I am of the kind that likes lists and rankings and such....and so I am interested in getting fellow OSC fans; opinions on their favorite OSC books....
For a long time, mine was Ender's Game, and it still a close second, but I would have to say now that my favorite is LOST BOYS. I just read it about a month ago, and I was just amazed. I mean, it was probably the most emotional book I have ever read, and I loved it.
OSC is so great b/c - for example, this book, his stories don't have to have a lot of flash and such...he just tells good stories that involves good characterization and he uses situations and circumstances to further the development of character and storyline....LOVE IT!!!
Posted by Steve_G (Member # 10101) on :
That's a hard question, it would be much easier to list my least favorite, but I won't.
Ender's Game is timeless and I've read it probably 5 times, and read the whole series once through in book form and once in audio.
I also love Enchantment, The Alvin Maker Series, and Women of Genesis.
Out of all of those I have a hard timepicking a favorite, but if pressed I'd choose Enchantment.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
Yes, I wouldn't argue with Enchantment. But, if you add Stone Tables to the Women of Genesis series, (and I do) as a group, they move to the top of the list.
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
I haven't read any of the Women of Genesis books yet, but I have read Enchantment...
Enchantment WAS very good.....my main complaint I think with it would be the ending....[STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ ENCHANTMENT -- SPOILERS]....I guess I was expecting just a little more, like I either wanted Baba Yaga to die or I thought it would be cool if it turned out that she turned somewhat decent and ended up being the Baba "I forgot the other name" that Ivan's mother learned her magic from, and thus, was the one that ended up leaving the note in the window sill, which ultimately brought about her demise as Baba Yaga b/c it ended her power over Bear... Anyways, I still immensely enjoyed the book, and as of now I would probably place it at # 6
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
And my top 5 would be:
1. LOST BOYS 2. ENDER'S GAME 3. CALL OF EARTH (2nd HC book) 4. PRENTICE ALVIN (3rd AM book) 5. SHIPS OF EARTH (3rd HC book)
6. ENCHANTMENT
As of now, I have only read 19 of OSC's books (and I actually have all 19 of these ranked in terms of my opinion of them - in a book list that my friend and I have made), so this list could change in the future....
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
ender's shadow
Posted by Xann. (Member # 11482) on :
quote:Originally posted by T:man: ender's shadow
NOOO!
Stop posting stuff that i was going to post that's not cool. his is the third time, i was going to asy anything but i will not alow this anymore!
Posted by Trent Destian (Member # 11653) on :
It's odd for me because whichever one I've read (excluding short stories) becomes one of my favorites. I read Lost Boys a few weeks ago and loved. Now I just finished Treason and that is a favorite now. I think I just have an affinty for all his novels, but Game will always be the one that started it all for me.
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
Yeah, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ender's Game.....and I wonder if I had read Ender's Shadow first if I would have liked it more....I still liked Ender's Shadow fine, but just didn't have as much excitement about it as I did with Ender's Game.... Treason was strange for me....parts of it I didn't like but after I was done with it and thought back to it, the more I liked it....I guess that's the mark of a great story-teller....
Posted by Luet13 (Member # 9274) on :
1. Xenocide 2. Red Prophet 3. The Call of Earth 4. The Ships of Earth 5. Ender's Shadow
Posted by Jonathan S (Member # 11661) on :
My favorite is The Worthing Saga. Of the Ender books, Xenocide is my favorite. After that, probably Enchantment.
Of course, it's hard to place the Ender books, especially Ender's Game, since it's where I started. I've always thought it was harder with a series, since there's a natural tendency to consider what happened before and after.
I realize the topic is favorite, but maybe my least favorites were somebody else's favorites? I expected more from Pastwatch and Songmaster. Maybe I just missed some things from my first readings; I'll definitely try again in the future. I still enjoyed them, but Pastwatch felt way too long for the ways things happened. I don't even remember what it was about Songmaster...it's possible that I hyped it up too much in my mind because it was about music. If somebody else thoroughly enjoyed them, I'd love to hear why.
What about Hart's Hope? I haven't read it, but I seem to remember OSC mentioning in an Uncle Orson column or an interview that he considered it some of his finest writing. It's next on my "to-read" list from the OSC library.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Hart's Hope is very different. It's not my favorite, but it was one of the most weirdly attractive books I've ever read.
Posted by DecayedCordet (Member # 11676) on :
Being a teen, I'm still at the point where I'm like..."Yeah, enderverse changed my life." So I've gotta say Ender's Shadow.
Posted by talsmitde (Member # 9780) on :
My top five (as of right now) would be:
1. Enchantment (I'm currently re-reading it) 2. Speaker for the Dead 3. Ender's Shadow/Ender's Game 4. Earthborn 5. Stone Tables
But then again, I love them all.
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
Going back to least faves.....my least fave OSC book would probably be Shadow of the Hegemon....I think I was just trying to get done with it and just didn't get into the story....haven't read Shadow Puppets yet but from what I've read of others' opinions, I htink it is better than Hegemon....???? On my next to-read list from OSC is probably Treasure Box...I actually have it checked out from the library right now, along with Pastwatch but after reading the above post from Jonathan S, I'm not exactly looking forward to Pastwatch.....
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
I am planning to start Treasure Box today....I am excited about it....anybody read it or like it? I didn't see it on any of the fave or least fave lists....I don't know if that's good or bad....
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
I just finished Treasure Box, and it was very cool.....I wonder why I haven't heard a lot about it....same thing with Lost Boys....Both good books.....I placed Treasure Box as my #6 fave OSC book behind Ships of Earth and ahead of Enchantment....you should read it if you haven't.....
