Earthborn

by Orson Scott Card

Paperback, 1996

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Collection

User reviews

LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
This is roughly the story of Alma the younger and his father Alma. I liked it in that it explored how the son of a prophet could become so hostile toward everything his father stood for. Some reviewers have pointed out that this book does not resolve the essential conflict - what about Harmony and
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the Oversoul? I confess that when I read these books I assumed that the real mission of the Oversoul was to bring humans back to Earth. But looking back I have to agree with those reviewers. My primary interest in this series is in watching Card re-tell a story that I am familiar with through the Book of Mormon. On that level, I think he succeeded. But for readers that aren't interested in this Mormon influenced story or who aren't interested in the religious overtones of this series, I can see that it would be disappointing.
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LibraryThing member HippieLunatic
This is a beautiful exploration of what it means to believe, but it was far and away my least favorite OSC series. This, the final book, doesn't cinch all of the themes together for me, and it left me feeling lost as to what I felt was a primary core of the story, the mission and relationship
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between the Oversoul and the Keeper.
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LibraryThing member helver
After having read some of the other reviews of this volume of the Homecoming series, I thought I would be disappointed. To be quite honest, I even started off the book disappointed. In Earthfall, we finally got to the point of Nafai being a man - no longer a boy - so that things could start to get
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interesting. But by that time, the escalation betweek him and Elemak was to the point that there was nothing else that could be done. One would kill the other. End of story.

So, in Earthborn, we start off a couple hundred years after the events of Earthfall with an entirely new set of prepubescent heroes. *sigh* Fortunately, they're grown out of their youthful ignorance relatively quickly - so the interesting things can happen.

I thought Shedemai's return to living was the most interesting part of the story, so I was somewhat disappointed that she didn't have a more forceful role. Apparently her most public action was at her trial that was ended before it really started. Obviously, her turn as the Messenger of the Keeper was interesting and probably fun for her, but it wasn't public and she never publicly "came out". I thought that may have been a compelling bit of story to tell...

The end though, was a pretty hefty let down for me. I think I would have preferred some closure for Shedemai... How long *DID* she live? What happened with the cloak? Did she have more children? I wanted to see her story resolved... and I was disappointed that Card completed the events surrounding Akma's redemption and left the rest as a exercise for the reader.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the book and powered my way through it in two sessions... but I just wasn't terribly happy with where the author left us...
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LibraryThing member cargocontainer
This book shares very little with the rest of the Homecoming series, but wouldn't make much sense without having read the rest of the series. It was worth reading once but I doubt I'll reread it any time soon. It continues Card's Book of Mormon-based tale, so if you're pretty familiar with the Book
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of Mormon, you'll have a pretty good idea of where the whole story is going.
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LibraryThing member EmScape
Finally, we're on Earth. However, if you think you might get some answers about who the Keeper of Earth might be, both you and the Oversoul are sorely mistaken. The rift between Nafai and Elemak comes to a head, and although it's pretty satisfying, it's not all shiny and happy. The angel and digger
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societies are interesting bits of archaeology, though, so the book is worth reading.
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LibraryThing member ajlewis2
I am in favor of the moral values discussed in this book. That said, this part of the saga was uninteresting in the extreme. The other 4 books were kind of preachy, but those had good stories. The story in this book seems flat and most of it is wasted.

Throughout the series there have been scenes
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that hearken back to Biblical stories. This book had that too. I don't mind, but an atheist would probably not like any of the books.
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Publication

Tor Books (1996), Reprint, Paperback

Description

Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: High above Earth orbits the starship Basilica. On board the huge vessel are a sleeping woman and an artificial intelligence, the Oversoul of Harmony. Of those who made the journey from the planet Harmony, Shedemai alone has survived the hundreds of years since the Children of Wetchik returned to Earth. She now wears the Cloak of the Starmaster, given to her by Nafai when he chose to live out his life on Earth. The Oversoul sometimes wakes her from her hibernation chamber to watch over her descendants on the planet below. The population has grown rapidly�??there are cities and nations now, whole peoples descended from those who followed Nafai or Elemak. Shedemei watches with sorrow as the war between those two brothers lives on in the enmity of their descendants. Shedemei and the Oversoul have recorded much of the history of Earth since they came, but in all the long years of watching and searching, the Oversoul has not found the thing it sought. It has not found the Keeper of the Earth, the central intelligence that alone can repair the Oversoul's damaged programming and allow it to return to Harmony. But on the planet below, among the people there, Shedemei and the Oversoul can see the influence of the Keeper. And now, in Shedemei's dreams, the Keeper speaks to her again, sending powerful warnings. She is needed on the surface, with her knowledge and the power of the Starmaster's Cloak. And so at last she determines to go. The last living child of Harmony will return to Earth and search for the Keeper as she once searched for the Oversoul�??by being its servant until at last they come face to face… (more)

Language

Original publication date

1995

Physical description

430 p.; 6.77 inches

ISBN

1857239822 / 9781857239829
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