Release Date: 26/12/14
Publisher: Gollancz
SYNOPSIS:
In her 35th novel, science fiction master Sheri S. Tepper boldly weaves together the storylines of eleven of her previous works - from KING'S BLOOD FOUR (1983) to THE WATERS RISING (2010) In FISH TAILS, two of Tepper's beloved characters - Abasio and Xulai (A PLAGUE OF ANGELS and THE WATERS RISING) - and their children travel from village to village scattered across the sparsely populated land of Tingawa. They are searching for others who might be interested in adopting their sea-dwelling lifestyle. Along their journey they encounter strange visitors from the far-off world of Lom, characters from Tepper's nine-book True Game series of novels - Mavin Manyshaped, Jinian Star-eye, and Silkhands the Healer - all of whom have been gathered up by an interfering, time-traveling, rule-breaking do-gooder to do one last good dead on earth before its metamorphosis is complete. For the waters are rising and will soon engulf the entire planet, transforming it utterly and irrevocably.
REVIEW:
The latest outing for a number of characters from previous tales and sadly for me, one that left me feeling pretty flat as I felt that a lot of potential wasn’t met within. The prose was flat, the pace missing and overall when you add characters that felt more like bare bones than what has gone before, all round left me feeling very disappointed. If you feel the need to read this, then I suggest borrowing from your library or waiting until it hits the cheap book shops.
Release Date: 27/01/11
SYNOPSIS:
The long-awaited and much-demanded sequel to A PLAGUE OF ANGELS, continuing the story of Abasio, once a farmboy, now, so Blue, his talking horse, is happy to inform people, a man who goes hither and thither helping orphans in this world where renascent mythical beasts and fairy tale 'archetypes' now live...And when he comes agross little Xulai from Tingawan, one of the Ten Thousand Islands, far across the western Sea, she informs him that she too is an orphan, and implores his help carrying out the last request of the Princess Xu-i-lok, who has been dying since the day she married Duke Justinian, who refused the royal order to marry Alicia, the Prince's sister. Xulai is Princess Xu-i-lok's Soul Carrier, and the task she must complete means visiting the scary forest in the dead of night - but it is the only thing that will bring the princess a measure of peace. Abasio, helper of orphans, promises though she must do this alone, he will be near, to aid her if necessary ...and it is, for there are dark things abroad ...And Xulai's job is not yet done, for with the princess now dead, the grieving Duke is left a widower - and Alicia, Duchess Altamont, still wishes to marry him. It's not just the man she wants, but his lands too ...and her plans do not bode well for anyone except her ...
REVIEW:
To be honest this book felt like a mishmash offering that really didn’t do much from start to finish. Yes there were some interesting characters but it felt like the author kept changing her mind every few minutes and introduced new subplots that by the books end felt like they were a waste of time entirely. Back that up with a confused case, many pages of info dumps that felt like they were more sub-notes for the author than to entertain the reader and you were left with a book that you wondered how it managed to make it to publishing.
I did originally have high hopes for this title and as such felt not only cheated but left wondering why I had wasted my time reading it. It was confusing; it didn’t achieve much and felt to a certain degree that it had borrowed heavily from certain Eastern texts. A great shame all in and it has left me with not only a bad taste but wondering if I should ever pick up another Tepper novel again.
