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Sideshow by Sherri S. Tepper
01/02/2003 . Source: Donna Jones 
pub: Gollancz. 482 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-85798-319-X. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
In an age where the universe is dictated to by omnipotent gods, one planet is not under their rule. Elsewhere, the last place the Hobbs Land Gods inflicts their vision of peace and balance with nature.
Where the scholars of Brannigan Galaxity hoped that the Great Question would be answered and thus the reasoning behind leaving Elsewhere out of the Hobbs Land Gods ruler ship, diversity brings about unbridled thought.
Zasper Ertigon, an Elsewhere Enforcer of the peace and diversity of those living on Elsewhere is uneasy. He's uneasy because things are changing on Elsewhere for the worse. Sacrifices to the Elsewhere gods are becoming more and more horrific, the air of the place is becoming dark and ominous, and Zasper is worried.
In a distant place and time a recently wedded couple decide that they are to have children. In a marriage fraught with the strictness of the Catholic religion, their pregnancy and eventually their marriage suffer. Ultimately, the children that they eventually have are taken on by the only family member who is not devout to any god except the god of the circus act. Aunt Sizzy entwines them in the circus Sideshow.
Zasper also has his strange relationships with castaways and lost souls, whom he takes under his wing, learns their stories and becomes entwined in their lives.
Somehow all of the characters meet, all the multitude of different faceted peoples converges on each other's lives and they embark on a mission. That mission you soon realise is the mission of the entire human race. To answer the Great Question...
What is the destiny of Man?
This book develops the characters of this scenario very well. Using different techniques of getting across a characters motivations and desires with what appears to the reader as very little effort. Those developments make the story easy to become involved in and quite quickly, too.
However, because you feel so involved with the characters you do feel a little let down by the eventual end to the book. It is eventual, being 482 pages long in tiny letters; long-sighted people without prescription glasses need not apply.
The underlining fuel of this book seems to be theology, the concepts of religion coming up early on and then being turned to the more focused direction of overall humanity. Again a good thing, thought provoking and a thinker's book, but the ending leaves a lot to be desired. The great revelation that you are expecting comes out in an awkward exchange between some of the supporting characters and doesn't really get the honoured respect you are led to believe it deserves throughout the book.
It is categorised as a Science Fiction novel, however the undertones of fantasy are prevalent, so die-hard SF nuts again need not apply. But saying that it does work, on the same level that Piers Anthony's 'Apprentice Adept' series eventually worked using a parallel-dimensioned world split in two by war.
Tepper's writing starts quite uneasily, making the book seem awkward but as the characters lives take over the story line, Tepper seems to relax into the telling of the tale. Again unfortunately the ending let the writing down in that it seemed rushed out, getting to the 500 page mark? Wrap it up now, kinda feel.
So, overall a good book, not a great book but one that certainly isn't being hidden away out of shame off my bookshelf. It would appeal to the Science Fiction fraternity as well as the fantasy brigade.
Donna Jones
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