Singer from the Sea

Denver Post

Tepper holds up a funhouse glass to customs and mores many of us take for granted...She provides a good story, with sympathetic characters and plenty to think about.

KLIATT

It seems to Genevieve, a proper young woman from the ruling class on the planet Haven, that women from her class seem to die young and frequently, usually of childbirth or "batfly fever." A woman from her class never questions anything the men in power do or say, but Genevieve starts to have visions of blood, death, and betrayal, and these visions increase her curiosity and suspicion. As she tries to escape an arranged marriage to the Prince, a golden being comes to her while she's at sea, telling her that she must fulfill her destiny. Her real people are waiting for their savior, and she must be that one. She returns to the Prince, who allows her to marry her lower-class lover, Aufors. Aufors, too, has begun to ask questions, particularly about the long lives of the ruling males, some up to 200 years old, and about the use of the drug P'naki. Other planets in the area have also become interested in P'naki, and in the seeming immortality of the ruling males, and one, Ares, invades the planet. By now, Genevieve has had a child, and has discovered the secret of P'naki, having escaped with her life. She has also discovered her true heritage, and has taken her place as the savior of her people, a sea people who evolved from the original Earth colonists. There is so much more to this book than I have described here. The story explores the role of women in society, the effect of humans on the environment and evolution, greed, exploitation, and more. It is my opinion that Sheri Tepper cannot possibly write a bad book, and this one is no exception. There were times when I could not put this book down. Part mystery, part SF, this book will please many, and is a good introduction to this excellentauthor. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1999, Avon/Eos, 529p, 18cm, 99-10231, $6.99. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Gail E. Roberts; Coordinator, Youth Scvs., New Bedford P.L., New Bedford, MA, July 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 4)

Library Journal

Despite her status as a young noblewoman of the planet Haven, Genevieve rebels against the strict regulations concerning highborn women. Defying her fathers wishes, she seeks her own forbidden destiny and discovers the dark secrets that lie at the heart of her world and its forgotten history. Tepper (Six Moon Dance, LJ 7/98) continues to explore the intricacies of human societal structures and the complex connections between humans and their environment, combining stylistic grace with imaginative insight in a tale of courage and determination that belongs in most sf collections. Highly recommended.

Gary K. Wolfe

...[I]n her fiction, it's not reallymen and women who don't get along, it's men and planets that don't get along....Tepper's loyal readers will not feel cheated, and as always Tepper's plot moves along with efficiency and panache toward a well-conceived payoff.
— Locus

Robert Francis

I highly recommend Singer from the Sea.... Many of Tepper's novels are set on worlds where the ecosystems are so integrated that they have developed a "world consciousness," which mankind blunders into with about as much grace, and subtlety, as a strip-mine. The worlds of Tepper's novels are not passive players, and they actively try to cope with the disruptions caused by the unwelcome intrusion of mankind.... Tepper is such a gifted and imaginative writer that in her hand this theme could offer limitless potential.
— SF Site

Kirkus Reviews

The Lord Paramount governs planet Haven, whose Covenant ruthlessly circumscribes the behavior and outlook of women. Thus the educated, highly intelligent Lady Genevieve must marry a nobleman chosen by her father and bear a child. Genevieve's mother, long dead, prescribed peculiar training exercises, offered mysterious advice, and sang eerie songs; Genevieve herself falls into odd trances that seem to foretell the future. When Paramount orders her to attend his palace, she meets and swoons over the Marshal's handsome and appreciative equerry, Colonel Aufors Leys; together, these two examine the mysteries that surround them. Paramount and his male cronies are hundreds of years old—but how? Why do so many young women die while nursing their newborns? Why is singing forbidden? And what commodity does Paramount trade in exchange for offworld luxuries? Prince Delganor, Paramount's repugnant brother, announces his intent to marry Genevieve. Aghast, she runs away—but the strange singing sea-creatures of Haven urge her to return. Inexplicably, the Prince permits her to marry Aufors, and seems pleased that she's pregnant! Genevieve, however, must accompany the Prince to the desert land of Mahahm, where he hopes to persuade the ruling Shah (like Delganor, another ancient) to increase the supply of P'naki, a powder that purportedly cures the fever that strikes down young women. After giving birth, Genevieve will learn the fate that Delganor intended for her, discover the truly horrifying source and significance of P'naki, and meet the leaders of a secret resistance to the brutal Shah. Once the armed forces of the dying planet Ares invade and occupy Haven seeking the substance that prolongslife, Genevieve decides it's time to act. But first she must discover the astounding purpose of her mother's legacy. Yet another deeply felt, brilliantly wrought ecological-feminist parable, not threatening but challenging, liberating and wise: Tepper (the wonderful Six Moon Dance) has lodged firmly upon a pinnacle of excellence.