Three planets have been recently discovered in deep space, and prosaically named to reflect their respective environments. Jungle, lush and forebod...
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reviews
Oct 04, 2010
Tracy
rated it: 
I just finished reading this book. I decided last summer that it would be fun to read a Tepper novel a year, and this one was June 2008's selection.
I found The Companions more metaphorical than many of Tepper's other novels. In this science fiction novel...
er, only the setting is science fiction. It's actually a mystery...
er, well, it's not only a mystery and it's certainly not a procedural!
The ideology is very feminist
but it's style is epic!
Anyway! You get the idea More...
I found The Companions more metaphorical than many of Tepper's other novels. In this science fiction novel...
er, only the setting is science fiction. It's actually a mystery...
er, well, it's not only a mystery and it's certainly not a procedural!
The ideology is very feminist
but it's style is epic!
Anyway! You get the idea More...
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Oct 04, 2010
Stevelvis
rated it: 
Companions is the Sherri S. Tepper book which made me decide that she was a genius and is now my most favorite author of all time. It's a very complex book with several planets and many different species, from sentient dogs with human slaves to a living moss. The story combines feminist ideals with ecological concerns and a desperate attempt to transcend cultural differences as well as languages expressed in music and scent in order to save the universe.
SHERI S. TEPPER-- Author of More...
SHERI S. TEPPER-- Author of More...
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 10, 2012
Peter
rated it:
After a bit of a shaky and confusing start I have absolutely loved this imaginative sci-fi/space opera novel. It is an example of what I would describe as feminist sci-fi. Indeed on googling the topic I find that I am far from the first to make that observation! Two of my favourite other sci-fi novels "The Left Hand of Darkness", and "The Handmaids Tale" are other examples of the genre. Earth is over-crowded and breaking down as an ecological system for anything more than hum
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Jan 17, 2011
Bria
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 12, 2011
Nicholas
rated it: 
I read this on someone's recommendation, and I will admit I was slightly biased against Tepper after being traumatized by The Gate to Women's Country. While I found this story engaging and interesting, I believe it suffered from the "10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag" problem.
The story is all over the map and spans multiple worlds, races, ideas, etc. and gets somewhat disjointed. About halfway through I wondered how the hell does this story get wrapped up in one book? She More...
The story is all over the map and spans multiple worlds, races, ideas, etc. and gets somewhat disjointed. About halfway through I wondered how the hell does this story get wrapped up in one book? She More...
Sep 25, 2011
Jaime
rated it:
The Companions is total-Tepper. She puts everything she's got into it, but perhaps, just this once, it's too much. Complex and dense, the story is full-to-bursting with characters, species, and alien worlds that are endlessly novel but at some point it all stops being fascinating and just becomes something to get through. I hate saying this about any book by the author of The Gate To Women's Country or The Family Tree, but I grew weary. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to be preached to, and we a
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Nov 23, 2011
Oanh
rated it:
Interesting ideas (very similar to ideas in Margarets about humanity and value - premised upon respecting nature and other species, whether alien or animal) and well drawn. Loved the Wilogs, but I'm a sucker for sentient ambivalently 'good', sort of violent plants. Disappointed in the ending - a thoroughly sentient world is okay; a near omnipotent universe and near omnipotent good alien just seems like a cop out when the complexities are otherwise so well done. And why close off options for futu
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Jun 08, 2011
Angela
rated it:
Sheri Tepper's latest is a remarkably ambitious and complex story, perhaps too ambitious and complex. The story encompasses so many different locations, and different species, all with competing agendas, it was difficult to keep track of who was doing what to whom, and for what purpose. I had a little trouble remembering who some of the individual players were, and their various foibles and attributes.
I appreciated being introduced to each set of players one at a time. The back story w More...
I appreciated being introduced to each set of players one at a time. The back story w More...
Oct 04, 2010
Mike
rated it:
This is Tepper's Treasure Hunt book. She borrows from other authors and puts it all together in a book that doesn't quite fail and doesn't quite succeed.
First, who does she borrow from? Well, she definitely follows the David Brin "Uplift" concept for the main underpinning of the book. Brin does a much better job of building the concept of alien races planting, growing and tending younger races as they reach for the stars. Tepper's races are less developed than Brin's, but s More...
First, who does she borrow from? Well, she definitely follows the David Brin "Uplift" concept for the main underpinning of the book. Brin does a much better job of building the concept of alien races planting, growing and tending younger races as they reach for the stars. Tepper's races are less developed than Brin's, but s More...
Nov 12, 2011
Sabina
rated it:
Loved it.
Devoured it this past Summer on a chaise lounge in the sun on a a deck in Hawaii.
This was my first Tepper novel and I immediately grokked the feminist stance and anti-colonial background seeping from her characters and conflicts.
