Whoa....

[katster]

Okay. Have I said that Orson Scott Card is one of the best writers I've read?

I just finished the last book in the Homecoming series. And I can feel things shifting in my brain the way they've done for only a few books before. New ideas to account for in my reckoning of the universe and in my relationship with my creator. And surprisingly, one of those books that's shifted things in my head before is Speaker for the Dead, so Card's got two books on that short list. :)

So yeah, if you get a chance, check those books out. I've not been that blown away in a while.

One of these days, I need to sit down and write out a tentative statement of belief. But right now...I'll focus on getting tired. I think.

Comments

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Hrm. I oughta check out the homecoming series, then. :)

And yeah, Speaker for the Dead was great, although the book that followed....Xenogenesis? ... well, I couldn't get through the first few chapters, and that's saying something.

[katster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Xenocide is definitely the worst of the Ender books (both the old ones and the new ones) although I liked the book that followed that (Children of the Mind is the title.) Although Speaker is the definite best in that angle. I really like the new ones he's been writing as well.

Another good Card series is Alvin Maker, if you're up for fantasy based on early America...

-kat

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, the Alvin Maker series rocks. :) I discovered that while rooting through the SF4M's collection and devoured it. I think I'm caught up to the latest in the series...

I haven't actually read any of the later Ender series books; for some reason, I just can't pick them up and read them. I mean, I just don't want to. It's weird. I guess that I'll get over it sometime and pick up the one about Bean or something, but I'll probably have to wait for one of my Patented Bibliophilic Preference Inversions to go about it...

[katster.livejournal.com]

I'd have to pull out my two omnibus ones to see what it's up to. (The first three books are in a book called Hatrack River, the last two in Alvin Wandering, so I know it's at five. Card's mentioned on his site that he wants to get around to writing six, so I'm waiting impatiently for that one.

Found both those books at the most awesome used bookstore in boringtown, so... :)

Yeah, it was a bit hard for me to get into Ender's Shadow at first, it took getting my hands on a cheap copy to start it, but once I started, I read through it in a night. It's not deep and philosophical like most of Card's work (the series is aimed at children, after all...), but it's not a bad read.

But your milage may vary, tax, licence and doc fees not included...

-kat, typing random reflections on scifi at three AM...

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Aah, okay. If he's on the fifth book, then I'm current on the series.

Lately I just haven't been able to find good sci-fi that I like -- or rather, that I'm in the mood for. Lately I've been wanting grand space combat, fleet battles, things like that. I don't want massive cultural information or a beautifully-crafted highly detailed world -- I want stories of ships lurking in the void, missile-shattered hulks, and possibly boarding actions. ;)

There was a great series by David Gerrold that I can't recall the name of that had some of this, but for the most part, I haven't been very successful in coming up with new leads.

And it's 6 am. ;) Go to sleep, woman! *grin*

[katster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah, I'll shut up after this post.

I'm not really big on that sort of scifi, i've got odd tastes. I like those detailed worlds with great philosophical implications. I'll warn you though, that the Homecoming series is definitely not mass space combat, it's more ... trying to think of a word to describe this...

I want to say *cerebral* science fiction, but I'm not sure that's the best word for it, because space combat and such can be very cerebral (Baxter is one of those doing works that just blow me away...). And I've always been very fond of science fiction that's not so in your face with the science (or doesn't let the science get in the way of a good yarn, I guess...). I like the Foundation series, and still rank it among the best stuff I've read.

So sorry I can't be of much help. And I'll go to bed. I might read instead of sleep for a while more, though...

-kat

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Heh, no worries. It's not that I don't like other types of Sci-Fi...it's just that I want that kind -now-. I go through phases with the types of stories that I want to read...one month, I may be on Sci-Fi, the next, on Fantasy...and all the various sub-genres are legitimate subjects, too.

[cjdoyle.livejournal.com]

I have two homecoming collections from the SCI-FI book club a few years ago...Homecoming:Harmony and Homecoming:Earth.

Was that it to the series?

(I worry, as I just found out about the third Amber trilogy this month, and I'd been re-reading the first two for years with no clue the story was continued.)

[katster.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I know it's five books if you're buying the paperbacks. I don't know if that helps any, as I'm not familiar with the omnibus editions...

-kat

Re:

[cjdoyle.livejournal.com]

Five sounds about right. Thanks. :)