Posted by npbeers (Member # 9612) on :
Man, this is hard.... let me try to rank my top 10...
1. Pastwatch 2. Ender's Game 3. Worthing Saga 4. Ender's Shadow 5. Seventh Son 6. Xenocide 7. Empire 8. Speaker for the Dead 9. Folk of the Fringe 10. Children of the Mind
I've read many others by him, but these are the ones that really stand out in my mind...
Posted by npbeers (Member # 9612) on :
I never really cared much for the Homecoming Saga for some reason...
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
Wow, can anyone choose just one?
I loved all of the Homecomming books, but probably (strangely) my favorite from them was the last "Earth Fall"
I also loved Ender's Game - and then the whole Shadow series. For some reason the Lusitania series wasn't as appealing to me. I liked them, but I am not drawn to them in the same way. Maybe I'm just not grown up enough yet!
Ah, and the Women of Genesis series.... I loved them ALL....
And Enchantment is probably one of my favorite stand alone books of all time....
Ok, maybe it would be easier to list my least favorite OSC books....
Least favorite (so far)is Song Master - and even that one wasn't bad.
Posted by LordBishop (Member # 11683) on :
Difficult indeed...let's see
1. Ender's Game 2. Lost Boys 3. Pastwatch 4. Treasure Box (this was almost a tie for 3) 5. Ender's Shadow 6. Maps in a Mirror 7. Homebody 8. Speaker for the Dead 9. Shadow of the Hegemon
I've read most of the rest of the enderverse but they just didn't really do anything for me. Trying now to figure out what to read next...so much to choose from!
Posted by rush211243 (Member # 11682) on :
I like a lot of his books but I will always remember totally understanding his writing style of ethics with "Speaker of the Dead" which is the 2nd book I read.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Lost Boys. Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
I think Ender's Game will always be my favorite but then I love his Women of Genesis Series. They are really well done!
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
Enchantment Alvin Maker series Ender's Shadow followed by all the other Ender books The Women of Genesis and Stone Tables
... This is really hard. Lost Boys was incredible, but I could only read it once. Once I had babies (boys no less) I couldn't read it again. It tore my heart out and held it hostage for at least three weeks.
It would probably be easier to list my least favorite, which was Homebody. It felt like a complete departure to me - although of course he's written in many genres, but "horror" is not one of my favorites.
Still, a least-favorite OSC book is better than most other books.
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
My favorite is The Worthing Saga. I won't say it's the best, but it is hands down my favorite.
From there it's pretty clumped. It'd probably go something like:
2. Enders Game 3. Speaker for the Dead 4. Enders Shadow 5. Songmaster 6. Treason 7. Enchantment 8. Pastwatch (I should really put this one higher as I once wrote a 20 page paper for class based in part off of this book, but it just takes so long to get started) 9/10. The rest of the Enderverse stuff, Alvin Maker series, and Homecoming series. I didn't really like Treasure Box at all. But that's just me.
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
npbeers..... You listed Folk of the Fringe in your top ten...I had that on my list to read eventually but then I read somewhere that it's just a bunch of short stories about a group of people....do the stories fit together into a big story, or are they individualized? I am skeptical about reading short stories. I love big stories where there is a complete plot and character development and such (which is I guess why I love the Homecoming and Alvin Maker Series so much....anyways, just wanted to get some info on it and your opinion....or anyone else's.......
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Speaker For The Dead has its own very intruiging appeals and achievements but Ender's Game is tops.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
Volssam,
Folk of the Fringe is a collection of short stories. However, they do sort of "lead into each other". They're all loosely related, but it is still definitely not a novel.
Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
I can't really say what my top 5 are so I'll just include an entire series as one volume. 1. Ender's Game 2. Homecoming series 3. Seventh Son 4. Red Prophet 5. And yes, because it's related to Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow.
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
What exactly constitutes a short story...I mean I know I read some in high school in the Literature books, but....I don't know, I guess I just don't get it...why stop at a short story instead of going full out with a novel?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
A short story is 7000 words or less.
A novella is between 7k and 15000 words.
A novellette is between 15k and (I think) 25k.
25k and up is a novel.
quote:why stop at a short story instead of going full out with a novel?
Some stories aren't big enough for a novel. Sometimes, you want to test out the central idea on an audience, to see if sticks for any of them.
Sometimes, that's just where the story takes you.
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
LOST BOYS is awesome!!!! Heart-rending, but awesome....
Posted by volssam (Member # 11673) on :
I am reading Pastwatch right now...have about 100 pages or so left. It's just OK for me right now, a little too slow or maybe I just wasn't ready for all of the philosophical stuff. And it also kind of irritates me to see all the "we are killing the earth" mumbo jumbo again and again and again. But I still love Card. He is one of my favorite authors
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:why stop at a short story instead of going full out with a novel?
A tight short story is far preferable to a padded novel.
Posted by Unnameworthy (Member # 11708) on :
Hart's Hope, hands down.
It's flawed and heavy-handed at points, but it stands as the most beautiful, vivid work of fantasy I think I've ever encountered. Its last few pages are heart-crushing no matter how many times I read them.
Ender's Game is a close second, and though I'm totally in love with Hart's Hope, I admit Ender's Game is a more complete novel. I also love the first three books in the Alvin Maker series.
It's been a while since I've read the Ender sequels or Homecoming. I still haven't gotten to Magic Street or Lost Boys or Pastwatch yet. I read Treason a couple months ago, which was pretty fantastic, and Enchantment was very good as well.