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What could be more commonplace than grass or a world covered over all its surface with a wind-whipped ocean of grass? But the planet Grass conceals horrifying secrets within its endless pastures. And as an incurable plague attacks all inhabited planets but this one, the prairie-like Grass begins to reveal these secrets - and nothing will ever be the same again.

Reviewer: Gail St0rm
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great SF and thought provoking
Review: Loved Marjorie and her development, the supporting characters were well defined, and the beasts were truly beastly. Wonderful story, and thoroughly enjoyed the visit to planet Grass!

Reviewer: Connie Burke
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: very intriguing
Review: When I began reading this book, I did not have any expectations, just expected a tale of life on an established planet. What a surprise! Sort of seemed to me to be the reworking of a book I read many years ago about a planet where all the animals communcate psychically, putting the humans at a disadvantage. (sorrry, can't remember the author of that series.) This one is certainly worth a read

Reviewer: Ellkay Kay
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Absolutely Gripping & Very Intelligent--A Rare Combination
Review: I read a fair amount of Speculative Fiction, but recent books have been pretty much a letdown--boring or predictable or thin veneers over what should more accurately be called Romances. Then I read GRASS by Sheri Tepper. I had hope for this book since I have read previous Tepper work and been consistently impressed. And GRASS did not let me down.It tells of a religion-dominated, multi-planet system that is being decimated by a seemingly unstoppable plague. In all the habitable worlds there seems to be just one planet without infection--Grass--and Grass does not share or welcome visitors. It is an apparently Aristocratic-ruled planet, which has nothing but contempt for foreign thought, foreign opinions and foreigners themselves. Desperate to learn Grass' secret, the larger, outside world finally gets permission to send a temporary Ambassador whose real mission is to ferret out the secret. The book's protagonist is Marjorie, the Ambassador's wife who has been trapped by a society that limits/controls her thoughts and actions and by a marriage even more restrictive. The above is all information that a reader will learn very early on, so I do not think of it as "Spoilers." but from here on I'll speak more generally.Grass is a beautifully written and most compelling book that raises numerous issues that ask the reader to think. If that sounds excessively dry, the book itself is anything but. It grabs the attention with mounting tension and never lets go. My one small criticism is that I found the beginning a bit slow. I very strongly recommend that a reader persevere, however. The book will reward you for it.

Reviewer: Kindle Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fascinating worlds and great storytelling
Review: An exciting adventure, beautiful descriptions of nature, and a few ethical dilemmas thrown in. I could not put it down.

Reviewer: Patrick Shepherd
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The Moral Responsibilities of Aliens
Review: Grass presents a very interesting alien world, one where the entire planet is covered by grasses of various kinds except for small treed areas, with a very original set of aliens. The Hippae and their associated Hounds are the type of thing that can give you nightmares, an enlarged, horrific parody of horses, capable of mentally controlling those around them, with a totally egocentric and blood-thirsty attitude. And the human society that has formed around the Hippae is also intriguing, somewhat modeled on the South American estancias, but with a strong English manor element, as the humans use the Hippae as mounts for the Hunt, a direct parody of the sport of fox hunting, with the object of the Hunt being the Foxen, a creature never really seen in its entirety, but only glimpsed from the corners of the eyes. The ecology and relationships of the various species of the planet form the major scientific underpinnings of this novel, relationships that are somewhat surprising and very interesting.Into this world come Marjorie Westriding, her husband Rigo, her children Stella and Tony, Rigo's mistress Eugenie, and the family Catholic priests, sent as ambassadors from Sanctity, the controlling religious body on Earth, to investigate why Grass is the only known planet that does not seem to be infected with a fatal plague that is slowly wiping out humanity. The novel's action is driven by the consequences of the family learning about the strange social structures and alien life forms of the planet.While Marjorie, the main character, is fairly well drawn with a fair amount of depth, most of the other characters are very much stick figures that are supporting spear carriers only. This is a pity, as Rigo, Stella, and the dom Sylvan show intimations of being intriguing people, but they are never portrayed in enough depth to make them come alive. The total cast of characters is fairly large, and at later stages in the book it becomes difficult to remember just who each one is due to their limited portrayal.Grass is at least partially an investigation of religion, faith, and original sin for both humans and for two different alien races. As such, it invites some comparison with other science fiction works that have dealt with these themes - Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz, Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead, and the one closest in theme to this, James Blish's A Case of Conscience. Unfortunately, Grass does not meet the high level shown by these other books, as the crisis of faith experienced by Marjorie and the Foxen is dealt with somewhat shallowly. There is little deep explication of the problems, ambiguities, and paradoxes that entail from the concept of original sin applying to an alien race that were so well investigated by Blish's work. Marjorie's own changing concept of God from the traditional Catholic picture to one where humans are mere instruments of God's will, a virus that He unleashed to perform a specific action, where individual humans are not known by name to God, is a better formed and portrayed concept, but still not at the depth and emotional level that Canticle for Leibowitz achieved.This is an ambitious work, with many sub-themes twined around the main one, each of which is deserving of in-depth portrayal. As written, this book is just too short to do justice to either the sub-themes or the main theme, not to mention the need for greater character development. It probably should have been twice its current length to fully develop all of the richness of ideas that Tepper presents here. Still, a very original work, more focused on anthropology and with difficult thematic material than is common in science fiction, items which make this a worthwhile reading experience.

