Gibbon's Decline and Fall
Read Gibbon's Decline and Fall Online
Authors: Sheri S. Tepper
Praise for the extraordinary novels of
Sheri S. Tepper
SIDESHOW
“Tepper's exhilarating new science fiction novel,
Sideshow
, and her earlier books,
Grass
and
Raising the Stones
 â¦Â are the old-fashioned kind, despite their futuristic settings; the kind that wrap you in their embrace, that take over your life, that make the world disappear.”
â
Voice Literary Supplement
RAISING THE STONES
“Tepper effectively combines satire â¦Â inventive social engineering, strong main characters, and a plot that works on both internal and external levels in what may be her best novel to date.”
â
Kirkus Reviews
GRASS
“A splendid achievement, one of the most satisfying science fiction novels I have read in years.”
â
The New York Times Book Review
BEAUTY
“Rich, multitudinous, witty, metaphysical, continually surprising,
Beauty
is a feast.”
â
Locus
AFTER LONG SILENCE
“A tremendously exciting and inventive novel, with excellent characterizations and a taut plot â¦Â Absolutely fascinating.”
â
Anne McCaffrey
THE GATE TO WOMEN'S COUNTRY
“Lively, thought-provoking â¦Â The plot is ingenious, packing a wallop of a surprise.⦠[Tepper] takes the mental risks that are the lifeblood of science fiction and all imaginative narrative.”
âUrsula K. Le Guin,
Los Angeles Times
A PLAGUE OF ANGELS
“Like [C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Ursula K. Le Guin], Tepper takes the traditional icons of fantasy, restores their resonance, and makes them her own.”
â
Star Tribune
, Minneapolis
Other Bantam Books by
Sheri S. Tepper
The Gate to Women's Country
Beauty
Grass
Raising the Stones
Sideshow
A Plague of Angels
Shadow's End
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED
.
GIBBON'S DECLINE AND FALL
A Bantam Spectra Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Bantam hardcover edition / August 1996
Bantam paperback edition / July 1997
SPECTRA
and the portrayal of a boxed “s” are trademarks of Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1996 by Sheri S. Tepper.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 95-49292
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-57345-2
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
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Â
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“â¦Â the most incredible stories are the best adapted to
the genius of an enraged people ⦔
Edward Gibbon
The History of the Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire
SUMMER 1959T
HE AUNTS HAD CAUGHT
C
AROLYN
, dragged her to the side of the boat, figuratively speaking, and were forcibly attempting to Crespinize her, while she, Carolyn, twisted on the hook in desperation.
“I don't think it's proper,” she murmured politely, hiding panic, hoping the idea of propriety would make them pause. Fond hope. Hope betrayed.
“Albert is perfectly reliable,” said Aunt Clotilde with a dreadful clatter of large, too-white teeth.
As, oh, indeed he was. Perfectly reliable. Perfectly self-satisfied. Perfectly capable of taking any ordinary weekend and turning it into the Worst Experience of One's Life. Carolyn, gritting her teeth, stared through the screens of the summer porch at the stretching blue of Long Island Sound and focused on the radio sounds in the background: “Mr. Sandman,” being sung by who? Whom. Mr. Sandman. Send me a dream. Not Albert.
Aunt Atrena, who always spoke immediately after Aunt Clotilde, did so now in a tone that said, Pay Attention, Child. “Albert thought it would be a treat for you, before you start college. You know he would never do anything to embarrass you.”
Aside from the embarrassment attendant upon being seen with him, that was probably true. And since she knew no one
in Washington, D.C., chances are she could go down there for the weekend, take the tour through the FBI building (a signal honor, according to Albert, not allowed to Just Anyone), see the Smithsonian, go to the opening of whatever show it was at the National Gallery, and be returned home unscathed.