Well, after 15 years, I finally caught up and finished reading EVERY BOOK EVER PUBLISHED by OSC....
But that was a year ago, and now I'm behind again... having yet to read Pathfinder, Lost Gate, Ender in Exile (the graphic novel), or Dragon Age.
I just ordered Dragon Age (Vol 1) from Barnes and Noble. Is the comic series still ongoing? Will there be a vol 2?
I also just got an email from Amazon.com saying OSC has a new book coming out, titled Hamlet's Father? Anybody know anything about this yet?
Also, there is a book coming end of year, cowritten with Emily Janice Card, I think? Laddertop? Something like that? (It looked like anime or manga -- I don't know the difference. This could be an interesting foray for the Cards, although I admit I've always sort of thought of most of that stuff as weird Japanese pornography. Kind of freaky how the girl characters usually have mature, very grown up bodies, but little girl faces with big eyes.)
I gotta admit these are surprises. I was expecting Ender in Flight or a Women of Genesis sequel.
So, what's the scoop?
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
quote:I just ordered Dragon Age (Vol 1) from Barnes and Noble. Is the comic series still ongoing? Will there be a vol 2?
Volume 1 contains issues 1-6 of the comic, which is all they've published so far. They may be waiting to see what sales are like for the trade before they decide whether to do another 6 issues, but that's just speculation on my part. It's been months since an issue has come out.
quote:I also just got an email from Amazon.com saying OSC has a new book coming out, titled Hamlet's Father? Anybody know anything about this yet?
This short novel originally appeared in an anothology of ghost stories called "The Ghost Quartet" by Marvin Kaye, and Subterranian Press is doing a standalone edition of it.
quote:Also, there is a book coming end of year, cowritten with Emily Janice Card, I think? Laddertop? Something like that?
If it's the same one, this deal was made at comic-con a few years back. The company was wanting authors and thier kids that could co-write manga series, iirc. I thought nothing had come of it, then saw that laddertop was coming out and I'm figuring it's that one.
I think Pathfinder 2: Ruins and The Gate Thief are likely to be the next two sequels to existing series that we see.
Posted by Kelly1101 (Member # 12562) on :
Read Pathfinder and The Lost Gate. Both are very very promising. I think they will be great series. I'm definitely hoping that he will be working mainly on those series. This may be blasphemy, and I love Ender and all, but I'm kind of burnt out on all the Ender.
Posted by Craig Childs (Member # 5382) on :
in reply to I'm kind of burnt out on all the Ender.
I don't know. I felt the Shadow series slumped with SotH and Shaddow Puppets, but then I've enjoyed the last few. SotG was a return to earlier form. Ender in Exile was good, mainly because it was a character story on a small scale. However, EinE did seem to contradict EG on several points, which aggravated me a little.
But on the whole, I think Card's best work recently has been in his non-Ender books. Zanna's Gift was very well done. Women of Genesis series has been consistently entertaining.
Hidden Empire, while not my favorite genre, was also good -- much better than I expected after the first book in the series, Empire, which I consider a misstep (mixing sci-fi, politics, and James Bond-like espionage was not a good idea, imo.)
The Iron Man comics didn't float my boat too much, but I have really enjoyed most of the comic adaptations of the Alvin Maker and Ender novels.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by docmagik:
quote:I also just got an email from Amazon.com saying OSC has a new book coming out, titled Hamlet's Father? Anybody know anything about this yet?
This short novel originally appeared in an anothology of ghost stories called "The Ghost Quartet" by Marvin Kaye, and Subterranian Press is doing a standalone edition of it.
It's horrible. And wonderful. And definitely horrifying.
I'm trying to get up the nerve to re-read it. Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
I'm reading pathfinder right now, but it's not as good as his older stuff. My top five OSC books are:
1. Ender's Game (duh) 2. Speaker for the Dead (and the subsequent sequels) 3. The Worthing Saga 4. A Planet Called Treason 5. Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
I think a lot of people forget about those last three, even though they are classic OSC. If you haven't read these, do so quickly. His newer stuff is still well written and fun, but it just doesn't have the same OSC feel to it. I'm not sure what it is about them, but, for me at least, these newer books lack the same wonder and curiousity of his older novels, which is what kept me reading so persistantly. I'm hoping that changes as I get further and further into Pathfinder, but who knows.
