Gibbon's Decline and Fall

Rating:
Summary: A thought-provoking story with anchors in present society
Review: Not for everyone, perhaps - or even for all of Sheri S. Tepper's fans, but Gibbon's Decline and Fall is a deep, clarifying look at paternalist society from a female viewpoint. Not necessarily feminist, the story follows a group of female college friends who come together after years of friendship to "save" the world from an evil embodied in one man, but sanctioned by societal norms and institutions.

The book sends hard jabs at male-dominated societies, organized religions, and theories of Dumpster Babies, yet does so from the point of view of women who are the eidilons of our views of women. The main characters are mother/lawyer, scientist, nun, lesbian artist, socialite, etc whose concerns are justice, faith, love, and everything that falls in-between.

Recommended for anyone who wants to challenge their own viewpoint on male/female roles, and the power of the individual. Warning, this book is only minimally SF.

Rating:
Summary: Partial quote warning
Review: Note the heavy use of ellipses in the reproduction of the New York Times review. And even so, it hardly seems like a raving review, does it? Before buying this book (or even investing your time in reading it), I highly recommend that you go back and read the full text of the Times review. In light of Tepper's past literary accomplishments, the review of this book was particularly harsh, which could be distilled into a few words: poorly-crafted, badly-plotted, overbearing polemical tract

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Summary: Not my favouriteTepper, But....
Review: On the first reading I was a little disappointed. Maybe because it was written for the near future - now the recent past. Knowing that something didn't turn out that way is distracting, then I realized it didn't matter. Tepper has taken a set of circumstances and woven her tale around them, the message is no less relevant. Fiction that is set in a completely unknown environment may be easier to accept but even with a current setting it is still fiction not a news report, it is the story that matters.

Decline & Fall is darker than many of her other books, and at times somewhat depressing. Nevertheless on rereading,and all Sheri's books are worth revisiting in my opinion, her skill and writing style come through. While it is not the work of delight "Beauty" is, it is thought provoking and engrossing.

Rating:
Summary: Sloppy and infuriating
Review: Part of the problem with this book is the writing itself: it's repetitive and heavy- handed; I kept wanting Tepper to get to the point; in fact, I got to the point long before the characters did, which was frustrating. Some of the story-telling is very sloppy: characters don't know things that they really ought to know, giving someone else the opportunity to fill in back-story (see for instance the first chapter). There are also some frustrating omissions and red herrings: the cause of the "plague" of libido-loss is never adequately explained; at the end of the book the good guys quietly get rid of some of the bad guys without a shred of worry about whether anyone will find out, or even suspect, what they have done (there's also no particular reason for them to do this, given that they have the evidence to legitimately put these bad guys away); and some details (e.g. widespread use of hibernation tanks in lieu of conventional imprisonment) seem unlikely given that the book is set in the very near future. (There are many more bizarre elements of this book, but these are part of the book's central conceit, so their lack of believability is something you just have to ignore if you're going to read the book at all.)

Part of my dislike stems from my disagreement with Tepper on some basic assumptions about gender: how the sexes differ; how biology and culture interact; what can be done about the oppression of women; how different aspects of the oppression of women are connected. For instance, some of the effects of the "plague" don't make sense to me: cultural institutions don't die out that easily or quickly. Tepper also seems to equate monogamy with lack of libido, which I find sad. Lest there be any confusion, I'm a feminist, and I'm not criticizing Tepper for being "too feminist" or too preachy, or too political; rather, it's the content of her politics that disturbs me. Tepper does seem to embody the stereotype that feminists are anti-sex; believe me, not all of u! s are!

Rating:
Summary: Not for the Complacent
Review: Sheri Tepper does not pull any punches. Many of her books deal with issues heretofore only addressed in women's studies classes or women's advocacy training. Issues that often cause one to say, "Oh, it doesn't really happen that way," or "that's an exaggeration," or "what about the male point of view?"

_Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ actually gives a harsher view than others of her books with the same themes (_Grass_, say, or _Shadow's End_)both because the theme is painted in starker and clearer terms rather than being veiled in hints and allusions and because the novel is set in our world, in the now -- not on some other planet or in some distant future. I think this could make _Gibbon_ hard for some to swallow. Certainly unless you've studied radical feminism, the concepts advanced here will shake up your worldview. Reproductive rights are at the core here, and Tepper takes a good hard look at some harsh realities. This is bound to upset people who subscribe to a simple moralism, or who think that the right answers are always happy ones.

Strong, independent women are Tepper's speciality, and there are a number of them here, from artists to lawyers. But there are no superheroes -- she is also sympathetic to women who are not so strong and not so privileged. She recognizes that people do stupid things and rationalize the results.

Though one might interpret _Gibbon_ as a "battle of the sexes" novel, there are enough sympathetic men to keep it from appearing too one-sided. They are generally not the major players, however. So if you're apt to be offended by a woman-dominated story, this is probably not a good book for you.

