The first hundred or so pages of the book are pure set up, focusing mostly around Maire Girat, her son Sam, and her grandsom Jep. Only a few characters are fully developed, but this is where Tepper successfully pulls an interesting stunt: it’s not the massive cast of characters that is important, it is the clashing cultures and religions that are of the utmost importance. To say the least, this is an ensemble peice, and there is a lot of keep track of. Hobbs Landers may not subscribe to a specific religion per se, unlike other ethnic groups that populate the rest of the star system, such as the Voorstoders, an over-the-top mysogynistic and violent culture the Baidee who eschew coersion of any kind, the Gharm, a humanoid race that have been enslaved by the Voorstoders and the bureaucratic and militaristic arms of the the local governments who are mainly interested in trade relations, quotas, and safety of the population. The colonists have developed a matrelinial semi-communist society and never have a problem meeting quotes on this near-Eden like planet. After sitting with a few translators, the oldest of the natives attempted to explain a few religious matters, and then died. When humans first landed on Hobbs Land, the native race was dying.

The company allows the colonists to live as they will, so long as the agricultural quotas are met. The planet Hobbs Land (so named because it is owned by Hobbs Transworld Systems) is a pastoral agricultural planet. Occasionally characters or places are referred to, but I feel you can read some of the trilogy, or all of it, in any order you want. Yes, they take place in the same universe, but the characters and situations are very different. While Raising the Stones is considered the middle book in Tepper’s Marjorie Westriding series (the first book is Grass, and the third is Sideshow), I consider all of them to be stand alones. Where I got it: have owned it for a whileĪ sprawling story that covers multiple planets and their satellites, a varity of religions and cultures, and even non-human races, both native and non-native to the planets, Raising the Stones perfectly balances epicness with intimacy.

Sheri tepper raising the stones