A really solid piece of science fantasy, impressive as a debut trilogy and showing quite a bit of the author Tepper would eventually become. The world is fascinating, both when it seems magical in the first novel and when it becomes recognizably science fiction in the second two. The set pieces are filled with wonder and a bit of horror, and the narrator does convincingly grow up over the course of the story. The supporting cast of characters includes quite a few really fascinating ones, and there are only two characters that totally missed the boat for me. The narrative voice is occasionally uneven, with young-Peter narrating at times and older-Peter taking over other times, without much rhyme or reason, but that can (and should) be overlooked given the many other strengths this trilogy has.

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One of Tepper's older works, this does not focus on womens' or environmental issues to any degree. The story is well developed with many plot lines carried through the three books that make us this volume.

It's less of a "message" book, although there is a strong theme of acceptance of the "other". A very good read for any Tepper fan, and a good read for anyone who likes fantasy genre with complex plotlines.

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