From Amazon.com
Do people change their ways?
The Visitor explores this question on a number of levels in a postapocalyptic setting. Centuries after a catastrophic asteroid strike on Earth, survivors have rebuilt a society of religious conservatism and repression. Past technology is remembered as magic, and violent sorcery is a common political tool. Young Dismé Latimer is only concerned with surviving her abusive childhood until she discovers the journal of ancestor Nell Latimer, a scientist chosen to survive the asteroid and preserve as much human knowledge as possible. As the forces of good and evil, of science and magic, begin to converge and conflict, Dismé learns the truth about the world that came before and begins to understand that she, like Nell, has a role to play in the current preservation of Earth.
Tepper's writing is always skillful and eminently readable, and she's not afraid to tackle big ideas as well as individual stories of growth and change. Although the novel loses some focus toward the end, it paints a compelling picture of a society on the point of disintegration and graphically demonstrates how humans who are unaware of their own history are in fact likely to repeat it. --Roz Genessee
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Known for her thoughtful and sensitive exploration of such subjects as religion, politics and familial relationships, Tepper (The Fresco) here weaves two stories into an intriguing, and frequently chilling, vision of the future. After the mysterious deaths of her brother, her father and her stepmother, Dism‚ Latimer is left to the disdainful care of her ambitious older stepsister, Rashel. In a world where the ruling Regime regards questioning authority as un-Regimic, the government trades with demons for precious technology. Admitting to the existence of magic can get you "bottled" in a living death. Dism‚ must tread lightly particularly after Rashel gains a high post as conservator of the famed Faience Museum, once home to one of the last practitioners of magic. Magic disappeared, history says, during the Happening, a cataclysm so lost in time that no one knows exactly what happened no one except astronomer Nell Latimer, Dism‚'s many-times-great-grandmother, and a handful of hidden survivors who strive to keep science and learning from being lost forever. As Dism‚ strives to understand and disguise her growing magical abilities from Rashel and the Regime, Nell and her colleagues prepare for the worst: the Visitor who caused the global wreckage of the Happening is on the move again, getting closer to their hidden redoubt every day, threatening to finish the job it started millennia ago. Once again Tepper has created a mesmerizing story full of intriguing characters, resonant images and powerful themes. (Apr. 1)awards.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
