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rpmiller's review
3.0
This portion of the story was 500 years beyond previous episodes, and only one character remained alive. All other characters were new, except for the possibility that 2 non-human and possibly non-sentient, side personalities are considered characters. This episode started slowly, and there is an interesting twist on how names are modified in common use that adds to early confusion until you realize it is not that important to remember all the details in names, prefixes and suffixes. The context of the previous episodes is significant so this can not be considered a standalone novel. Also, what had been a loose religion-like social connection has now become a full fledged orthodox cannon. There are still some political considerations as one might expect in a hereditary monarchy, but religion dominates the events of the time. While there is some personal connection among individual characters, most of that revolves around beliefs that are not easily communicated to readers, at least not the emotional content of that belief. The character transformations are about religious beliefs, although those are not modern beliefs, probably more like pagan (or animalistic) beliefs. This climax story in the series is an improvement over some earlier episodes.
forestjay's review
4.0
Good - My only issue with this book is that Shedemai (and the Oversoul) are the only charachters still around from the first book. It also get's into some deep religious overtones. In the end it's a good story though and well worth the read.
epictetsocrate's review against another edition
3.0
Odinioară, cu multă vreme în urmă, computerul navei spaţiale Basilica guvernase planeta Harmony timp de patruzeci de milioane de ani. Acum supraveghea o populaţie mult mai mică şi avea puteri mult mai reduse pentru a interveni. Dar planeta de care avea grijă era Pământul, străvechiul cămin al fiinţelor umane.
Nava spaţială Basilica a fost cea care a readus acasă un grup de fiinţe umane, care au descoperit că, în absenţa umanităţii, două noi specii au ajuns pe culmile sublime ale inteligenţei. Acum, cele trei popoare împărţeau un vast lanţ de munţi înalţi, văi luxuriante şi un climat care varia mai mult în funcţie de altitudine decât de latitudine.
Săpătorii îşi spuneau poporul din pământ, făcând tuneluri în sol şi în trunchiurile copacilor pe care îi scobeau pe dinăuntru. Îngerii erau poporul cerului, construind în arbori cuiburi acoperite şi atârnând cu capul în jos de crengi pentru a dormi, a discuta şi a preda cursuri. Fiinţele umane erau acum poporul de mijloc, locuind la suprafaţa solului.
Nu exista oraş de săpători fără case umane pe solul de deasupra sa, nici sat de îngeri fără ca încăperile împrejmuite de pereţi ale poporului de mijloc să se transforme în peşteri artificiale. Vastele cunoştinţe pe care fiinţele umane le-au adus cu ele de pe planeta Harmony reprezentau doar o mică parte din ceea ce strămoşii lor cunoscuseră pe Pământ, înainte de exilul lor, în urmă cu patruzeci de milioane de ani. Acum chiar şi acestea se pierduseră, dar ceea ce rămăsese era net superior în comparaţie cu ceea ce ştiau popoarele pământului şi ale cerului, încât oriunde locuiau cei din poporul de mijloc aveau o mare putere şi de obicei erau conducători.
În cer, însă, computerul navei spaţiale Basilica nu uita nimic şi, prin intermediul sateliţilor pe care îi răspândise în jurul Pământului, îl observa, aduna date şi îşi amintea tot ceea ce învăţase.
Nava spaţială Basilica a fost cea care a readus acasă un grup de fiinţe umane, care au descoperit că, în absenţa umanităţii, două noi specii au ajuns pe culmile sublime ale inteligenţei. Acum, cele trei popoare împărţeau un vast lanţ de munţi înalţi, văi luxuriante şi un climat care varia mai mult în funcţie de altitudine decât de latitudine.
Săpătorii îşi spuneau poporul din pământ, făcând tuneluri în sol şi în trunchiurile copacilor pe care îi scobeau pe dinăuntru. Îngerii erau poporul cerului, construind în arbori cuiburi acoperite şi atârnând cu capul în jos de crengi pentru a dormi, a discuta şi a preda cursuri. Fiinţele umane erau acum poporul de mijloc, locuind la suprafaţa solului.
Nu exista oraş de săpători fără case umane pe solul de deasupra sa, nici sat de îngeri fără ca încăperile împrejmuite de pereţi ale poporului de mijloc să se transforme în peşteri artificiale. Vastele cunoştinţe pe care fiinţele umane le-au adus cu ele de pe planeta Harmony reprezentau doar o mică parte din ceea ce strămoşii lor cunoscuseră pe Pământ, înainte de exilul lor, în urmă cu patruzeci de milioane de ani. Acum chiar şi acestea se pierduseră, dar ceea ce rămăsese era net superior în comparaţie cu ceea ce ştiau popoarele pământului şi ale cerului, încât oriunde locuiau cei din poporul de mijloc aveau o mare putere şi de obicei erau conducători.
