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Orson Scott Card

I

igbomb

New Member
There seems to be plenty of discussion of the Ender series in the sci-fi forum, but not much on the rest of his work.

Since I'm nearing the end of the Ender series, I was wondering if any of his other stuff is worth reading, specifically the Alvin Maker series.

Like most people on here, I've got a ridiculous TBR list, and unless some of his other writing is among the best in its genre, I'll probably pass on it and move onto another author.

Opinions are appreciated!
 
Alvin Maker

I like Orson Scott Card. I think Ender series is overrated, beyond 'Ender's game', which I think is very good.

Alvin maker is a fantasy series, as opposed to sci-fi, but has the same writing style. I personally found it too be of the same or higher quality as the Ender series, with more of a quality follow up to the first book.

I think most people give up on Card when they see how the Ender series gets redundant toward the end. In my opinion, 'Alvin Maker' deserves a read if you like fantasy.

Cheers
 
The Worthing Saga

igbomb said:
There seems to be plenty of discussion of the Ender series in the sci-fi forum, but not much on the rest of his work.
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Actually after Ender I scanned for more of Orson Scott Card. I came across "The Worthing Saga", including "the Worthing Chronicle", "Tales of Capitol", and "Tales from the Forest of Waters". It is not as touching and brilliant as Ender's Game. But some ideas were nice. However, at times it was boring to read - he enters some descriptions and would go forever with boring details. Not very dynamic, though. Also his church background is very dominant in the "Worthing Saga". There is much of "Suffering Philosophy" bullshit. But he brings his own opinion into this subject so his Saga was not as human-hating as the New Testimony in middle ages (and partly even nowadays, unfortunately).

Bottom line: I would recommend the Worthing Saga. It was not a wasted time to read it. From the epic point of view, it a bit reminded me of a Dune by Herbert, but this is my personal feeling thus might be arguable by other readers.

I would like your opinion on Alvin Maker if you will eventually read it.
 
The only book I ever read by Orson Scott Card was The Lost Boys, which made me cry so hard that my parents were really worried about me.
 
The first Card book I read was "Enchantment" and I absolutely loved it! I only read Ender's Game in that series and I liked it, but haven't felt motivated to continue the series. A friend recommended the Alvin Maker series, but I haven't started on it yet. I'll let you know what I think when I do, though.
 
have you read the shadows series? they're not on the same level as ender's game and speaker for the dead (well maybe ender's shadow could be) but still worth a read if you liked the enders series. I also read Enchantment and it is pretty damn good
 
well, I've read the Ender series and, while I enjoyed it, I was happy to see him bring it to a close. As has been reccommended, the Shadow trilogy picks up from the Ender series through a different set of eyes and, if you liked ender, it's a good choice to go for. I really enjoyed it.
What I've really enjoyed is the Alvin Maker series. It does manage to avoid the redundancies that come up with Ender and my only complaint is Card seems to have put it on a back burner and Crystal City took forever to come out and I'm still waiting for what "should" come next. Fortunately there have been other things to read.
I've pretty much liked all of Cards works that I've been able to get hold of; I've just noticed that there are some things he doesn't quite get around to completing which can be very furstrating. His latest book, Empire, is an intrigueing example of a near future revolution. If you like that kind of thing, it also might be a good read.
Hope this helps.
 
Just got 'Empire' from my library. Halfway through the audiobook now. Set in the present or very near future, more techno thriller than sci-fi, I think it's pretty good so far.
Different from what I'd read of Card's so far, this book is full of real life political, historical and pop culture references. Some of the themes are reminiscent of the Ender series, with supersoldier characters, and military focus of the whole book.
I think most of the audio book is narrated by Card (the credits have two guys). The narration is OK.
 
I listened to the audio book of "Empire" last month. There's a real shocker in the middle. Overall, I enjoyed it but was disappointed when he was vague on details. In the beginning, the two protagonists get "weapons" from the park rangers. These are apparently sniper rifles, but why would the park rangers have sniper rifles in their HQ? But the book is more political intrigue, and on that level it worked quite well.

As a random note, I also listened to Speaker for the Dead, which I'd read years ago. At the end of the CD, Card says that Speaker was supposed to be the big book, Ender's Game was written just to set up the character for Speaker. Both of those books are great, but he began losing me with the 3rd.

Take care,

JohnB
 
I've read the Ender and Shadow Series' more times that I can count as I find something new in them in every reading. However, I find the Ender series to be difficult to read and not indicative of most of Card's writing.

The Women of Genesis series is highly worth reading.

Also the Alvin Maker series was very good (though I prefer the Ender and Shadow series').

Finally, I just finished Empire last night. It was so hard for me to put the book down that I read it in two days. I think this book brings out the genius of Card. It doesn't matter whether he's writing about children being trained for intergallactic war with bugs or women who lived in biblical times, Card ALWAYS writes in a way that the story relates to the reader. Empire isn't just an idea that came from a video game, it's a plausible future, which is why I was so captivated. I HIGHLY recommend this book...
 
I read one of Card's books a few years ago: Enchantment, based on the Sleeping Beauty legend. I liked the parts set in ancient/medieval Russia, but the whole time travel aspect annoyed me. Plus his characters weren't exactly on the "likable" side. I also tried reading Sarah but after 100 or so pages and not really liking where it was going... I returned the book back to the library as soon as I was able to.
 
I have read several books by Orson Scott Card, the entire Ender and Shadow series', as well as Magic Street. I loved Ender's Game, and Speaker for the Dead, and Ender's Shadow. I enjoyed Magic Street, but the part about the little girl and the water bed freaked me out a bit.

Ender's Game is one of my favorite books ever, I fell in love with it by the second page and wrote a paper on it, just for fun. (I know I'm strange) I loved Ender's Shadow, but it wasn't as good as Ender's Game.

I haven't read anything else by Card, but only because of my brief obsession lately with modern classics.
 
I like most of Card's works that I've read. I had to put down Enchantment after a while, though, it got too gory for my tastes. However, I really like the Alvin Maker series, especially the alternative history aspect of it.
 
I just finished reading Ender's Game a few weeks ago and I most say it wasn't so good. The story is mediocre at best. I know I stand in the minority this time but that's just how I feel about the book. :(
 
AquaBlue said:
I just finished reading Ender's Game a few weeks ago and I most say it wasn't so good. The story is mediocre at best. I know I stand in the minority this time but that's just how I feel about the book. :(
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At least you finished the book. After page 87 I just put it down and moved on to something else. I can't recall if I didn't like his writing or the way the story was structured, but I do know I wasn't impressed.
 
I was so looking forward to the book after reading all the wonderful reviews. Sadly, I just was not impressed. It was not at all interesting in my view. :rolleyes:
 
i loved Songmaster... but i have not enjoyed other books by OSC quite so much.. thought Ender's Game overrated. Alvin Maker was ok...
 
I enjoyed Ender's Game. Speaker for the Dead was pretty good but every subsequent book in the series was worse than the previous one. I did read them all though.

erskine777 said:
have you read the shadows series? they're not on the same level as ender's game and speaker for the dead (well maybe ender's shadow could be) but still worth a read if you liked the enders series. I also read Enchantment and it is pretty damn good
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I read the Shadow series and I was left with the impression that they were geared more towards young adults. The series was OK. Not great, not bad. Just OK.
 
Card is going to be at the convention in Provo, Utah in...July I think. The convention is called Life the Universe and Everything. I'm pretty stoked to meet him.
 
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