Singer from the Sea, The Fresco, Grass by Sheri Tepper
None as good as The Gate to Women's Country.

Singer from the Sea was weak in that I never felt close to the heroine. Despite being a women in a society that treated women like nothing, she still felt very light. Didn't seem to be enough exploration of any fear, etc she must have felt. Also the world felt a little too light. A little too unlikely also. The evil powers seemed a bit too stupid. Although probably no dumber than George W. Bush.

There was something like the ancient greek play here from Women's Country, in the Myth of the Singer. Suggestive of Tepper following something of a formula. All in all this one just wasn't quite good enough to be worth the time.

The Fresco was a bit better. I was drawn in strongly in the beginning. The world was very real (our world). The heroine was also very real. Much better than in Singer from the Sea. But then once the main plot really got started, the heroine again became a bit light. And it became quite similar to Singer. The aliens were certainly well thought out. Tepper is very intelligent. Very wise. The setting sort of disappeared as the plot got going though. The evil people again were simplistic. But perhaps real evil is. This was sort of a feel good fantasy novel. Bordered on silly, really.

Grass. Thanks to a kindle sample I realized I read this long ago. I remembered the "hound" staring at her. Don't remember a lot though. Just that it's another absurd society unquestioning of harmful, silly social traditions.

I do think highly of Tepper though. Hard to say what more I want here. There is strong questioning of social norms. There are societies with alternative norms. I don't know. I've very little in the way of insights here. I think the mormon bigamists society in Women's Country has stuck with me the most. That book in general was far better than these three. Perhaps what was strongest to me in The Fresco was the idea that some people live like they really don't care if they live and like they kind of really want to drag you down with them.

In The Fresco, the heroine had no ace up her sleeve. Nor really in Gate to Women's Country. She did in Singer from the Sea but this fact was partially hidden from the audience. So Tepper's novels lack in this regard for me. They all suffer injustice but the injustice feels too light for my taste. I want the extreme dystopian anguish of Drizzt and that sort of ace also, that the audience is pretty well aware, Tepper only hints. Tepper leaves a lot of mystery, lots of bare hints, which is mostly OK, but not when it comes to the ace. Also sometimes she withholds in a clunky fasion.