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A review by isbjorn
Earthborn by Orson Scott Card
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.