“One of the most satisfying science fiction novels I have read in years.”—The New York Times Book Review Here is a novel as original as the breathtaking, unspoiled world for which it is named, a place where all appears to be in idyllic balance. Generations ago, humans fled to the cosmic anomaly known as Grass. Over time, they evolved a new and intricate society. But before humanity arrived, … before humanity arrived, another species had already claimed Grass for its own. It, too, had developed a culture. . . .
Now, a deadly plague is spreading across the stars. No world save Grass has been left untouched. Marjorie Westriding Yrarier has been sent from Earth to discover the secret of the planet’s immunity. Amid the alien social structure and strange life-forms of Grass, Lady Westriding unravels the planet’s mysteries to find a truth so shattering it could mean the end of life itself.
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Grass by Sheri S. Tepper is the best book I have read in a long, long time. It’s sci-fi with heart, and it does what I always crave in my sci-fi and fantasy, it uses fantastical worlds to ask big questions while ringing emotionally true.
https://www.cgockelwrites.com/2021/03/25/book-review-grass-by-sheri-s-tepper/
I’m a big fan of Sheri S Tepper. Her books are great feminist spec fic. Grass was one of the first books of hers other than the Jinian/True Game world books that I read and I loved it. I’ve read it several times. I recently read it again after not having read it for probably a decade and still really enjoyed it.
An amazing book. What seems familiar becomes alien – Ms Tepper takes the reader to a distant planet where nothing grows but grass – all types and sizes and colors of grass. Living on the planet are dangerous creatures “the Fox”, that are hunted by the aristocracy with mounts and hounds. A virus is decimating the galaxy, but for some reason, this …
Unusual and gripping sci-fi. Creative.
A true classic.
I have read ALL of Teppers books. A great talent gone too soon.
One of Tepper’s best.
Oh boy! I’m thrilled to find an excellent woman sci fi writer I didn’t know about. This is such an interesting book about a planet, Grass, with strange interactions between humans and its alien inhabitants. I just loved what she did with the familiar tale of aristocrats and peasants. The characters are well drawn. The heroine is slow to show her …
Everything Tepper writes is a well written, imaginative, page turner. Her worlds are so detailed and deliberate its hard to remember that they are imaginative creations.
I wanted to like this book and I stuck with it almost to the end, hoping I would learn to like it. It is well-written; my problem is the alien life forms on the planet were poorly described and not very believable. I was never able to form a mental image of what any of them looked like and never understood what they were all about. Maybe if I’d …
This is an odd book. Don’t get me wrong , I finished it and looked forward to the story as it unfolded. The thing is I didn’t totally relate to the characters and the world they existed inside. It was more a case of of a personal inability to relate to the story. Thistje 3star rating.
Makes you think about what the future may be like but so many parallels to today.
enjoyed the twists…
One of my favorite books ever!
I didn’t want to put this book down. It was both ethically and morally current and futuristic all in one. The writing gave you a very clear picture of what we might be dealing with in a future world and was realistic enough to make you think it could happen.
Grass was a groundbreaking piece of science fiction in its time and paved the way for others in the genre that mingled religion with space travel (think Mary Doria Russel’s The Sparrow). I love everything Tepper writes and highly recommend this, one of her first, as a great place to start.
So yeah… I read the whole thing on one long night. I often so with Tepper (The Fresco is my favorite, followed by The Gate To Women’s Country. Oh, and The Family Tree)
Each book has a very strong woman at the lead, one who ends up on a quest without intending to be on one. They are coming from vulnerability and/or outright abuse to become heroes …
love love love this book – one of my all time favorites
A different SciFi experience. No need to be versed in future technologies or elementary physics. Grass is the name of a planet that is mostly plains of grass. There is an upper class society that parallels what we commonly consider European Royalty. Their favorite sport is the fox hunt but their steeds and hounds and the foxes are quite …
An enjoyable sci fi read.