Orson Scott Card: Writer of the Terrible Choice

by Edith S. Tyson

From a precocious childhood, through practice at playwriting in college, early writing, and life-experiences from the mission field in Brazil to unemployment crises back in the USA, Orson Scott Card has become an established writer. He is best known for his novel Ender's Game . But, provocative as this book is, with its supreme ethical dilemma at the climax, and even though it has given birth to two sets of sequels ( The Speaker Trilogy and The Shadow Books ), it should not be regarded as Card's only great work.

Card is completing a series set in a fantastic, and alternate, North The Tales of Alvin Maker , a saga that shows the struggle of good and evil as you never saw it before. He has daringly done a saga of humanity on a distant planet governed by a supercomputer, rediscovering its home of origin, The Homecoming Series . And, with Kathryn Kidd, he has begun a trilogy in which humans manufacture their own aliens, by giving animals The Mayflower Trilogy . He has reached out into Biblical fiction. He wrote about Moses and the Exodus three decades ago as a musical play, and now has redone it as a novel. Among his most recent books are the Women of Genesis series, at once original yet faithful to the Biblical model. He writes about his own denomination, the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), in the past, the present age, and the future. We discover how a singing voice can be a weapon, or how a young woman can lead a quest. He can be masterful at ghost-story suspense; in time travel, he can show love transcending time, or he can recreate centuries of history. He is best known for novels and novel-series, yet some of his best work is in novellas, novelettes, or short stories.

Through it all, there runs The "Terrible Choice". If you don't know Orson Scott Card yet, this book will introduce you. If you know just a few of his books, this book will introduce you to aspects of Card that you never suspected.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an overview of all of Orson Scott Card's literary works. Some underlying themes in all of them were the need for a 'terrible choice' between two bad choices with far reaching consequences, and a talented, extraordinary child. I found Ender's Game quite captivating, so I wanted to see what else he had written. I had not previously noticed the strong Theistic, Christian, and Mormon influence on a lot of his writing, but it was interesting, and enhances my understanding of the stories.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up in the YA section of the library...He is married to my cousin, so I thought it might be interesting. After adding this to Goodreads, I realize there are several biographies on him. I have only read a few of his books, but maybe I should pick a few up...

[Vivian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping to get some further insights into one of my favorite authors, but the analyses were superficial and badly written. Even if this is for young adults, they shouldn't be talked down to, and this book doesn't add anything to increase understanding of this author's books. A shame.