Kevin's Watch

Mary, one of the things that struck me most about ENDER'S SHADOW was its complexity compared with ENDER'S GAME. Agreed, complexity and emotional depth are not the same thing.

dAN, I read the first three Alvin Maker books. I loved the first one and thought they went gradually downhill from there. That was many years ago, and I want to (re)read the entire series before I form my current opinion on them.

It was last year for me, and it was my first read of them. I like Card, but I believe his impact is greater in the opening books of his series. Still, I find the Alvin books to be a clever reinvention of early U.S. history.

Joy, I have to admit, I haven't exactly found the Shadow series "complex" either.

I may have said this above, but my favorite books of the Alvin Maker series are Prentice Alvin, and Alvin Journeyman.

I found Seventh Son hard to get into, especially at first, and Red Prophet a bit too mystical.

I haven't enjoyed Hearthfire and Crystal City as good as my 2 favorites, either, but, of course, I will continue reading.

~MsMary~

Heh, I thought Ender's Game was fiction!
news.com.com/2100-1043_3-5211682.html?tag=st.pop

Someone in for our school newspaper did a story comparing Ender's Game with the Halo craze... about how all the boys play war games constantly

Interesting, comparing Halo with Ender's Game. There is even a Jane-like character in Halo.

I know some people who play it, though it doesn't appeal to me much. Just how popular and wide-spread has playing Halo become?

I agree, Fizban. Maps in a Mirror is fabulous. I have often pushed this book. I think OSC excels in short story writing. I found many of the stories to be better than many of his novels. I was very glad to hear he was re-issuing Maps in paperback. It has been out of print for years, and Card fans have scrounged and searched for old copies of the original hardbound edition - I got mine off ebay a couple years ago.

OSC is an amazing short story writer. He may be my favorite all time in that category. Really, his Ender's Game is great, and only gets wierd at the end because he's trying to wrap up a million loose ends, and keep from being predictable at the same time. It's too bad that when you try to avoid predictable, you sometimes also avoid the original point of your story, which was my personal belief about COTM. Maybe he got it all back with the "Bean" stories; I don't know.

I agree with you about OSC's short stories, I think he's a master at them. About the succubus baby story, Eumenides in the Fourth-Floor Lavatory, SRD included that in the STRANGE DREAMS collection of short stories he edited.

That is a really creepy story.

I enjoy most everything that OSC writes... and have read most things I think. I find him to be very easy to read. Enders Game of course is my favourite, with songmaster a close second. But I think my favourite thing about OSC is the little bit of personal blurb that he puts in his books and after his short stories that tells about his motivations and ideas... or just where he is in his life. I really like that . And yes I think he writes the best short stories too

judith

ORSONS

THE GAP SERES IS GREAT

A BOOK I JUST READ THAT I REALLY LOVED AND ENJOYED WAS
THE LAST KING by Michael Curtis Ford. Also Lion Of Ireland is a real good one, by Morgan Lylwyan; she also wrote a bunch of other good books like Druid's and a few others. Anne Rice's books on vampires are very good;
I read all of her books and they were quite good. I'm a sci-fi and fantsy lover at heart, but next is history like Rome or Greece or Ireland or the Celts or Druids.

One of the best and sickest books I ever read was The Damnation Game by Clive Barker; he also wrote a few other good ones.

talking about short stories
the best one i ever read was in omni magazine back in 1981 it was called SAND KINGS

judith wrote:I enjoy most everything that OSC writes... and have read most things I think. I find him to be very easy to read. Enders Game of course is my favourite, with songmaster a close second. But I think my favourite thing about OSC is the little bit of personal blurb that he puts in his books and after his short stories that tells about his motivations and ideas... or just where he is in his life. I really like that . And yes I think he writes the best short stories too

judith

Hi, Judith.

A lot of people seem to like Songmaster, but, frankly, it was not one of my favorite OSC books - too much violence for me.

Have you (or anyone else) tried Card's Pastwatch? That is a very interesting book, especially if you have any kind of interest in history.

MsMaryMalone wrote:...I may have said this above, but my favorite books of the Alvin Maker series are Prentice Alvin, and Alvin Journeyman.

I found Seventh Son hard to get into, especially at first, and Red Prophet a bit too mystical.

I haven't enjoyed Hearthfire and Crystal City as good as my 2 favorites, either, but, of course, I will continue reading.

~MsMary~

Damn, it's been so long since I read the Alvin Maker series, that I had no idea that they carried on past Prentice Alvin. Now I'm not going to be able to rest until I find the next set. I thoroughly enjoyed them, although not as much as Ender and the Hegemon series, they were my first introduction to OSC.

--Avatar

Heh, I'm on an OSC kick at the moment. I read the first 'Alvin' and the first 'Ender' books years ago; now I've read through the Alvin series and busy going through the Ender books - on 'Xenocide' at the moment.

Lots of very thought-provoking concepts, particularly in regards to morality and ethics. And very well-written stories, too.

I plan on reading Crystal City by year's end. I believe it is the 5th and last book in the series.