Who here thinks Orson Scott Card is...

[Whitemithrandir]

I've read all of OSC's books, follow his cult at hatrack.com, and went to Enderscon. I just finished re-reading his Worthing Saga this weekend, and I must say, in the spirit of the 4th of July, nobody writes about the unquenching quest for freedom and liberty being as vital as breath than Orson Scott Card.

 

Best sci-fi author since Asimov, most beautiful short-fiction writer since Le Guin.

[Dereth]

Well, the only books by him that I have read would be the Ender's Game series. The first one was an amazing book and I loved it, especially that twist at the end, but then the rest of the series was merely average imo. I've reread the first book of the series, "Ender's Game", around 4 times but I've never touched any of the other books since the first reading.

[ShinIchiro]

He's good but I like Zahn alot. Maybe a toss-up.

[Weiser_Cain]

I only read the ender series. Again the first one was good, then it went quickly downhill. I wonder if he just got lucky with that first one?

I'm more of a fantasy person now anyway, ask me about that.

[Leferd]

Since Asimov? Since Asimov's generation? Since his birth? passing? or as in...best after Asimov?

 

Well...there are plenty of good SF (not sci-fi --urgggh) writers in his generation:

 

Arthur C. Clarke, Alfred I'm a aware of his--Ray Bradbury--work Bester (simpson's reference), Robert Heinlein, and Poul Anderson

 

Post Asimov Generation: Harlan Ellison, Philip K. ****, Frank Herbert, Larry Niven, Roger Zelazny, Philip Jose Farmer, Michael Crichton, Michael Moor****, and Card.

 

Within the Post Asimov generation, I'd rate Card well behind Ellison, P.K. ****, and Herbert and in the same pack as the rest on that list.

[tripleRRR]

I think Frank Herbert and Zahn are much better than OSC ever was, once he got past Ender's Game everything went downhill, though that book was pretty good.

 

 

TripleRRR

[Whitemithrandir]

Well, the only books by him that I have read would be the Ender's Game series. The first one was an amazing book and I loved it, especially that twist at the end, but then the rest of the series was merely average imo. I've reread the first book of the series, "Ender's Game", around 4 times but I've never touched any of the other books since the first reading.

It wasn't luck

 

A lot of people praised the sequels to Ender's Game, especially Speaker for the Dead, which was a completely different book than Ender's game which I found to be on the same level of depth and sophistication as its prequel.

[Weiser_Cain]

It's funny that you put it that way since I repeatedly stopped reading to check the cover to make sure that book was actually part of the series.

[EnderAndrew]

I think Orson Scott Card is one of the best American authors of all time.

 

His Homecoming series is pretty lack-luster, but just about anything else he has ever written had been fabulous.

 

He wrote a modern version of Sleeping Beauty, I think it was called Enchanted. That was more of the Fantasy genre, and his Alvin Maker series is quite good. It's Historical Fantasy.

 

I loved the Worthing Saga, and I enjoy how many of Card's books don't have black and white villians and heroes.

 

I'm not sure if Card is better than Vonnegut however. And I highly recommend Card's Maps in a Mirror. It's a collection of his short stories. There is a story in there where Card wrote a prequel to Asimov's Foundation series. It's quite good, and draws an interesting point in comparing the two's work.

 

I bought Maps in a Mirror in a big hardcover edition many years ago, but I hear there is a smaller, cheaper trade paperback these days.

[Dereth]

I think Orson Scott Card is one of the best American authors of all time.

 

I think we figured that "Ender Wiggin" B)

[Phosphor]

I've only read Ender's Game, which was excellent. I have a copy of Speaker For The Dead" but have yet to read it.

Ender's Game was definately a powerful book, and I suspect that it's ending may be one reason why I so loathe manipulation and really see it as betrayal.

[Phoenix19-15-5]

Asimov already wrote three prequels to his Foundation series....though they were written many years beforehand. They're called his Space Trilogy or as they were called more recently, The Empire Novels.

[Sirus]

Meh, I tried to read Ender's Game, but it was pretty mediocre.

[Weiser_Cain]

I think Elizabeth Moon is a much better author.