As an animal person I fully identified with the plot and female protagonist who evolves into an animal activist of sorts.
This book was a good intro to Tepper and inspired me to pursue more of her work.
Devoured it this past Summer on a chaise lounge in the sun on a a deck in Hawaii.
This was my first Tepper novel and I immediately grokked the feminist stance and anti-colonial background seeping from her characters and conflicts.
As an animal person I fully identified with the plot and female protagonist who evolves into an animal activist of sorts.
This book was a good intro to Tepper and inspired me to pursue more of her work.
Jan 07, 2011
Katie
rated it:
This book was decent, but it's not the one I would recommend to a first time Sheri Tepper reader. Tepper always deals with gender/feminism and eco-issues (i.e. humans destroying their world/worlds), themes which I appreciate. The first half of the book (on Earth) was very promising, as it played to what I like about Tepper: the development of a charismatic lead character who cares about the world, which has been built in an interesting (if not always unique) way.
However, in The Co More...
However, in The Co More...
Dec 19, 2011
Esk
rated it: 
I started this book with high expectations and I'm sorry to say they didn't all come true. Altough I liked the story and the worlds described, sometimes it was just very confusing. Long sentences, a lot of chapters "outside" of the story and a lot of storylines made it sometimes hard to understand the story at all. I did enjoy the writer's ability to make the planets and species come to life before my eyes.
I also liked the message the book seemed to give: be careful of our planet More...
I also liked the message the book seemed to give: be careful of our planet More...
Aug 05, 2011
Craig
rated it:
Interesting story, obscure in the way Tepper's books can be. The main character was likable, the story a bit confused and the ending felt a bit rushed. Overall, a pleasant read, but not something that would be on the "must read" list.
Oct 04, 2010
Myridian
rated it:
For some reason this novel began to feel like a rehash of the same material from some of her earlier works. Similar, very important, environmental and sociopolitical material was dealt with, but it just didn't feel as gripping or as interesting as what I've become accustomed to from Tepper. Perhaps part of the problem was that Tepper wove in this theme of dogs with the ability to speak and aliens that had taken the shape of dogs. I'm just not a dog person. Many of the alien cultures that Tep
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Oct 04, 2010
Nick
rated it:
A while ago, I read and reviewed Sheri Tepper's "The Margarets". Had I known, I would have read "The Companions" first because this book, written only a few years earlier than "The Margarets", treats the same themes using different characters but very similar plots with fascinating details like the centrality of Mars to the story. Almost as though Tepper, not satisfied with "The Companions" returned to the same concerns with the later novel. Both are go
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Oct 04, 2010
Eileen
rated it:
This complicated tale of multiple worlds and races kept me entangled from beginning to end. Tepper is one of the rare writers who can imaginatively spin all these different stories, complex characters, alien physiologies, and story lines and keep me in the loop. I loved the aspect of man and dog in this story, how dog senses and intelligences were portrayed and the role the animal characters played. Once again, she leaves clues throughout that make you think you know what is going on and then st
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Jun 17, 2011
Marjorie
rated it:
This is as good, if not better, than Grass. Tepper falls into hypnotic, lyric prose often. And my sci-fi lit professor read parts of Grass in a British accent, so I always hear Tepper's prose that way.
Oct 04, 2010
Terry
rated it:
I have usually enjoyed Tepper's novels so this one seems worth a try. --- I was not disappointed. Tepper has imagined an intriguing world with sympathetic characters: Jewel (though her transition from a somewhat inept young woman to a confident, competent adult is sketchily portrayed), Gavi, Scramble, and Walking Sunshine. Though the plot is interesting, the larger ideas dominate, giving grounds for hope.
Oct 04, 2010
Becky
rated it:
An engaging sci-fi novel set in the future, when Earth's population has skyrocketed and alien races have made contact. The political intrigues were rather convoluted, but the characters are interesting, the plot moves along well, and everything is brought together nicely at the end. Tepper makes some interesting points about poulation growth and humans' treatment of their environment.
Oct 04, 2010
Liz
rated it:
This was the first Tepper book I read after several friends recommended her works to me, and it remains my favorite. I feel like she expresses herself much better (and much less preachily) in the style she wrote this book than the style in which she typically writes and wish she would write more in this style of prose.
Oct 04, 2010
Jill
rated it:
I really liked parts of it, but it started dipping into fantasy, which was annoying. Plus, there was just sooooo much going on. Much of it unnecessary. But, the parts that were good were good enough that I want to read more by this author. So there.
Oct 04, 2010
Karen
rated it:
Not my favorite Tepper, but unique and a good read (I wouldn't re-read it the way I would some of her others).
Oct 04, 2010
Elaine
rated it:
rather bleak view of mankind's future, but I liked the characters and the way the story unfolded.
