One of Tepper's better books (though I haven't read one I don't like), a great story with an amazing twist! As with all of Tepper's work there is a message but, while some readers find this distracting and annoying, for me it has never detracted from the wonderful storytelling.

Give it a try - and be prepared for that twist!

Bookray members;

Xanocas (Portugal)
lesezeichen (Germany)
ffyrestarr (UK)
vi0let (Finland)
mellion108 (USA)
BunRab (USA)
FutureCat (New Zealand)*
foovay (USA) *****
morpha (USA)
lauraloo29 (Canada)
busybooklover (USA)

The book woke me on the second day of the year. Well... not the book, but the mailman.

It's next on my TBR pile.

Thanks Deerskin!

Well, not really my kind of book. I'm not into this kind of fiction.
However, it was a good surprise. I became really involved with the story.

I loved the story and it made me think: maybe someday the world will change as Sheri says. And maybe it'll be a better world. We, humans, are not doing a good job.

I recommend this book to all of you.

On its way to lesezeichen.

I have received the book today. Thanks!

28.02.: I totally agree with Xanocas. Not a book I would have read without bookcrossing, but I enjoyed it anyway. Thanks for the discovery. Sent to ffyrestarr today.

recieved today thanx! looking forward to reading it! bumped to the top of my TBR pile!

blooming amazing!!i didn't realise about izzy and sahir and the rest at all! and i didn't have a clue how dora and their quest was connected and the end was so unexpected - you'll realise when you read it what i mean!

had some really great twists to the plot!thoroughly enjoyable and i read it in one sitting!

Received this yesterday. I´m not sure if I have time to read it (I tried to cancel this ray, but ffyrestarr was too fast with the mailing ;), but I´ll try.

I did have enough time to find out that not being able to finish it isn´t that horrible.
I liked the parts set in *this* time. Actually, I thought the book would be entirely set in this time, and have to admit that it wasn´t a pleasant surprise to realize that there were two stories (which probably will be woven together in the end, of course).

This is off to mellion108 next.

Thank you so much for sending this my way vi0let! And thanks to Deerskin for sharing it.

I got this in the mail yesterday and can't wait to start it. Unfortunately, I have 4 rings/rays and 1 book club book to read sitting here next to me (they all arrived at once!). I'll try to get through this one as quickly as possible and to send it on its way. I recently started a new job that has seriously diminished my reading time. Please be patient with me, but I don't mind gentle reminders if I've held on to it for too long!

This is a first: A Tepper novel that just left me with a ho-hum sort of feeling. I liked a lot of the story at the beginning, but halfway into the book I started getting a bit bored with it. It's not that I didn't like the rest of it, but I found it to be very "preachy." Usually Tepper is much more subtle with her environmental fables. And the twist of the story only succeeded in turning me me off rather than intriguing me. Ah well, the writing is still pure Tepper, so that makes it worth it, I suppose.

I'm still glad I had the opportunity to read this! I have BunRab's address, and I hope to have this in the mail by this weekend. Thanks again for sharing!

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Trade Paperback, 377 pages

From the back cover:
Suddenly trees become rampant, growing at a fantastic rate to conquer any spare land, block small roads, take over unoccupied rooms in houses -- and possibly cause the disappearance of babies, always the fourth child (at least) of a family.

And far in the future, when technology has all but vanished, two princes and their followers find themselves on similar quests that will take them back in time.

Dora will find out about the future. The trees keep growing...

Sheri Tepper's invigorating, addictive science fiction achieves yet another level of insight into big issues and into human potential in this brilliant, hard-hitting novel.

UPDATE: This went out Media Mail to BunRab this afternoon!

Fifth in line to be read. I signed up for too many bookrings. I've been away from Chit-Chat for a month, trying to catch up on RL, and avoiding all the fora to try to catch up on bookrings. I'll be back once I catch up on this reading backlog!

