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“Sheri S. Tepper takes the mental risks that are the lifeblood of science fiction and all imaginative fiction.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin, Los Angeles Times

Her first new novel since The Margarets , The Waters Rising marks the glorious return of the extraordinary Sheri S. Tepper, the award-winning contemporary master whom Locus has called, “one of sf’s most distinctive voices.” The Waters Rising tells a gripping story of a future already ravaged and now in even graver peril when a dreadful, awesome killing power is resurrected from the past. Readers of Margaret Atwood and Marge Piercy will join with fans of literary sf in praising this stunning masterwork of speculative fiction from one of the acknowledged greats.

From Publishers Weekly

The Earth of this futuristic fable is still scarred by the "Big Kill," the disastrous crescendo of our civilization that all but obliterated terrestrial life. Now a new threat has appeared in the form of rising sea levels, a process that appears unbounded by such petty concerns as a plausible source for all that water. Xulai, initially an unimportant and expendable young girl, encounters a specter from the days of Big Kill, an entity bent on preventing Xulai from realizing her potential role in the salvation of humanity. "Ecofeminist" Tepper (The Margarets) balances pointed criticisms of our era with a calamity that appears to owe far more to Genesis than to science, but the writing is slick and carefully crafted, Xulai has plenty of pluck, and her companions possess a nearly ideal mixture of virtues, flaws, and enthusiasm for redemptive sacrifice.
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From Booklist

Years after apocalyptic events killed most of the earth’s people, humankind has regained some level of society in widespread kingdoms, but both the ocean waters and the forces of evil are rising again. Abasio, an itinerant merchant and tinker, comes to the aid of Xulai, a frightened little girl assigned a terrifying errand by her dying princess-guardian, an errand that will bring the pair into opposition with the evil Alicia, Duchess of Altamont, and ultimately send them on a dangerous quest across the continent and over the seas to Xulai’s home country. There’s more than first meets the eye to Abasio, Xulai, and Alicia, and the stakes rise as their true roles in the world are slowly revealed. Tepper has developed a dependable following with works that have an epic fantasy feel but that ultimately reveal logically consistent scientific trappings. This work is no exception, a successful blend of dying-earth fantasy and wicked-witch fable. Here the transition from fantasy adventure fable to environment and genetics thought-piece is less gracefully managed, but the novel ultimately succeeds on both levels. While set in the same world as 1993’s A Plague of Angels, this title can be read alone with no difficulty. --Neil Hollands

Review

“Tepper balances pointed criticisms of our era with a calamity that appears to owe far more to Genesis than to science...the writing is slick and crafeully crafted, Xulai has plenty of pluck, and her companions possess a nearly ideal mixture of virtues, flaws, and enthusiasm for redemptive sacrifice.” (Publishers Weekly)

“The Waters Rising” delivers a strong, complex story that poses tough questions and demands a new look at the possibilities of the future.” (Wichita Eagle)

“Full of fascinating characters and beautifully detailed settings . . . complex and multifaceted . . . As always, Locus Award-winner Tepper wields grand science fiction themes with skill, vision and a twist of black humor.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

“Tepper holds up a funhouse glass to customs and mores many of us take for granted. . . . She provides a good story, with sympathetic characters and plenty to think about.” (Denver Post)

“This lyrical, beautifully written novel transcends the sum of its parts to become a parable of survival and hope in hopeless times.” (The Guardian)

“Tepper has developed a dependable following with works that have an epic fantasy feel but that ultimately reveal logically consistent scientific trappings. This work is no exception, a successful blend of dying-earth fantasy and wicked-witch fable.” (Booklist)

“ The Waters Rising, stands as a thoughtful allegory for environmentalism.” (Iron Mountain Daily News)

From the Back Cover

Acclaimed author Sheri S. Tepper returns with a stunning novel in which a dreadful, awesome, killing power is resurrected from the past . . . and only a dying woman, a child, and a man who has come to help them can prevent humanity's extinction

The Waters Rising

She is "one of sf's most distinctive voices" ( Locus ); a writer who "excels at surprises" (Oklahoma City Oklahoman ) and "takes the mental risks that are the lifeblood of science fiction and all imaginative fiction" (Ursula K. Le Guin). The extraordinary Sheri S. Tepper creates bold tales, set in future societies, that offer provocative insights into our own world. The Waters Rising is her most ambitious and imaginative novel to date, a compelling saga of magic and science, intrigue and turmoil, war and peace, survival and extinction.

Long ago was the Big Kill, a time when the slaughterers walked the earth unseen, killing, departing, returning to kill again and again. Since then mountains have risen, deserts have fallen, the last of humankind has scattered; myth, superstition, and legend have replaced knowledge; and the great waters rising are changing the world.

In the west, the people of Norland live in small kingdoms, unaware that a hideous evil from ages past has been revived. Powers are being used. Curses are being laid . . . and the waters are rising as never before.

As forests drown, swamps become lakes, and roads disappear, houses—whole towns—are hitched to teams of oxen and moved upward. Misery is compounded when the Sea King declares war. No ships may sail on the new, growing oceans, and refugees from sunken islands continue to arrive.

And in Norland a cursed princess fights death, awaiting the one who can save not her, but perhaps humanity. She is tended by one fearful young girl, her servant and soul carrier, Xulai, a child of her own kind from the mystical kingdom of Tingawa. Upon her mistress's death, Xulai must return to their homeland to fulfill a sacred mission.

Accompanied by her protectors, Great Bear and Precious Wind, and guided by the mysterious wanderer Abasio and his talking horse, Big Blue, the band begins a journey to this land across the western sea where the waters' rising has long been expected. Their odyssey, fraught with peril and wonder, is long enough for plans to be made that are so strange, so audacious, that they are instantly dismissed; plans so potentially successful that an ancient killer must be awakened to stop their fulfillment.

Deeply original in scope and vision, The Waters Rising is a daring and remarkable work of fiction from a master of the craft.

About the Author

Sheri S. Tepper is the author of more than thirty resoundingly acclaimed novels, including The Waters Rising , The Margarets , The Companions , The Visitor , The Fresco , Singer from the Sea , Six Moon Dance , The Family Tree , Gibbon's Decline and Fall , Shadow's End , A Plague of Angels , Sideshow , and Beauty ; numerous novellas; stories; poems; and essays. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.