Six Moon Dance - Softcover

Tepper, Sheri S.

3.79

1,634 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380791986 ISBN 13: 9780380791989

Publisher: Avon Books, 1999

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It was many years ago that humans came and settled the world of Newholme-cruelly bending the planet to their will; setting down roots and raising up cities and farms and a grand temple to their goddess.But now the ground itself is shaking with ever-increasing violence. And the Great Questioner, official arbiter of the Council of Worlds, has come to this isolated orb to investigate rumors of a terrible secret that lies buried deep within Newholme's past--a past that is not dead, not completely. And it will fall to Mouche, a beautiful youth of uncommon cleverness and spirit, to save his imperiled home by dicovering and embracing that which makes him unique among humans. For every living thing on newholme is doomed, unless Mouche can appease something dark and terrible that is coiled within...and surrender to the mysterious ecstatic revelry taht results when the six moons join.

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Review:

In Six Moon Dance, veteran fantasy and science fiction writer Sheri S. Tepper tells the tale of the strange planet Newholme. An intriguing human society occupies the metal-poor planet, a society with gender values quite different from Earth, resulting from a virus that kills 50 percent of baby girls at birth. Newholmians use the best and the worst of dogma, religion and "patriarchy" to uphold a society where men manage the money but women hold the keys to power through church, reproductive control and their own short supply. "Family men" pay exorbitant dowries in order to gain a temporary wife, contracted for wifely duties and reproduction for a number of years. When their marriage contracts are finished, the women, relieved of duty, retire to enjoy the sexual services of male "Consorts".

The plot here involves an official Questioner who visits Newholme to investigate reports of human rights abuses, the strange native inhabitants whose biology may hold the key to human survival on the planet, and a disastrous lunar alignment. Although quite creative, Tepper's plot is simply not as gripping as the sociology and society she invents for Newholme. She uses her feminist instincts and knowledge about the sexes and religion to create a world worth taking a look at. --Bonnie Bouman

Review:

On The Family Tree: Locus: 'A work where wry humour mingles with the gravest of concerns about ecology and the fate of earth. Tepper has produced another work as witty, charming, deep-down serious and inventive as her classic Beauty, in this fable with an extra edge to it: a thorough-going relevance to our future' Science Fiction Age 'She is a compelling storyteller. Being able to weave in serious concerns and even actual morals, without interrupting the flow of the story, is a rare gift and one Tepper clearly has. The Family Tree continues this pattern, with wonderful characters, a compelling mystery and superb worldbuilding.' Kirkus Reviews: 'Beautifully realized, full of delightful surprises and sparkling wit, this out-and-out charmer is unquestionably Tepper's best work so far' Realms of Fantasy: 'A perfectly marvellous book. It's a pearl'

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