Tepper is wonderfully thought-provoking. ( )

(originally published as two novels: Northshore and Southshore.
Lately, I've been disappointed in a lot of the Tepper books I've read. She's an excellent, brilliantly original writer, but too often there's a tendency toward over the top climaxes and beat-em-over-the-head politicizing.
There definitely ARE gender issues going on here... but set in the context of the social structure of an alien species, the situation is handled deftly, with the right amount of subtlety.
It's a long book, and it lags slightly in the middle, but its also very rich, with a well-drawn world and a perfect mix of sci-fi and horrific elements.
In this world, we see a planet that was definitely colonized by humans, but the party line, set by an extremely strict society ruled by a politico-religious body called the Awakeners, is that people were always here.
One of the main tenets of the religion is that the corpses of the dead must be given to the Awakeners for "sorting." If you were not good enough in life, you are destined to be given a reanimating agent and you conscious-but-dead body will be forced to do manual labor, zombie-like.
In rebellion against her dead mother's heresy, a young woman joins the hated-and-feared Awakeners - but once there, she learns that her religious zeal is met with a degree of amusement - and a terrible disillusionment is in store, when she learns that certain practices have little to do with salvation, and much to do with the mysterious, vicious fliers - alien bird-men that have been seen talking with high-ranked Awakeners.
Meanwhile, river traders are exempt from some of the restrictions places on townsfolk. One such riverman, a wood carver, accidentally fishes the body of the dead heretic woman from the water. It has been struck by the Blight, an ailment that turns living flesh to the appearance of wood. Pretending the dead woman is one of his carvings, he keeps her in his cabin, in a odd obsession - that will lead to yet another revelation about the weird truth of life in this world... ( )

Two early novels in one volume. As with most of Tepper's novels, the plot concerns social issues, religion and class structure. Cover blurb: "Come to a world distant in time and space, a world where the pace of life is counted by tides of the great River, but where, as in the river itself, there are swift dark currents flowing under a placid surface. -- Meet Pamra Don, a young woman scarred by her mother's death, lured to a priesthood where the truth must be hidden from the faithful. And meet Thrasne, a young boatman who trades from town to town, free from the iron control of the Towers of the Awakeners, and the priests of the world of the River -- free, that is, as long as he never speaks his mind. These two, by design and accident both, are about to discover many truths. -- And on the Northshore of the River, the truth can kill you."

As indicated above, the story takes place on an unnamed world circled by The Great River which separates two landmasses. The northern landmass, Northshore, is populated by humans and Thraish, an avian species. The two species, especially their leadership, have a somewhat parasitic relationship with each other -- the Thraish provide a life-extending elixir for the elite priesthood, and the priesthood provides food for the Thraish. But all is not well on Northshore. An underground resistance movement is disrupting the food supply; and a young priestess has discovered the truth about her religion. Both of these have far reaching consequences which change life on Northshore forever.

Engaging characters, some very nice imagery. Recommended. ( )