Following a cataclysmic asteroid strike, most of the earth's population is wiped out. The few that remain, the Spared, struggle to rebuild society. They create a world where the Regime control everything by inflicting fear on the people, where "Scientism" (any non-Regimic act) is considered heresy and the dying, sick and rebellious are "bottled" - small amounts of their flesh placed into a bottle wall and the remainder destroyed.

Disme is alone. Her entire family lost in a series of bizarre circumstances, she is forced to live with her cruel and abusive stepmother and stepsister. Before being bottled, her father gave her a sacred book, the journal of Nell Latimer. Nell, a scientist, is an ancestor of Disme's and bravely left her husband and family to try and salvage something of the post-apocalyptic world. Although the Regime insists that evil entities exist outside the cities, myths exist that tell of a group of beings that will save the planet and bring the world back into the light. But, where there is good there is usually evil and here this takes the form of a malevolent entity that sleeps deep in the Earth. However, it is beginning to stir.

At first appearances this is a fantasy story. There is magic, mysterious creatures, a wicked stepmother and a heroine. Yet, very quickly it becomes obvious that this is, in reality, pure Science Fiction. We are led into a post-apocalyptic Earth society where the few, the Regime, exercise strict control over the Spared. They rule by fear. To be considered un-Regimic results, at least, in confinement in agony to a mechanical chair. At worst the dissident is bottled.

The story is told from two sides. There is the story of Nell Latimer, a scientist, who is directly involved in the attempt to salvage something of the world. She makes the difficult decision to leave her family and join a group of scientists in Omega site. Here they will store irradiated food, knowledge and genetic material. The scientists spend 96 years of each century asleep and are woken in shifts, for four years, to monitor the development of the world outside.

We are also told the story of Disme; a young woman who finds herself increasingly dissatisfied with the Regimic life. Reading Nell's journal she begins to feel drawn to a destiny that she cannot comprehend. She struggles to survive in this restrictive society, trying to follow her own path without being denounced as an un-Regimic heretic.

I have long been a fan of Sherri Tepper's writing and, yet again, I have not been disappointed. The Visitor is possibly one of her best works to date. It is not an easy read but it is certainly worth the effort. The reader can feel the anguish of Nell as she leaves her husband and children to almost certain death and puts the good of the world above her own family.

Absolutely superb!