The Fresco
   Sheri S. Tepper
   Associate Reviewer - D. H. BROWN
  2000 EOS Books, NY
   ISBN: 0380978792


An ordinary woman with a low self-esteem has an encounter in New Mexico with aliens who hire her to transmit their message of peace to the Capitol in Washington. Benita Alvarez-Shipton is a book store manager with grown children in college, a bully of a husband at home & nothing to go back to.

With more money than she's ever seen, as payment for her messenger service for the aliens, & a vibrating box they gave her to deliver which squeaks like a two-year old having a tantrum when left alone, Benita starts a new life with a new purpose & new-found courage. Somehow, with the advent of the aliens, Benita's faculties have sharpened & the battered, belittled spouse has sloughed away.

Meanwhile unexplained “oddities” - unrelated deaths by bizarre methods in outlandish places are being tracked by the Air Defense. Then Benita arrives in Washington DC & strange appearances, immediate insights & weird wisdom occur whenever the aliens make themselves visible.

After an informal dinner with a handful of top political advisors, the aliens designate Benita as their sole intermediary between the two sentient species & the more she learns about these extra-terrestrials who have brought color & joy back into her life, the more she appreciates their culture, beliefs & art - especially the ancient & mystical Fresco that focuses their collective lives.

Just as the Pistach have found Earth so others have cast their cold, malevolent & hungry sights on this fertile planet & Benita is caught in between.

Written about Benita & also from entries in Chiddy's journal, one of the Pistach, The Fresco, illuminates our struggle with philosophy & religion; evil & good; dark & light. Infused in this fascinating science fiction saga of what if, are the delicate & debilitating struggles with ethics: the good of the all versus the good of the singular.

I have read several Sheri S. Tepper books & although some of her stories did not click with me, they always held my attention. The worlds she creates are always different & she makes you reach to understand them. The Fresco is more of the same & while the setting is not as far out as most of her destinations, she still makes you feel as if you're living in it.

A lot has been said about alien contact. When one stops to truly visualize how we humans have polluted the space around us, I for one, am beginning to wonder who's listening. As a member of this human race, there are times when I can feel the collar of the goat around my own neck & think I can smell the tiger.

I've never been one to believe in benign nature having seen up close the remains of a good friend after his encounter with a grizzly bear. I have faced, in war & peace, members of my own species that I really wish didn't know where I lived.

The Fresco will make you think about these things & some of those thoughts won't be pretty. Were we to stop right now, the collar is already around our necks, the chain is attached to the stake which is already firmly planted in the ethersphere in the cosmos around us.

Thinking hard about what you're reading is Sheri S. Tepper's tour de force. This book will raise lots of questions about all of your life's experiences.

More from Sheri S. Tepper: Grass; Singer from the Sea; Six Moon Dance; The Family Tree; Gibbon's Decline & Fall; Shadow's End; A Plague of Angels; Sideshow & Beauty.
(04/29/01)

D. H. BROWN
A RebeccasReads.com Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
D. H. BROWN is the author of the critically acclaimed HONOR DUE and the Citizens Warrior Series. The son of missionary parents and with the help his Uncle Sam, he has touched base in more than 40 countries.  In 1986 he produced the independent children's film Lessie's Rainbow.  During the late 80s and early 90s, he wrote the book Common Sense and delivered the seminars of the same name for the Community Action Network of Seattle (CAN).  While doing his early Vietnam recovery work, he counseled Veterans and spoke widely to men's groups in Washington state, and was a founder of The Lodge of the Wolf.

D. H. BROWN has worked as a Logistics and Weapons Specialist in Viet Nam; day laborer; Director of Security; Armored Car Driver; Police Officer; Professional Hunting Guide; Trapper; Dog Sledder; Homesteader; Truck Driver; General Contractor; Minister; Editor; Writer; Speaker; Restaurateur; Movie Producer; Antique Restoration Specialist; Personal Care Worker; PC Repair Specialist; Computer Instructor; Webmaster and Web Designer. "I write about what I know."

He lives deep in the Pacific Northwest rainforest with his wife, author and editor Rebecca and Buddy Dog, working on his next book.
Visit him at: www.dhbrownbooks.com