posted
...is one of the better books Card's written in the last two decades. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought that the characterization was for the most part pretty solid. (In those few cases where I found it questionable, like a 17-year-old black man using the phrase "in your mama's uterus" and/or demanding that a sham wedding be held by the agent of his enemy before he's willing to sleep with an incredibly hot and sexy hoochie mama -- in order, mind you, to save the universe, and despite the fact that he doesn't love her (which essentially makes the moral argument that sex without marriage is worse than marriage without love, perhaps the best evidence of the erosion of the institution of marriage I've seen yet), it's just a matter of Card's voice coming through just a bit too strong.)
In general, though, it's a solid entry in his body of work, and certainly features some of the best characters we've seen in a while.
Both Yolanda and the Bag Man are intriguingly ambiguous, and Ceese and Word are what Measure and Cavil Thrower WISH they were. (Word Williams, in particular, may be my favorite of all Card's supporting characters.)
[Edited thread topic to include spoiler warning --PJ]
[ July 10, 2005, 06:58 PM: Message edited by: Papa Janitor ]
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
I'm getting pretty close to the end of the book and may get to finish it tonight. I've enjoyed it thoroughly and agree that some of these characters may be among my favorites.
I'll jump back in on this thread in a couple days. I have to travel to a conference tomorrow and will be back online Wednesday morning.
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I agree that marriage for the sake of having sex is indicating a real disrespect for the institution.
I particularly liked that for a large portion of time, you don't know whether several characters are "bad" guy or "good" guys.
Posts: 289 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
I finished it Friday, it was pretty good. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the ending, but still definitely a good read.
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