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The Folk of the Fringe Paperback – August 11, 2001

by Orson Scott Card (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 69 ratings
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In Orson Scott Card's classic apocalyptic science fiction novel The Folk of the Fringe, only a few nuclear weapons fell in America--the weapons that destroyed the nation were biological and, ultimately, cultural.

But in the chaos, the famine, the plague, there existed a few pockets of order. The strongest of them was the state of Deseret, formed from the vestiges of Utah, Colorado, and Idaho. The climate has changed. The Great Salt Lake has filled up to prehistoric levels. But there, on the fringes, brave, hardworking pioneers are making the desert bloom again.

A civilization cannot be reclaimed by powerful organizations, or even by great men alone. It must be renewed by individual men and women, one by one, working together to make a community, a nation, a new America.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 11, 2001
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.62 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0274901633
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0312876630
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Card is a natural raconteur, capable of vividly fleshing out his original characters in a few strong strokes, without hitting a false note or lapsing into sentimentality. . . . This is one of the strongest SF story collections of the past few years.” ―Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Saga, which chronicles the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, which follows on the novel Ender's Shadow and is set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, which tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien "Buggers." Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977--the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelette version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog. The novel-length version of Ender's Game, published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin.

Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers' workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.

He is the author many science fiction and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series "The Tales of Alvin Maker" (beginning with Seventh Son), and stand-alone novels like Pastwatch and Hart's Hope. He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah. Card's work also includes the Mithermages books (Lost Gate, Gate Thief), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old.

Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0312876637
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orb Books; First Edition (August 11, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0274901633
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312876630
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.62 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 69 ratings

About the author

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Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

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Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools. His most recent series, the young adult Pathfinder series (Pathfinder, Ruins, Visitors) and the fantasy Mithermages series (Lost Gate, Gate Thief, Gatefather) are taking readers in new directions.

Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts, including his "freshened" Shakespeare scripts for Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice.

Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.

Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, where his primary activities are writing a review column for the local Rhinoceros Times and feeding birds, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, and raccoons on the patio.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
69 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Momma Snider
5.0 out of 5 stars good book
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024
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I loved this book. It was published 35 years ago or so, and I always love books that take place in a "future" that is now in the past.
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Jennifer
4.0 out of 5 stars Short stories in an alternative future
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2018
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I love the way Card immerses the reader into his reality of America. This book is a collection of short stories in an alternative future. The first few are really engrossing. I found myself wanting to read more about Jamie and this new civilization out West. The last tale was mystical and it seemed to struggle to fit into the stories of “the fringe”. Overall it was a good read, but not nearly as intriguing as the Alvin Maker tales.
One person found this helpful
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Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed this book
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017
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I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't expecting much as the reviews came in a bit low, and I was just looking to kill some time.. I do tend to like post-apocalyptic type stories, so that may be part of my enjoyment. Great job Orson!
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2017
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Enjoy his books.
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Danica Billingsly
1.0 out of 5 stars If only I had known ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2004
I loved the Ender saga. I loved the Alvin books. I absolutely love apocalyptic fiction. If only I had read the epilogue, in which OSC describes this novel as LDS-fiction. Latter Day Saints fiction, in my book no more read-worthy than Christian fiction. Unfortunately, I was 40 pages into the novel and getting disgusted by the Saint this, Brother that, Lord and baptism this, before I scanned ahead to see if this was just current-character characterization. Nope. This is a religious book, not a very good one at that, and I doubt I'll bother reading the rest.
17 people found this helpful
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Laraine P. Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars This book seems to be a set of short novels
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2016
Verified Purchase
Quite an imaginative book. Each chapter not quite related to the other but roughly based on the first.
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Casey V. Roberts
3.0 out of 5 stars As a sci-fi loving Mormon...
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2012
Card always worries me: He's a great idea man, but after a while he seems to lose his way... or I just can't seem to keep up. Ender, Homecoming, Alvin... all great first books but they go down hill after that for me.

FoF is the same way, a post-apocalypse focused on the southwest and the Mormons who inhabit it. The interconnected tales were fun as I spent a few moments at the beginning of each trying to get my bearings and figuring out where the story fits into the tapestry already woven. As a Mormon myself there were a lot of things I picked up on and found amusing, and the sci-fi lover in me was more than willingly to accept the setting... BUT.

The final chapter/short story was, well, different. I don't want to ruin it for any other potential readers out there, but I couldn't help but once again feel like Card had a great idea, swung for the fence, hit the ball, ran the bases, and tripped on his way home.
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Beverly
5.0 out of 5 stars Topsy-Turvy LDS Future
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2012
Card does a spectacular job integrating SF, Mormon mythology, and the craft of short story telling in this easy-to-read novel. I am unable to tell whether someone outside the Mormon culture would find the book confusing, having grown up inside the faith, but he adroitly takes Mormon assumptions about the future and turns them on their heads. Instead of walking to Jackson County, he has disenfranchised Mormons walking to Utah in a miniature version of the 1847-1869 years. The Three Nephite legends are enacted by people who are non-LDS. And finally, the Millennial prophecies take place through a shattering of our more serious social mores.
Card's most compelling device is to tell the stories at least partially through the eyes of an outsider, usually a non-Mormon or, in two stories, through the eyes of someone so physically handicapped that he becomes in a very real sense an outsider. This approach allows clarity, distance, and Card's signature detached tenderness.
Although many will find this novel disturbing, it is a worth-while read and a powerful instrument to peer inside our assumptions.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Sheepdog
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting exploration of themes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2013
Verified Purchase
Overall theme: What would mankind do after a nuclear holocaust?

But within that, the several connected short stories in this book cover other issues... family life, the place of religion, child rearing, etc, etc...
One person found this helpful
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