Wow! I didn't see the twist coming at all, and I of all people should have! Afterward I was smacking myself in the head going, of course! The ending was a bit weak, but that's OK, it was a good read all the same. Spousal Unit is reading it now, and should be finished by the end of the week.

Some suggestions for people who liked this book:
Neal Barrett Jr.'s Aldair series - look for them used, they are long out of print.
John Wyndham's "Consider Her Ways" (short story) (Note: originally I was convinced I was remembering this story as being by James Tiptree Jr a/k/a Alice Sheldon a/k/a Raccoona Sheldon - but it isn't.)
You might also want to look for Steven Boyett's book The Architect of Sleep, likewise out of print. It's different but shares some themes in common.

OK, Spousal Unit has also finished it, and I'll send it to FutureCat as soon as I get his/her address.

SU also thought, as I did, that the ending of the book was a bit weak, a bit unlikely even within the context of fantasy. However, the plot twist was good, and we both had fun catching a lot of the allusions. I can't wait till everyone's read this, so that we can discuss it. A few things I want to mention now:
Did anyone besides me think of "The Cherry Tree Carol" when the tree gave Dora some cherries?
Armaktifadi?? Where's that from? PM me if you know, please!

Released on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 at Post Office in By Post, By Post Controlled Releases.

Mailed off to FutureCat. I couldn't afford the >$10 for air mail, so it's going surface mail, which *could* take as long as 5 weeks to get there. Sorry 'bout that!

Arrived safely in New Zealand today. I'd completely forgotten about this bookring, so it was a nice surprise to see it waiting for me when I got home this evening.

I've almost finished the book I'm currently reading, so I'll make a start on this one soon.

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A fabulous book! Beautifully written, and I loved all the little linguistic jokes (like "Ghoti") - I especially liked the fact that they were just casually dropped in, with no explanation or signposting, and in fact you could read the whole story without having to know they were there, but if you do notice them, they add another whole level of enjoyment to the story.

And the twist!!! The twist was so cleverly done! I didn't see it coming at all, yet the minute I read it, I thought "of course!" and suddenly recognised all the many clues that the author had been giving us all the way through. The only other book I've read with such a well-done twist is The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks - a very different sort of book, but this book reminded me of it in the way that it has a completely unexpected twist that totally changes everything you think you've understood about the story up until that point, and yet neither the story as you understood it pre-twist nor the true story revealed by the twist seem contrived or forced in any way - they both make perfect sense and are totally self-contained.

I don't give out many 10s, but this book is worth it.

Many thanks, Deerskin, for starting this ring, and introducing me to such a great book!

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Books, books, everywhere this week! This will be saved for some special weekend by the fire. Thank you so much funcat - and what a BEAUtiful postcard!

I set this on the leaning tower of TBR and forgot it was a bookring. Reading the entries here I see this poor book has had one delay after another. I will set it on its way again the 31st, perhaps the new year will do it better.

It was enjoyable, not one of her best. I figured out all the twists before she got to explaining them except for the ummanhi and I think that's because it is so unlikely that they would be useable as pack or riding animals without some rather major mutation. Of course, this IS fantasy :D

I could have lived without that final little twist. But then I think pagan ecoterrorists are mostly a figment of the Rabid Rights imagination. Maybe its because I am pagan. ;)

Arrived today. 2 books ahead of this. I can't wait, Tepper is one of my favorite authors.

I just received this today. I have a few rings before it. Not to worry. I will keep it moving. :)

I'm not enjoying this book. I do enjoy some of Sheri Tepper's books, but not all. I'm frustrated with the jumping back and forth between the 2 stories, which I'm sure join up at the end. Not to worry. I have PLENTY of other books to read. Waiting for busybooklover's address and then will mail off.

Thank you for sharing!

This arrived yesterday in a nice plastic bag appologizing for damage in transit.. The book was fine-- the paper just came loose. Thanks for sending... I'm in the middle of her other book.... it might be awhile but I'll hurry up when another name is added to this ray! =)