The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper
Genre: Adult Fiction
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: Purchased for fun read
Book Description:
Part thriller, part social SF, prolific novelist Sheri S. Tepper's latest follows the adventures of Benita Alvarez-Shipton, an empty nester in her mid-30s, whose life is changed when two aliens ask her to carry their greetings to Washington, D.C. Chosen as intermediary because she is both ordinary and beyond political reproach, Benita seizes the opportunity to leave her abusive, alcoholic husband and start a new life in D.C. However, she doesn't count on her role extending beyond the initial delivery of the alien greetings, or on the dangers it will attract to her and her children.
Chiddy and Vess, ethical representatives of the benevolent Pistach, come to offer earth inclusion in a multirace Confederation--but on condition that earth clean up its societal woes. Earth has also attracted the attention of a subgroup of predatory races, who view the overpopulated planet as a rich hunting ground. Humanity must choose--either adopt the Pistach principal of Neighborliness and be ushered into the Confederation or refuse and be left at the mercy of the predators.
Interwoven with the earth-based action are excerpts from Chiddy's diary, written as a letter to Benita, that describe the complex Pistach society and the Pistach religion documented by the eponymous Fresco. The 17-panel, divinely inspired painting has for centuries been obscured by smoke from votive candles. Tradition dictates the events and symbols that lie hidden beneath the grime, and it is taboo to ever clean the Fresco. When Chiddy accidentally clears away part of the soot, revealing images that contradict Pistach dogma, it sets into motion a chain of events that undermine racial self-perception and threaten both Pistach and human survival.
Though some of the characters are drawn with such broad strokes as to render them caricatures, and there are elements of Pistach social engineering to alarm readers of just about any political stripe, The Fresco is nonetheless an engrossing, sometimes wickedly funny read.
Review:
I don’t have any review copies lined up until next month so now I’m reading just for fun.
What if there really are intelligent beings out there, what would they look like, how would they react to us and us to them. This book address that and what our world could be like if we joined The Confederation.
Benita becomes the “ambassador” for Earth and is the go-between for the Pistach people. They want her to take their message to her president and ends up wondering why she was chosen.
The Pistach people want to help the people of Earth become neighborly, which is one of the requirements for membership in the Confederation along with have a liason and a profile person who travels to various worlds while the Confederation establishes a pattern for other to follow.
I like Sheri Tepper’s stories because she always has a strong, intelligent woman who is either a leader or some other important person in the story. She weaves a tale that is believable and thought provoking.
Two important things stand out for me in this story. One is how one of the pistach describes how they think our world is.
Evolution must have a way to work among all races. Your society, instead of letting people either parish from stupidity or learn from foolish acts, protect them from themselves and allow them, even helps them, to blame others for the stupidities they have committed.
The other idea that made me think is how we should perceive others. The ET says we must accept the reality of the person, not what they should or what we want them to be, but accept who they are.
I highly recommend this book and any of Sheri Tepper’s books.
Happy Reading!
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