth's daughter-in-law's nightmare--large, smart, computer brain, know-it-all, bossy and indestructible--and she is sent to investigate the planet's violent earthquakes and potentially violent rumors. Boy, oh boy, the final solution is a real doozy, you gotta read it--if you can get through the lumps of righteous preaching about the wrongs of our poor sick planet, Old Earth. Sherri, you are preaching to the gallery.
Rating: 
Summary: Tepper does it again!
Review: SIX MOON DANCE shows off Tepper's wonderful flair for creating unusual cultures and fascinating aliens. Some gender roles on Newholme are reversed, but it is NOT simply a mirror image society. She acknowledges two things: the roots of gender issues are biological, and both men and women are capable of both good and evil. This is a blessed departure from the man-bashing in some of her earlier books; one very evil character is female, some charming characters are male and others are, well, gender-benders for lack of a better term. The aliens also show the author's imagination: we have totally different forms of life that are not only non-anthropomorphic but evolved through an entirely different process. None is what it initially seemed, either to the reader or the characters (a Tepper trademark.) Some have accused this book of having no plot, but while plot does sometimes take a backseat to the sociology, it is still strong, if not as brilliant as THE FAMILY TREE, which took some bizarre turns. I kept thinking I had second-guessed Tepper, and she still managed to throw in some surprises at the end. The overall tone, moreover, is not total pessimism. This book's interstellar civilization sounds a lot nicer than some others thanks to being based on a radical philosophy. Even if you hated books like GIBBON'S DECLINE AND FALL, try this one - it will get you back to reading Tepper!
Rating:
Summary: Not Tepper's Best, but not Shabby
Review: Tepper explores her favorite themes: ecology, gender discrimination, social engineering and *really* alien intelligence (she comes up with two winners here). The plot is compelling, though it turns a bit unbelievable toward the end (I really CAN'T imagine a "-----" Liberation Movement). But it's a wonderful ride nonetheless. I suspect it may be a "chick thing", since I'd *love* a "hunk" snd a crew of invisible servants, but second-rate Tepper usually tops most other SF writers' best efforts.
Rating:
Summary: A couple steps back.
Review: Tepper's last few books have dealt more with present times. Tepper goes back to the creation of cultures and peoples who are rich and believable. Six Moon Dance delves a great deal into the origins of not only specific races but the question we also ask ourselves, "who am i?" She explores issues in Six Moon Dance that are relative to any time period while weaving a tale about individuals finding themselves and working eventually towards a common goal.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!!
Review: The first hundred pages are a little difficult as you get used to the style and setting. But the rest of the story is well worth the initial struggle. Highly imaginative with great insights into societal pressures. A very rewarding experience.
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