Tepper seems to believe that all questions have answers and all problems have solutions. But the answers and solutions do not necessarily mean everything is all happy for everyone. In fact, they necessarily mean upheaval, difficult decisions and sacrifices. Major change isn't a walk in the park.

Many people will not like this book, and few will rate it as highly as I have. But _Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ remains my favourite work by my favourite writer of speculative fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the Complacent
Review: Sheri Tepper does not pull any punches. Many of her books deal with issues heretofore only addressed in women's studies classes or women's advocacy training. Issues that often cause one to say, "Oh, it doesn't really happen that way," or "that's an exaggeration," or "what about the male point of view?"

_Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ actually gives a harsher view than others of her books with the same themes (_Grass_, say, or _Shadow's End_)both because the theme is painted in starker and clearer terms rather than being veiled in hints and allusions and because the novel is set in our world, in the now -- not on some other planet or in some distant future. I think this could make _Gibbon_ hard for some to swallow. Certainly unless you've studied radical feminism, the concepts advanced here will shake up your worldview. Reproductive rights are at the core here, and Tepper takes a good hard look at some harsh realities. This is bound to upset people who subscribe to a simple moralism, or who think that the right answers are always happy ones.

Strong, independent women are Tepper's speciality, and there are a number of them here, from artists to lawyers. But there are no superheroes -- she is also sympathetic to women who are not so strong and not so privileged. She recognizes that people do stupid things and rationalize the results.

Though one might interpret _Gibbon_ as a "battle of the sexes" novel, there are enough sympathetic men to keep it from appearing too one-sided. They are generally not the major players, however. So if you're apt to be offended by a woman-dominated story, this is probably not a good book for you.

Tepper seems to believe that all questions have answers and all problems have solutions. But the answers and solutions do not necessarily mean everything is all happy for everyone. In fact, they necessarily mean upheaval, difficult decisions and sacrifices. Major change isn't a walk in the park.

Many people will not like this book, and few will rate it as highly as I have. But _Gibbon's Decline and Fall_ remains my favourite work by my favourite writer of speculative fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Feminist twist does not overwhelm this fine sci-fi novel
Review: Sheri Tepper returns (almost) to "The Gate to Women's Country" in "Gibbon's Decline and Fall." Evil stalks the earth; a truly Satanic figure is gobbling up men and women in an evil alliance with shadowy business and government leaders. A group of women, close friends since their college days together, fight the darkness in their own lives and ultimately for the entire world. This novel is set in our time and in our idiom. It does not have the mythical future-history quality of "Women's Country." It reads more like a bestselling spy thriller than futurisit speculative fiction. Ms. Tepper continues her outrage against the enslaving of women by men. In this novel, however, she ties much more than warfare and nuclear destruction to unbridled male dominance. She shows how the degradation of one half of the human race diminishes and ultimately destroys us all. Despite the feminist slant of the novel, the struggle of Good versus Evil make this more than a diatribe. The plot is far tighter, less unneccesarily complicated and very gripping. This is some of Tepper's best since "Grass" and "Women's Country.:

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Summary: Tepper is as always wonderful!!
Review: Since reading Gate to Women's Country( her best book yet) I have been an avid fan. Once again she does not disappoint. This is a thought provoking, disturbing book that I could not put down.Her view of tomorrow is bleakly realistic. I only hope that her voice is heard before it is too late

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Summary: A Modern Day Fable
Review: Tepper is famous for her feminist stance. And while this book is certainly no exception, it is also very different. Written so close to the time it describes, it seems odd that she would raze the world with plague and extremists. It doesn't bode well for the books longevity--gone is the reader's easy suspension of disbelief. But it is likely she did this on purpose. This book is not to be taken as an account of truth, but as a distillation of truth. That is to say, a fable. Most characters are over the top, wild and archetypal. These are not people but the forces of our world. The only people who read familiar are the protagonists. It was extremely easy for me to identify with them, and I was wrapped in their struggle. I read Grimms with this passion when I was 6. This is one of Tepper's best books.

Rating:
Summary: Flawed but interesting story
Review: Tepper is writing here on some of her favorite themes - feminism, epochal and strange transformations, and repressive patriarchal religions. This time, however, the story isn't set in the distant future or on an imagined world, but in New Mexico in the very near future - so near it is now the past. (The book was written in 1996 and set in 2000.)

The novel centers on a group of women, close friends since they met in college 40 years earlier, who are receiving what seems to be messages or warnings from one of their number who disappeared a few years earlier and is thought to be dead. One of them is an attorney, Caroline Crespin, happily married to a retired FBI agent who is a very rare type in this story, a decent male. She is defending a woman accused of infanticide against a vile District Attorney, Jake Jagger, who works for an even more vile far right conspiracy, the Alliance.

As the apocalypse grows near, Caroline and her friends discover the real truth behind the Alliance and look for a way to stop its plans for world domination and enslavement of women.

This isn't Tepper at her best - Grass is probably her best work. The immediate setting and the exaggerated evil of the villains makes the story more dogmatic and preachy than provocative. The ending is unpersuasive and ducks crucial issues. But the main characters are done well and most of the main story is exciting and compelling.