[EnderAndrew]

Ender's Game was originally a short story. Then Card came up with this idea for Speaker of the Dead, but didn't have a protagonist. So, he decided to dust off the idea of Ender, and he effectively wrote the Ender's Game novel as a prologue for Speaker for the Dead. As good as Ender's Game is, the story isn't complete. I think Speaker actually surpasses Ender's Game, and may be one of the best books I've ever read.

 

I've never read Elizabeth Moon, but I just checked her out at Amazon.com to see what she wrote. Most user reviews of her books are negative. Maybe I'll check her out, but from the three plot synopsis' I read on Amazon, all her stuff seemed pretty standard fare sci-fi.

[Weiser_Cain]

I first read the deed of paksenarrion series. The thing I really like about all her stuff is the sense of authenticity. Even though it's fantasy it never seems like it's just made up. All the characters feel human.

I'd reccomend the paksenarrion series first even though it's fantasy, but the 'real' feeling is there in everything I've read so far.

 

I just read some of the reviews, some those people are just being mean, some wanted her to whore it up, some seemed to want her to explore every aspect of her world, if these aren't an absolute necessity to you, read the book.

[Maedhros]

Frank Herbert is the one I consider the best Science-fiction author, his books are brilliant!

 

Ender's game is on the top of my "Most wanted book" list right now, I think I'll buy it next time I'm in town.

[Tigranes]

Ender's Game was a great book; his themes weren't nearly as tightly knit and the philosophic speculations were less convincing in his sequels.

 

Of course, then he came up with the idea of writing a parallel series with Bean as the lead, and the first one was pretty much a carbon copy; the two characters are too similar to do a POV thing.

[JohnDoe]

I read the whole Ender's series, and enjoyed them all. The books after Ender's game were a completely different style and I liked that.

 

I always though Ender's Game had enough in it to be seperated into 2 books. The parts after he graduates from the Battle school seemed rushed to me.

[EnderAndrew]

Going back after several years and rereading things, I do think that there was room to take more time with the series.

 

Card just writes so many different books, that perhaps he doesn't take the time to put out 800 page books like so many other people. He actually tries to be a fairly concise, entertaining storyteller rather than the 800 page novelist.

[Archmonarch]

Just so you know, OSC is writing the plot for the scifi action rpg Advent Rising coming out later this year.

[Ellester]

His Homecoming series is pretty lack-luster, but just about anything else he has ever written had been fabulous.

That might explain things for me. I was recommended Card by my brother

[Althernai]

Ender's Game was very, very good. Speaker for the Dead was something entirely different and somewhat non-traditional as far as SF goes, but I suppose it was still pretty good (though I didn't like it nearly as much as the original). The rest of the stories in Ender's universe (and I read something like 4 others) were pretty mediocre.

 

I've read some of his short stories about Alvin Maker, and I'm not exactly impressed. They were mildly amusing (perhaps I'm easy to amuse), but nothing special.

 

As far as I can tell, he wrote one really great book and the rest, while sometimes non-traditional, is not nearly as good. I would not rank him with Asimov, Clarke, etc. etc.

[Kinbote]

I read Ender's Game years ago, and thought it was an entertaining action novel. However, I couldn't understand the extreme devotion many fans have for him, and I haven't been tempted to read any of his other books.

 

I tend to be fairly demanding when it comes to literature, though. I don't give a free pass just because it's science fiction. People like Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein are extremely intelligent, and good at inventing future sciences (and making them intelligible for the layman), but they are not very talented novelists. Clarke in particular is a weak artist: his prose is clunky and unlovely, his interest in character is nonexistent.

 

The sci-fi writers I most admire (in fact, idolize) are R.A. Lafferty, Jack Vance, and Gene Wolfe. (In my opinion, Wolfe is, along with the non-sf writer Muriel Spark, by far the finest novelist working today.) I also enjoy some of the stuff by Poul Anderson (the awesome Boat of a Million Years), Avram Davidson, and Cordwainer Smith.

[EnderAndrew]

I know people who immediately dismiss sci-fi as being puip garbage despite having writers like Bradbury, Clarke, Asimov, Vonnegut and the like in the genre. I had a literature professor who refused to acknowledge that there was ever a decent sci-fi book, but then again, she refused to read them.

 

Pity.