The Margarets (Gollancz S.F.): Amazon.co.uk: Sheri S. Tepper: Books

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"Updating the edgy, dystopian vibe of the 1960s new-wave SF, this is a sprawling, widescreen eco-parable that's also, thanks to veteran US novelist Teppers's keen eye for character, intimate and genuinely moving. Just extraordinary." (Jonathan Wright FOCUS )

"Tepper is adept at social detail and coming of age stories. I'd recommend this." (Andrew McKie THE TELEGRAPH )

"Tepper is an artful storyteller who makes you believe in technologies very close indeed to magic. Amid gruesome flashes of imagination, she has a heartfelt environmental message. Her resonant fable lingers in the memory." (David Langford SFX )

"An engagingly inventive and readable fairytale for our troubled times." (Lisa Tuttle THE TIMES )

"Part fable, part daydream, it is rich with the wisdom of grandmothers. There's a wry humour throughout and you feel Tepper has taken her own life apart, and examined it thoroughly and reassembled it gladly, not having found it wanting in the least." (Guy Hayley DEATHRAY )

Andrew McKie, THE TELEGRAPH

"Tepper is adept at social detail and coming of age stories. I'd recommend this."

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
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4.0 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feminist eco-fiction at its best., 10 Sep 2007

By

Pinkkat (North West UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Margarets (Hardcover)

"The Margarets" reminds me of "Six Moon Dance" in its complexity of character and plot. I had to read both novels a couple of times to really appreciate them - it's easy to get bogged down in the personality-splitting aspect on the first reading. I think the book is worth persevering with, as I was left thinking about the implications of the life choices we make: The "what if"s and "if only"s, and the wondering if we've wasted our chances. Tepper's Margaret lives a myriad of lives and experiences several of her "potentials". The concept reminds me of J.B. Priestley's preocupation with time, choices and perspective, especially in his play "Time and the Conways": The notion that at any one time we are the sum of all our past and future selves and posibilities.

This is far from being my favourite Tepper novel, but it is still a brilliant read and an intelligent contribution to modern fiction.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating & different, 30 July 2009

By

Browneyes ""bookworm"" (N. Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Margarets (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

I have read almost all of Sherri Tepper's books and enjoyed them, but I found The Margarets different and completely fascinating.

It has her usual theme of mankind destroying its environment and of males trying to subjugate women, but is more forgiving than usual, even giving some sympathetic roles to men and offering a (strange) explanation for human kind's failings.

The story revolves around a woman (the first Margaret) who spins off alternate versions of herself every time she makes a major decision. Her alternate selves (the other Margarets) lead lives that go in very different directions, each unaware of the others' existence.

In the end, it turns out that there is a purpose behind this, as forces bring the Margarets back together to achieve it and save mankind.

I couldn't put the book down! And I enjoyed Tepper in this gentler voice.

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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Failure, 6 Aug 2007

By

vortexreader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Margarets (Hardcover)

Tepper is one of only a handful of authors whose new book gets an automatic pass to the top of my 'to read' pile. I haven't liked every one of her novels but I've certainly read them all. In some ways you always know what you're going to get with Tepper: she's an angry, issues-driven writer with a lot to say. On the other hand, you never quite know what she's going to deliver. She is a skilled writer - even at her worst she's better than most - who always manages to entertain even if her message isn't convincingly conveyed.

The Margarets has an unnecessarily convoluted plot that is spread out over far too many pages. The story is about the need for mankind to be able to learn from its mistakes via the intervention of a god-like entity. This involves a quest that, naturally, comes down to one person - you guessed it! - to succeed. The reasoning behind Margaret's role in this scheme is not adequately explained and the whole scenario seems preposterous.

Not that 'preposterous' is unusual for Tepper. At some point in just about all over her novels, usually when the reader feels most comfortable that they have a handle on the plot, she introduces a twist that flips the book on its head. That twist comes mercifully early in The Margarets. For reasons I'm still not clear on, Margaret splits off personalities from herself at various points. These are not split-personalities but living breathing versions of Margaret. Eventually there are seven different (but the same) 'Margarets' using different names on different planets, all initially unaware of the existence of the others. You will either accept this and just allow Tepper to take you on a journey...or you will throw the book down never to be picked up again.

I'm not likely to ditch a Tepper novel - the rewards for placing yourself in her generally assured hands are usually worth a bit of silliness...but not this time. The Margarets is a failure. The plot seems as though it has been made up on the run and the different 'Margarets' are poorly written. Tepper's message is lost in over-writing and the entire effect is underwhelming. I'll eagerly await Tepper's next novel...and hope it's a worthier book than The Margarets.

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