Tepper is new to me. Not only new, but before I read Grass, I had not even heard of Tepper. I had no preconceptions, I had no idea of the plot - completely fresh.

The result completely blew me. Grass sets up a complex society involving a main religion, a controlling empire, and a rogue planet detached from the rest of the Universe, and uninterested in its plight. Some would compare it to Dune, but they tackle the subjects from very different approaches. Dune takes a heavy handed approach to the mythology, and attempts to weigh its story with the weight of the mythology and hang the story from there. Grass hangs the story off a singular character, a woman who is on this planet by circumstance, not choice.

And that is vastly different to any other science-fiction I have read. The character is there because of the whim of her husband. But it's this character which comes to the fore-front, takes charge and leads the story, not her husband, the original protagonist. The character develops, not just along the lines of the plot, but as an individual person, and breaks out from her husband's shadow.

This will probably be regarded as "feminist" writing, but I would disagree. I would simply claim this is good writing, simply with a female character in the lead.

A large surprise was the treatment of religion. Most science fiction likes to ridicule religion, to point out the flaws and fallacies of the belief in an ultimate being when man has reached the realm of space. Grass plays religion in two roles. The first role is that of a dominant empire, corrupting in power and running it's own agenda (nothing unusual here). The other plays religion as a genuinely concious voice, and uses it as an integral role to explore aspects of understanding and as a sounding board and moral compass for the protagonist. This is highly unusual in science-fiction, and rather pleasant. It's easy to adopt a point of continual criticism in what appears to be absurd, it's much harder to attempt to appreciate any good which may exist with that.

The plot and the development of the plot are excellent. We start with a simple premise, a plague, and a man being sent to investigate a possible cure. What we find is a highly complicated society, with an eco-cycle, which when eventually explained, is significantly more developed and involved than would first appear. The conclusion and the solution is laughably simple, but only with the knowledge acquired from the entire story. There are other books in this series, but Grass can be comfortably read on it's own, there are no direct loose ends to indicate the necessity of a sequel. The plot is meaty (this is no small book), and there is plenty to keep you chewing.

This is one of the best books I've read for a while. I wouldn't call it a page-turner, I happily put it down when I was tired. I wanted to read it with fresh eyes and an alert mind.

In summary - it's refreshing, the plot is excellent, and the character development are superb. Liking Dune is no guarantee that you will like Grass, but if you like well developed stories about people, you should like Grass.