În cer, însă, computerul navei spaţiale Basilica nu uita nimic şi, prin intermediul sateliţilor pe care îi răspândise în jurul Pământului, îl observa, aduna date şi îşi amintea tot ceea ce învăţase.
bdplume's review
4.0
This one lost something for me, because it was one of those way-after-the-fact novels. I missed the characters. I feel like this was basically a prologue instead of a novel.
megant713's review against another edition
3.0
This book was okay. It was fairly well-written but parts were confusing, and the honorifics attached to names were hard to remember.
ajlewis2's review against another edition
2.0
I am in favor of the moral values discussed in this book. That said, this part of the saga was uninteresting in the extreme. The other 4 books were kind of preachy, but those had good stories. The story in this book seems flat and most of it is wasted.
Throughout the series there have been scenes that hearken back to Biblical stories. This book had that too. I don't mind, but an atheist would probably not like any of the books.
Throughout the series there have been scenes that hearken back to Biblical stories. This book had that too. I don't mind, but an atheist would probably not like any of the books.
isbjorn's review
4.0
At first I was very disappointed with this book because it made the previous 4 seem like a very long and almost unnecessary prologue, almost the reverse of The Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This plagued me because all of the characters, conflict, and intrigue that had been building up were suddenly reduced to a distant memory that may or may not have actually happened (in the minds of the characters of this book at least).
Other than this I have had problems with the Homecoming sage as a whole. The first book, The Memory of Earth, was ok, but interesting and different enough to keep my attention, the second book, The Call of Earth was amazing and wonderful. Then came the third book, The Ships of Earth, which had only the point to remind readers of the conflicts from the first two books and to use the common trope that even after learning a lesson, main characters end up making the same mistakes over and over again. It was rather draining. The Fourth, Earthfall, carried on the tradition of rehashing old problems over and over again, but we were finally introduced to new species which at least added a bigger context to the same old conflicts.
Then the was Earthborn. Slow at first, but it built to an amazing crescendo. Yes, as other reviewers have stated, it is extremely predictable and 100% a religious allegory, but that doesn't mean the point of the story was any less current or applicable to everyone. If you don't like religious allegories than you can instead focus on the folly of pride that has long been a staple of literature, or on the message of complete equality for all.
This last point is perhaps the greatest triumph of this book. It takes human nature, which naturally feels the need to be exclusive, and throws in other sentient beings so that when people are being bigots they are actually hating something that is completely non-human. Yet the story isn't saying that just because these other creatures are different from us that they are worse, but that they should be treated just the same. Which makes the reader wonder if the society in this book can accept non-humans as equals, why can't we in the real world treat other humans, whose differences are so much smaller, with the same type of respect and equality.
Fundamentally this book challenges all notions of racism, sexism, and any other isms you want to add. Be it an allegory or not it focuses on current issues and teaches compassion.
The only downfall of anything written by Orson Scott Card, and please ignore this if you only care about this specific book's review, is that they all teach a compassion that seems to be missing from our world, and yet the author himself seems to have missed the message of his own books when it comes to certain issues. Does this mean the books are any less meaningful? No. Does it make it easier to ignore these books because many want to distance themselves from the man? Yes, but I urge you to give them, especially Earthborn, a chance. If nothing else you can imagine living in a world with giant bats and rats, because only things that rhyme become sentient.
Other than this I have had problems with the Homecoming sage as a whole. The first book, The Memory of Earth, was ok, but interesting and different enough to keep my attention, the second book, The Call of Earth was amazing and wonderful. Then came the third book, The Ships of Earth, which had only the point to remind readers of the conflicts from the first two books and to use the common trope that even after learning a lesson, main characters end up making the same mistakes over and over again. It was rather draining. The Fourth, Earthfall, carried on the tradition of rehashing old problems over and over again, but we were finally introduced to new species which at least added a bigger context to the same old conflicts.
Then the was Earthborn. Slow at first, but it built to an amazing crescendo. Yes, as other reviewers have stated, it is extremely predictable and 100% a religious allegory, but that doesn't mean the point of the story was any less current or applicable to everyone. If you don't like religious allegories than you can instead focus on the folly of pride that has long been a staple of literature, or on the message of complete equality for all.
This last point is perhaps the greatest triumph of this book. It takes human nature, which naturally feels the need to be exclusive, and throws in other sentient beings so that when people are being bigots they are actually hating something that is completely non-human. Yet the story isn't saying that just because these other creatures are different from us that they are worse, but that they should be treated just the same. Which makes the reader wonder if the society in this book can accept non-humans as equals, why can't we in the real world treat other humans, whose differences are so much smaller, with the same type of respect and equality.
Fundamentally this book challenges all notions of racism, sexism, and any other isms you want to add. Be it an allegory or not it focuses on current issues and teaches compassion.
The only downfall of anything written by Orson Scott Card, and please ignore this if you only care about this specific book's review, is that they all teach a compassion that seems to be missing from our world, and yet the author himself seems to have missed the message of his own books when it comes to certain issues. Does this mean the books are any less meaningful? No. Does it make it easier to ignore these books because many want to distance themselves from the man? Yes, but I urge you to give them, especially Earthborn, a chance. If nothing else you can imagine living in a world with giant bats and rats, because only things that rhyme become sentient.
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