On a side note, he said he refused to die before finishing his a series (which, I'll admit, made me chuckle a bit). Do you think that means he'll speed up his work on Shadows in Flight and the seventh Alvin book? Personally, I'd rather see those two than a sequel to Pathfinder or the Lost Gate.
Posted by Kelly1101 (Member # 12562) on :
Hmmm. I don't know if I could even put my favorites in order. Worthing Saga would definitely be up there. I did like A Planet Called Treason.
I'd have to think really hard about a top five list.
I probably COULD fill it with five Ender books (I include the Shadow series as Ender books). I do love them all (I include the Shadow series in that as well). I just feel like wanting another universe to play around in for now...
Posted by craig_childs (Member # 4225) on :
Out of roughly 82 books (including comic adaptatoins), I can't limit to Top 5 or even 10.
So here are my Top 15 favorites (in reverse chronological order of publication):
Keeper of Dreams (2008) Shadow of the Giant (2005) Zannas Gift: A Life in Christmases (2004) Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) Lovelock (1994) Lost Boys (1992) Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card (1990) How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy (1990) The Folk of the Fringe (1989) Saints (1988) Wyrms (1987) Seventh Son (1987) Speaker for the Dead (1986) Ender's Game (1985) Hot Sleep (1978) The original is much better than the revised version The Worthing Chronicle
Posted by Kelly1101 (Member # 12562) on :
I hadn't even heard of two of those (Keeper of Dreams, Zanna's Gift).
But Folk of the Fringe and Saints before Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead? Really? Saints really wasn't THAT good.
And what makes SOTG good enough to be number 2 when no other Shadow books are even up there?
Posted by Kelly1101 (Member # 12562) on :
I'm going to have to think of my top 15 today.
Posted by Brian J. Hill (Member # 5346) on :
Kelly, Craig's post didn't mention rankings. It was just a general top 15
quote: (in reverse chronological order of publication)
Posted by Craig Childs (Member # 5382) on :
Kelly,
I listed according to publication date, not order of preference.
Keeper of Dreams is an excellent short story collection.
Zanna's Gift is a short Christmas book OSC published a few years ago. slightly sentimental, i guess, but i really liked it.
SOTG made the list because I thought it was the best of the Shadow books. Especially the scene with Peter at the end (which, of course, dovetailed with the same scene in EG)
SAINTS was better than Speaker for the Dead, in my opinion. SPFTD was a great sci-fi story, but Saints was a story about fascinating, complex, and sometimes repulsive characters.
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
Kelly...
Sorry I just wanted to say your name like everyone else
You guys mentioned a few books I've yet to read. Is wyrms any good? I'm interested to read it but I find it difficult to relate to a female protagonist in fiction. And Saints, isn't that about Mormonism? What else does it have going for it? And I've never even seen Zanna's Gift, but I remember hearing about it so I'll see if I can find it on my nook.
I have keeper of dreams, and I really like the stories, particularly the Elephant one. That was pretty creepy...
Posted by Kelly1101 (Member # 12562) on :
LMAO.
Sorry I totally blanked on the line about it being in order of publication.
Jeff-- Wyrms was really really odd, but not bad. Some interesting ideas going on. Definitely not as polished as his later work, but fun. Worth reading.
Saints is about mormonism in its early years, another female protagonist (oh noes, women everywhere! ). OSC tends to like the female protagonists. As for what else it has going for it, well, it's OSC so it's well-written. I didn't think it was one of his best, but it was a good story (if a little on the depressing side). Not sure how accurate it is historically, but especially the beginning part was a pretty good look at a certain time/place, and the characters are fairly sympathetic.
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
No way, I love Wyrms...
Jeff, if you love Treason, you will love Wyrms, period.
With EG, Speaker and Songmaster they are my favorite OSC books.
The ending of SotG made me cry like a little girl it was so good.
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
I'll check out Wyrms. And possibly Songmaster, if I can get it on my nook, of course. Ugh! So many books to read, so little time. Between writing, editing, working, and reading what I can, I have so little time. But I guess that's not such a bad thing. Posted by Kelly1101 (Member # 12562) on :
Eh. I'm full-time mom to a 24-month-old and 8-month-old. By the time they are in bed and the house is straight for the night, it's about 10 pm. I have zero time to read, so naturally I stay up way too late at night reading and am tired all the time. LMAO.
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
You sound like my mom when she was raising me and my sister. Bravo, miss!
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