Hatrack River Forum: New OSC Fan

This is topic New OSC Fan in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Shayana (Member # 12761) on :

Hello everyone!

I read Saints and the Women of Genesis series as book club selections over the past couple of years, and thought they were great. Since I haven't ever been much of a science fiction reader, I never really looked into his other books. (Although, I do like his writing style enough to have become a regular reader of his blog posts).

At the beginning of this school year, I was helping with the set-up of my kids' library (their school moved buildings) and saw Ender's Game sitting on the shelf, so thought I'd grab it. I've been converted!

The awesome thing about OSC books is that you don't have to be a sci-fi fan to still LOVE his sci-fi books. Sure, the Ender's series is in a futuristic world with technology we don't currently have, with enemies that (we believe) don't really exist, but the core story line is one anyone can get into. Yes, even a 40+ mom like me :-)

Since the fall, I've been reading everything I can find by OSC (we live in a small community, so our public library is limited and there are often long hold waits). I've read through the four 'basic' Ender books plus Ender in Exile, through the 4th Maker book, Enchanted, Homebody, Empire/Hidden Empire, Lost Boys. Other than Ender's Game, my favorites (so far) are Pastwatch, Lost Gate, and Pathfinder, so I'm very excited there are more of those ones in the works.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello. I've been browsing the forum here and find myself impressed with the kindness and intellectual level of the posters. It's nice not to see flame wars and l33t (sp? haha) speak :-)

Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :

Welcome to Hatrack, Shayana. If you liked Ender's Game and OSC's other work, you should check out his Worthing Saga novel. I believe it comes with some short stories, too, so it's quite worth the price. I was able to find it at a bookstore back where I used to live, and I've since seen it in multiple other ones.

Anyway, welcome again to the group! [Smile]

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

[Wave]

Posted by LargeTuna (Member # 10512) on :

welcome to the party! [Party]

Would you like a slice of cake? [Hat]

(Note: for budgetary reasons we're all out of cake)

Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :

Welcome to Hatrack! I know you weren't asking, but another SF author you might enjoy, given how much you like OSC, is Octavia Butler. Wild Seed, which Card talks a fair bit about in his How to Write Science Fiction, is a great introduction to her.

If you're interested and Wild Seed isn't available through your library, you might try her Xenogenesis trilogy, the first book of which is called Dawn. That series was also published as a single volume called Lilith's Brood.

And of course, if you're not interested that's cool too.

Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :

Hm...idk, Jake. I didn't like Octavia Butler very much at all, but that could be because she writes a lot about rape. Seriously, there was a rape scene in almost everything she ever wrote: Kindred, Wild Seed, Lilith's Brood (I know she wrote other things, but those are her biggest novels/series and I haven't read any of her other stuff). And the stories are always about a black female who has been put down in some way (to summarize: men are evil). If you don't mind those things, then I guess it's OK. She has a good writing style.

Other than what has already been suggested, I would also suggest John Scalzi's Old Man's War (if you are keen on suggestions, of course). That book is pretty amazing and reminds me a lot of the fun I had with Ender's Game.

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

quote:
Would you like a slice of cake?

Man! That cake was going to be so delicious and moist...

Posted by ZachC (Member # 12709) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Scott R:

quote:
Would you like a slice of cake?
Man! That cake was going to be so delicious and moist...

*BURP*... that was good. Oh wait, did you guys want some?

Posted by Shayana (Member # 12761) on :

Thanks for the kind welcome and the book suggestions! I'll look into them.

And hah! Cake...mmmmmmm! I hope you enjoyed my slice, Zach [Smile]