The Companions

Starred review from July 21, 2003
Fans will hail Hugo nominee Tepper's latest (after 2002's The Visitor), with its compelling story of an ordinary woman flung into extraordinary circumstances, but interesting ideas left undeveloped, awkward transitions from first to third person and unfair withholding of information may annoy others. Earth, incredibly overcrowded, has passed a new law prohibiting nonhuman life on the planet. Jewel Delis, dog keeper and member of an underground animal-rights group, wrangles her way to the planet Moss with several dogs, ostensibly to help her unpleasant half brother Paul, a linguist, figure out the peculiar language of the planet's varied inhabitants. Jewel finds Moss every bit as odd as advertised, with strange and dangerous plants, fantastic dances performed by creatures that may or may not be intelligent, and a group of humans descended from the crew of a spaceship that crash-landed years earlier. But figuring out how the Mossen communicate is only the beginning, as Jewel and her dogs get sucked into a portal, where Moss, Mars, the dogs, a missing alien race and Jewel's ex-husband collide. As usual in this author's novels, overt themes of ecology and feminism combine with thrilling mystery, and just as typically, a deus ex machina—here aliens stepping in to save the day—makes for a less than emotionally satisfying ending. Still, Tepper talks about important issues, besides excelling at world-building and at creating strong and independent characters.

July 1, 2003
The planet Moss holds many mysteries for the two human groups sent to survey the planet and assess its potential for human colonization and profit. Accompanying her linguist brother, Paul, Jewel Delis has her own agenda for exploring Moss. As a member of the "arkist" movement, she seeks hospitable planets to provide homes for Earth's animal population, now threatened with extinction as the planet's government seeks to make room for the growing human population. As Jewel and her specially bred companion dogs explore the planet's surface, they uncover the world's true indigenous population, as well as a hidden group of humans descended from colonists stranded there generations ago. Each group holds secrets that, when put together, reveal an immediate threat from a long-forgotten race of technologically advanced predators. Tepper (The Visitor) once again confronts timely issues-in this case, the potential conflict between animal rights and human survival-with sensitivity and imagination. Her characters, whether human, animal, or alien, resonate with realism, while her imagined worlds come to vivid life as more than simply background. Highly recommended.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2003
Tepper's new grand-space opera contains a mysterious planet that may or may not bear intelligent life but does host the remains of a fleet of Earth ships; several predatory cultures, human and alien; an implausible law that will eliminate all nonhuman animal life on Earth; and a heroine who is a true speaker to animals and is trying to find a refuge for them. The good guys are larger than life, the bad guys smaller (whining rather than bold villains), and everything in the book comes together in a magnificent climax. The profeminist, antimale, antireligious didacticism that marks so much of Tepper's work is present in full measure, but so is her extremely fine writing. Tepper's command of language and characterization should have readers busily turning pages right up to the climax, even if, now and then, they will want to install earplugs to soften the shrieking of axes being ground. Oh, well, Tepper's hefty following will happily receive this book, which, neophytes should be advised, isn't the ideal introduction to her.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)