Six Moon Dance

By Sheri S. Tepper

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 19, 2010
• ISBN: 9780062035011

Sheri S. Tepper

Sheri S. Tepper is the author of more than thirty resoundingly acclaimed novels, including The Waters Rising, The Margarets, The Companions, The Visitor, The Fresco, Singer from the Sea, Six Moon Dance, The Family Tree, Gibbon's Decline and Fall, Shadow's End, A Plague of Angels, Sideshow, and Beauty; numerous novellas; stories; poems; and essays. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews for Six Moon Dance

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Complex matriarchal society with surprising twists and nuances revealed by the visit of an off-world official. The role of experience in coloring our observations is well done, along with challenges to sexual stereotypes.

[tinlizzy_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yet another of Tepper's books that left me wistful at it having had to come to an end. And another that (like The Companions and Singer From the Sea) initially gave me a slight worry that she was heading off the deep end to beat me about the head with some sociological ax-to-grind - which (as also with the others) turned out to happily be not at all the case. Tepper has such a talent for conceiving of non-human sentient life, in ways that are completely relate-able to the humans reading along. Her notions of non-human life, motivations, intentions, actions are alien-enough to really give you pause, but without being so alien as to make empathy impossible as often is the case with alien chars. Tepper's notions and storylines of non-human life would/could be interesting and engaging enough all by themselves - but then she weaves it all in and through with human-relevant social/sociological what-ifs and speculation that never turn out to be as clear-cut or obvious in their eventual resolution (or non-resolution) as you think they'll be.And the persona/character of the Questioner - I loved her. As brilliant, cold and calculating as you could conceive of AI being, but yet fallible and human and capable of mis-perception and mistakes. Brilliant book.