Sheri S. Tepper writes amazing Sci-fantasy books.  The first Tepper book I read was "The Awakeners"  whilst travelling around Europe in a caravenette when I was 14.  Not to the pleasure of my mother... "I can't believe you've got you're nose in a book with all this once in a lifetime scenery going past you.   How can you appreciate it when you sit for hours reading that thing?" Had I been a few years older, whilst driving through the Mosel or Rhine Valley for at least 6 hours, would have been...... "Well after watching   and 'appreciating the scenery' for the last hour, how many hours of vineyards can one person take in?" Don't get me wrong, the holiday was one never to be forgotten.  But so was this book and so was the suntan I aquired whilst reading it by the poolside! This was the first of a few I read because I became addicted to the way she threw you tit-bits describing the ficticious creatures and planets throughout the first half of the book then finally she describes the thing in full.  The fix is when the picture in your mind matches almost exactly the detailed description of the animal/planet/person/f*** knows what else.

Sheri S. Tepper   The Awakeners   Grass   The Enigma Score