I will say it again, I will read anything this lady writes.

That being said, she needs an editor who actually reads her stuff.

It started slow, but that was okay with me, because I needed to remind myself of all the players in what seems to be the longest running non-related series ever! There are also some characters that I have not read, yet, Jinian and Silkhands, but I am looking forward to reading some day.

About half way through, though, it was all Sheri adding her thought provoking life tidbits.

I enjoyed Needly and Grandma. I cried when a friend's life was stopped. I laughed at the Universe's response to our human ridiculousness. I tried to make the story last; it did take me over two months to read, but I read other things in between. Abasio and Xulai. Mavin. Fixit. The babies. Bear, coyote, Blue. The Griffens. Wide Mountain Mother. I will miss them all. ( )

How do you categorize Sheri Tepper? How do I explain the appeal of this book? It's confusing and repetitive and dogmatic and all over the place, and I really, really enjoyed it. There's something in her flow of words, in the unexpected exclamation points! in the constant, heartrendingly bleak worlds with women devalued and destroyed and yet hopeful, and yet ultimately successful and surviving. I liked seeing the weave as all the long Mavin and Gamesman and Abasio stories come together. I liked the storying, and her uncompromising viewpoint on the way humans ought to behave. As much as I love her, I am sometimes frustrated that the solutions to the huge problems so frequently come from outside: a deus ex machina in an unexpected spaceship -- technology that we haven't invented yet that can fix anything. I appreciate that the solution always, always comes at a cost, but I wish that it also came from within. ( )

As much as I enjoyed a final visit with old friends, I thought the timelines could have been much more creatively jiggered to achieve the delightful results. What would throwing in a couple of thousand years between stories have hurt? So sad that there will be no more Sheri Tepper books. No one has her particular angle on getting our problems eliminated.

Sherri Tepper has been one of my favourtite authors for many a long year. This is her 35th novel, and mayhap she sees the end nigh, as, reminiscent of late Heinlein, she sees the need to link many of her earlier characters and stories in this tome.

It is overly long. and discursive, and a bit uneven. As always, there is the overarching theme, a coutionary tale about the stupidity of men. This will annoy some, but much of the calumny is deserved. Just laid on too thick with a trowel in this case!

Not sure I'm so sanguine about meddling aliens, playing as gods as a driving force for the drowning of the world. This seems to me one of those things that a yourger Tepper would rage virulently against.

If you have never read her before, don't start here. ( )

Fish Tails by Sheri S. Tepper is a highly recommended fantasy novel with a message - alongside notable world building and character development.

Fish Tails, the official third book in The Plague of Angels series, continues several storylines and brings back numerous characters found in many of Tepper's previous novels. Specifically this time the main focus is on Abasio and Xulai and their aquatic enabled children (think merbabies). The earth will be flooded soon and become a water planet. Abasio and Xulai's twins, a boy and girl, Bailai and Gailai, have gills, fins, and a tail for legs. They can breathe air and water - in otherwords they are the hope for the future of the human race after the aquatic apocalypse. There is a way for others to have their future children resemble the twins, thus ensuring the continuation of their bloodlines.

The problem is that Abasio and Xulai need to be careful and cautious when approaching others about the future water-world because there are sects that oppose any alteration of the body (and we are talking alterations as minor as pierced ears, let alone having children resemble merbabies.) Adding to their complications, they end up having two other children traveling with them. And then there is the griffen problem...

Most of this novel seems to be a road novel and consists of the main characters traveling and encountering problems as well as supportive people along the way. Tepper does a good job in her world building and descriptions of various despicable and misogynistic groups they encounter. There are talking animals, creatures that were made by surviving, misguided humans after the Big Kill, and a host of ignorant, unworthy bad guys. Her characters are well developed and stay true to their nature as the plot progresses and their knowledge advances.

I have enjoyed several other Tepper novels in the past, but am unfamiliar with the storylines continuing from A Plague of Angels and The Waters Rising. This may actually be to my benefit because much of the information and backstory presented in Fish Tails was new to me. Other reviewers have found way too much repetition in this novel. I enjoyed the world building and the character development.

Admittedly, Fish Tails did go on and on and on a bit too long for me. Note that at 720 pages it requires a commitment - I was good with most of it through the first half but began to grow a bit weary toward the end and wanted things to pick up, the writing to tighten up, and the action to advance forward. I should also mention that some readers may find Tepper's underlying message in the novel objectionable.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes.

( )