I've completed reading two Orson Scott Card novels; "Ender's Shadow," and "Shadow of the Hegemon." A friend of mine has mentioned them as evidence that Card has become bitter. I don't see it, frankly. Yes, the stories are somewhat dark, but Card has always been a little dark. None of his books have painted an overly rosy image of mankind. If you're looking for an author who espouses the idea that mankind gets it right more often than it gets it wrong, don't look to Card.
More interesting to me was the Author's Note at the end of "Shadow of the Hegemon." I don't know if it was part of the book, as I listened to this one. In any case, he explains that a lot of the Shadow series, and this book in particular, had its roots in playing Risk with his brothers as a child, and going from using the game board provided to creating their own from real maps of the world. It makes me wonder if someday I'll be pulling book ideas from the RPGs I used to play with my sister and brother.
There are several more books in the series, and I plan to get to them. But I need a rest. I've plowed through both books simultaneously in about two weeks. I've got Beans for brains, and they're Petra-fied. Much more and I'll develop Achilles' tendencies. Oh, I crack myself up!
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2 comments:
Ouch! That was terrible (because I didn't think of it first!)
I've borrowed it from a friend of mine. I could ask if he minds me loaning it to you.
I really enjoyed the "Shadow" series, although I sometimes wanted to bean Bean. Yes, Card's novels can be dark, but not to the point of despair. Stories that are all happy happy don't ring true now that I've grown up enough to realize that even living happily ever after doesn't mean nothing ever goes wrong, or that you're always going to feel happy. If you do, I think they call that mania, and they put you on medication for it.
While reading this series I also found myself referring to my "Risk" knowledge of world geography and remembering that whoever had the green countries pretty much stomped all over everyone else, or at least stomped all over me, time after time, after doggone time! How about a "Risk" family reunion next year? Maybe not. I still don't like losing that game, especially to pesky little brothers.
I just finished "Aftermath" by Levar Burton. He almost makes Orson Scott Card look like Mr. Sweetness and Light. The world he describes a mere six to ten years in the future is one I definitely wouldn't want to live in. He tries to end things on a note of hope, but it kind of felt like too little too late to me.
It was interesting that in the forward Burton talks about growing up watching Star Trek and getting a message of hope from it because of the Uhura character. His forward sounds so hopeful and positive and yet the novel itself is so negative on the issue of race relations. It kind of makes me wonder what he really thinks. Since it's his only published novel, I guess I won't find out.
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