"Gate to Women's Country" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come talk about your initial, general impressions!

Please save all discussion of particulars, details from the story, character choices, plot questions, etc. for the full spoiler thread.

Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ rape, assault, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, loss of a child, themes of war, religious cults (hide spoiler)]

[Sabrina]

I really liked the start that drew me very quickly into the story.

[Leonie]

I had mixed feelings about the start, but then I became intrigued. I initially thought the play interludes would take away from the story, but then I began to enjoy them.

[Anthony]

I’m enjoying it, intrigued by it, and curious to see where it’s headed. About a quarter of the way through.

[Cinnabelle listens]

This is not by far the first time I have read this book. I am reading it about 35 years after I first picked it up. I was a single mother now I am an elder. Now I am seeing another layer of complexity to the themes.

[K.R.]

Like Cinnabelle, I read this book when it first came out in the 80s. I enjoyed it then; now I'm seeing even more clearly the deeper, darker dystopian themes. Some, but not all, aspects of the story have held up well over the years. I'd forgotten about the integration of Greek mythology in Stavvy's world; I remember at the time I first read this, I had also recently studied Homer's works, including the Iliad and the Odyssey. I suspect that was one aspect of the novel that really appealed to me then, and still does today.

[Mitch]

I'm with Leonie on this. At first, I thought the plot felt obvious and too heavy-handed. But the world building was intriguing and the characters felt better developed as the book went on.

[Anna]

For thoughts/discussion after finishing the book, please head on over to the spoiler thread, linked in the first post.

[Mareike]

Read the first two chapters last night (I remembered the broad strokes of first from picking the book up at a friend’s place a few ~4 years ago) and I’m definitely intrigued. It’s gonna be interesting to see where Tepper takes this - and how all the allusions will carry through/develop.

[Cheryl]

Oh I've been meaning to reread this, too... here's hoping I can make time!

[Kaia]

I’m a few chapters in and enjoying it so far. The concept is interesting, and there are so many things I have questions about (that are hopefully answered later). This is a new book and author for me.

[Kerri]

I'm about to start chapter 25 and this book definitely has me in a hold. I didn’t know what to expect going in and some things took a twist i did not see coming.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

so glad to see so many joining on this one! And discovering a new to them author!

[Mareike]

I already looked at what other books Tepper has published. Beauty sounds very interesting as well.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Starting it today. Tepper is one of my favorite authors.

[Cinnabelle listens]

She was writing about feminism and the negative effects of over population on the environment for decades. I believe she was a civil servant and wrote part time. She was a remarkable writer.

[Sabrina]

She was a new author for me too, but now, her books will definitively be on my radar!

[Liane]

Trying to make it through the first few paragraphs and it keeps putting me to sleep (literally- 3 paragraphs, 3 naps). Is all her writing this heavy with metaphors? I will need far more coffee and daylight.

[Cheryl]

Just want to warn y'all, the ebook version is full of typos etc.

[Michele]

For those of you to whom Tepper is a new author, I truly envy you coming to her for the first time!! As others have said, she is incredibly creative, and the different ways she plays with and explores so many core societal issues is just brilliant. This one is great, and her Gibbon's Decline and Fall is one of my favorite books ever, a perennial re-read for me. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Chris]

Don't forget that Tepper's Grass is also on the group bookshelf. It was well received when it was a book-of-the-month.

[Sabrina]

Thank you for the recommendations, Michele and Chris. I put both books on my TBR list!

[Jan]

I'm late to the party for this one because I was waiting for it to come in at the library. Almost didn't make it before the end the month LOL.

I have now read the first few chapters and am intrigued enough to want to read on. I'm intrigued by the way the society is structured and keen to find out some of the why's. I read this a few years ago and can hardly remember it except that I didn't really enjoy it then. So this is almost like a new read, and I'm going to take my time and try to get the most out of it this time.

I'd forgotten about the integration in the book of Ancient Greek characters and plays. I feel as if I need to brush up my understanding in order to really enjoy this book. Hmmm.

Overall I am a fan of Tepper's writing - I support the recommendation for Grass, and I remember really enjoying some of her other books too, including Raising the Stones, which is book 2 in the Grass (Arbai) series.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I hope you like it! I don't think knowledge of Greek myths is required since there's a fairly large departure from the canon haha.

[Jan]

Allison wrote: "I hope you like it! I don't think knowledge of Greek myths is required since there's a fairly large departure from the canon haha."

Thanks Allison. GTK.

[Leslie]

I have to admit I have not been enjoying this book so far. It's slow and I'm nearly halfway through and just now seeing a glimmer of a plotline. I am finding the Greek play excerpts to be distracting and uninteresting (though I do normally like Greek mythology). I plan to continue on and finish this book by end of month, but I just find myself nodding off after a while when I tackle it. I'm hoping to be rewarded by the time I finish it considering it sounds like a number of people have enjoyed the book.