I'm about half way through "Treason" and i was wondering if OSC ever created all the different abilities or traits each family had. (ex: Mueller's ability to regenerate)
[ April 27, 2006, 03:04 PM: Message edited by: Orson Scott Card ]
Posted by Princess Leah (Member # 6026) on :
Hint: Finish the book. Posted by Mark (Member # 6393) on :
Isn't there like 80 families? IMHO Doesn't really seem necessary to give'em all abilities, since we only meet a fraction of them.
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of names on the map at the front of the book that never come up in the story.
But it wouldn't be surprising if OSC had had descriptions for a number of the families that we never saw, since he's said that when writing a sci-fi story you need to know more about the world than you might show, in order to avoid impossibilities and painting yourself into a corner.
Posted by Schwartz (Member # 9339) on :
What I am wondering is if the different tribes represent different groups of people in real life. For example, it seems to me like the Ku Kuei (and to a lesser extent, the Nkumai) represent naturalists and their attempts to find happiness through nature; on the inside, however, they seem to be very unhappy and godless (reflecting Card's Mormon and Christian views).
And if you didn't catch it yet, I am named after the Treason family.
Posted by Seatarsprayan (Member # 7634) on :
Speaking of Treason (SPOILERS FOR TREASON), did anyone else have a problem with killing an entire nation of people based on the actions of a pretty small subset? I mean, the *one* person he met when he travelled there was a baddie and had the power, and obviously the people trying supplant the rulers of the nations were bad, but what if they were a renegade subgroup of only a few thousand people? Or what if only 1 in 10 people from that nation had the power?
He killed them ALL. Why? Because they were a threat. But the folks that could control time would be a much bigger threat. Fortunately they mostly like to live in the forest and be mildly amused, but if they wanted to take over, they should could.
I liked Treason though, and I did get suckered because even after I knew the protagonist's brother was one of the illuders, I still didn't make the connection that he must have been killed earlier in the book! I get caught up in the story sometimes and don't think beyond the present.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
I just recently finished Treason, and I loved it, exceptionally excellent. Now I just have one more to read and I'll be finished with list in the library section: Hart's Hope. But the bookstores around here don't have it, so I have to order it.
SPOILERS . . . I was also a little confused when Lanik killed all of the Andersons based on the actions of a handful. But he couldn't very well go to each and every person and judge them. Besides, they were politicians, and nobody likes politicians.
I was also suprised at how easy it was for Lanik I to convince Lanik II that the Andersons were bad. Lanik II seemd vehement about how much knowledge the Andersons had gathered and how vital they were and then he just kind of gave up. But, it's what had to happen to finish the book. I was really looking forward to the fight to the death between Lanik and his brother though. Oh well, OSC's ending was much better anyway and I was pretty well shocked by twist.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
I love this book. My parents had the original version stuck in their bookshelf somewhere, and I loved it from the first time I read it. Although, I admit, his actions are very drastic, I suppose the only way for him to make sure that this trait wouldn't be recreated was to make sure that no one COULD recreate the situation.
But still, it's an amazing book. I like the 2nd version (the one you all are reading) much better than A Planet Called Treason. It has a lot more detail and it engages the reader more. Good times.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Lanik II was easy to convince - can you think of anything easier than convincing yourself? <grin> People convince themselves of all kinds of things. And everybody thinks they have an honest face ...
Treason originated as a map, to which I then added a separate idea of people regenerating body parts. Basically I made up specialties for the families as Lanik moved through the world. I also posited that many families that once existed had been absorbed by the families that had highly marketable specialties; and that families would try to conceal from others what their specialty was. But there are quite a few names on the map for which I never bothered to think up a specialization.
Posted by oolung (Member # 8995) on :
I like the whole concept of the 'traitors' planet' and the way you put it's culture and history in a perspective by just hinting at the way they see history. THE history the reader is well acquainted with. Like, Lanik's horses are called Hitler and Himmler, which is vaguely... disconcerting
It also provokes me to think about the whole universe of the book: if Lanik gave his horses those names, then he obviously didn't think them 'bad', so the popular view on Treason must've been that H & H were GOOD people and it could only have been passed on to them by the first inhabitants of Treason, the plotters, so THEY in turn must've think... complicated. But makes you think how it happened Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
The horses' names were a hint that the original rebels who were exiled to Treason were Hitler fans, people who thought they were entitled to rule others - so there was no injustice in their condemnation. And, predictably, the story they would pass on to their descendants would be one in which they, and their idols, were the true heroes of the story.
Naturally, some perverse readers have taken this as a hint that I think Hitler and Himmler were cool. Quite the opposite - I started from the assumption that my readers would all agree that they were vile human beings, and THEREFORE would reach certain conclusions about the foundations of Mueller society. Think about it - a society that treats deformed people as a farm commodity ... I think we're in Hitler territory.
So my hero is someone raised to unquestioning acceptance of this society - until chance puts him on the wrong side of discriminatory laws and he realizes that maybe this isn't such a good thing. Yet the realization is a long time coming, in part because training dies hard.
Posted by oolung (Member # 8995) on :
that's just what I meant. Only I put it in a much more veiled way.
I guess that's why you're the bestselling author and I'm not...
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Only I put it in a much more veiled way.