Reviewer: Sid Carlson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This purchase was actually a birthday present for a friend, but I’ve owned my own copy (first paperback and then hardbound) for years. I’ve reread it three times because the narrative and story is so compelling. It is in that middle ground between sci fi and fantasy that Ursula K LeGuin occupied so well. If you are a fan of LeGuin or James Tiptree, you will also be enthralled by Tepper in this first of her multiple books set in this universe. And having said that, I think I’m going to haul it out and read it a fourth time.

Reviewer: Pog Lewis
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Why have I never heard of this book before? It’s stunning. I could not put it down and cried when I had finished it. I miss the characters as if they were friends.The story is grand and fierce and scary and sad and hopeful. Sheri S Tepler is a master storyteller. A privilege to read.

Reviewer: Sarah
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The initial couple of chapters build slowly, but once you're firmly on Grass it explodes into mystery after mystery... If i had to compare this to other science fiction it would be a mixture of, 'Hothouse', by Brian Aldiss and, 'The many coloured land', by Julien May. It is similar in the colourful, imaginative characters and races of those novels. The utterly​ mad and strange planet created by Sheri Tepper is a plunge into another world, without any inhibitions. What is fascinating is the presence of an abrahamic religion, absent in so many science fiction novels; it suppresses and controls the emotional dialogue of the protagonist. The inner battles fought by the heroin, Marjorie, tormented by her faith, her husband and even her daughter. What could make you support a character more than one who strives towards emancipation from this backward, self chastisement? This emotional wrangling accompanies a fast paced, rich and intriguing plot, with aspects of fantasy, science fiction, battle, coercion..I could go on.. I would thoroughly recommend 🙂

Reviewer: Pharmama
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: In einer fernen Zukunft hat sich die Menschheit bis zu einem Stopp aus religiösen Gründen weit ins All verbreitet. Die Welten sind oft überbevölkert, viele arm, die Reproduktion streng reguliert und die Sanctity – als religiös/bürokratisches Obersystem regiert. Sie sind es auch, die das Wissen um eine umgehende Seuche, die das Potential hat die gesamte Menschheit auszulöschen unter Verschluss hält … um keine Panik zu verursachen. Alle Versuche eine Behandlung zu finden sind gescheitert – als letzte schwache Möglichkeit wird der Neffe des sterbenden Hierarchen von Sanctity nach Grass geschickt, da das Gerücht geht, dass ein Erkrankter beim Aufenthalt dort geheilt wurde.Grass selber ist ein seltsamer Planet, über den niemand viel weiss. bedeckt von riesigen Grass-Planen, hauptsächlich unbewohnt bis auf die Stadt um den Raumhafen und einzelnen, weit auseinanderliegenden Gehöften, wo die „Bons“ wohnen – von der Erde stammender Adel, die keinerlei Einmischung von aussen wollen … und deren einzige Unterhaltung etwas ist, dass sie Fuchsjagd nennen.Man schickt die Familie Yrarier als ebenfalls europäischer Adel mit Erfahrung im Umgang mit Pferden als Botschafter hin – und dem Plan, auf Grass unauffällig nach der Seuche und nach der möglichen Heilmethode zu suchen.Grass stellt sich ganz anders heraus, als die Leute von der Erde je gedacht hätten. Die Hippae – die nativen Tiere, die die Bons auf die Fuchsjagd reiten sind keine Pferde (wie die Hunde keine Hunde und der Fuchs auch kein Fuchs ist) … und nicht ungefährlich. Die Bons wollen nichts mit den Yrariers als Aussenseitern zu tun haben und Marjorie (die von Selbstzweifeln und religiösen Dogmen gebremste) Hauptprotagonistin und ihr stolzer Mann stossen überall nur auf Grenzen und Geheimnisse …Hat die Ausgrabung von den auf Grass verbannten Sanctity-Mitgliedern einer Arbai-Stadt (einer alten, ausserirdischen Zivilisation) etwas mit dem Ganzen zu tun? Was ist mit den Arbai passiert, dass sie so plötzlich ausgestorben sind? Weshalb sind die Bons zu fixiert auf die Fuchsjagd, dass sie dabei in den eigenen Familien Verletzte und einfach Verschwundene Kinder in Kauf nehmen? Wie intelligent sind die Hippae? Gibt es wirklich keine Seuche auf Grass?Das Ganze eskaliert, als eines der eigenen Kinder der Yrariers auf der Fuchsjagd verschwindet und Marjorie sich rücksichtslos und mit allen Mitteln auf die Suche nach ihr macht … und dabei tatsächlich die (erschreckenden) Lösungen für diverses findet.Das Buch ist immer wieder überraschend, ohne die „Deus ex Machina“ Karten zu ziehen. Lange weiss man nicht, wo das alles hin geht. Es ist hier ein Stück, dort ein Stück … ein bisschen wie in einem Krimi – bis sich alles zu einem grossen … und ziemlich erschreckendem Bild zusammensetzt.Eindrücklich und lesenswert!

Reviewer: Kathy in Kawasaki
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book would be great for sci fi lovers as well as family saga types. I was drawn in, I believed what I read, and I missed the characters when the book was over. I'm not too sure about the plague science aspect but luckily I don't know enough about plague for it to have spoiled things for me. It doesn't hurt if you like horses either.