Thoroughly enjoyable. It brought the bible stories to life with a light touch. The main characters are developed sympathetically and with humour - although I think Lot's wife was treated a bit harshly... I can't remember much detail about her from the bible, I will have to look at the relevant verses again.
I will certainly read the other books in this series.

I didn't think I'd like this but but ended up reading until 3 am. It was gripping and I really liked how the author honored the sacredness of this story. His portrayal of the characters felt right to me and honorable. The loving relationship Abraham and Sarah had in this tale fits so well with how I'd imagine they would be.

No science fiction; no magic and no fantasy. People who don't usually like Card's books may love this one. This is a first of a women of the Bible series. Sure he takes liberties with the plot, but is is relatively accurate. While a really enjoyed this obne, I'm guessing that my wife would have liked it even more.

I loved this book. It inspired me to go back through Genesis and Abraham and learn more about the story. I also liked that he made Sarah real to me. Before I didn't understand in context what a lot of the scriptures were about, this helped me to better understand and like the old testament.

A major letdown. The writing is flowery stuff more suited to kiss-and-tell romances than fiction based on bible history. It's not very intriguing a tale as presented, and very little information that elucidates actual events mentioned in the scriptures. Verges on smutty.

Technically, I didn't finish this book. It just wasn't that great. The characters were not gripping and when you are telling a well-known story, you need to have something special to help it stand out. This just didn't.
I was also a bit bothered by the fact that it wasn't biblical. It wasn't antithetical by any means, but it didn't stick to the known biblical thoughts. And that just doesn't make sense to me. So I'm taking it back to the library.

I remembered reading this in high school and liking it. I liked it better than I did then.

Orson Scott Card uses not only Genesis, but Abraham's book of scripture (as seen in the Pearl of Great Price (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/s...)). I had not known that he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until reading it the second time. Then, it was a face palm to the forehead.

I love how Sarah's anguish over being barren and giving Hagar to Abraham to bear his children is depicted. Her agony is so real and painful. Though many points may be fictional, I enjoyed trying to see through the eyes of one so faithful to God.

However, I did not like the end. After Sarah becomes pregnant with the child she craved so badly, the book speeds to a dizzying pace, flying through Isaac's years. The whole last scene is just a recap of her story, as if readers weren't smart enough to remember the plot points.

Overall, a good read.

I was asked to lead a book club review on this book, so I read it with the mindset of finding talking points. I liked the way Orson Scott Card dealt with a lot of Biblical events, giving logical explanations for things that aren't fully explained in the Bible, such as Sarai being introduced in Egypt as Abram's sister, Hagar and Ishmael being cast out, and Lot's wife's turn back to Sodom.

I enjoyed Card's portrayals of Sarai and Abram, though I found Qira, Hagar, and many others very one-dimensional. He did a decent enough job of showing the biblical world from a woman's perspective, though I can't help but think a woman writer would have been even more insightful. When he portrays Sarai as feeling excluded or minimized, I felt a little patronized, as if he was both acknowledging women's frustrations and patting them on the heads to make them feel important. Perhaps I'm projecting here, but that was my biggest complaint.

3.5 stars rounded to a 4.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Worthing Chronicle is a series of connected short stories written by Orson Scott Card in 1983. It is considered the third book in his Worthing series, the first being Capitol (and his first published fiction novel) and the second being Hot Sleep. This book read like a religious script, or a gathering of parables. It explores a theme I enjoy, the idea that if someone lives long enough, they can see their life become myths. This book was an easy beautiful read, and while the other two books weren't needed to enjoy it, I want to read them now and get the full story. This is Orson Scott Card at his beginning, before Ender's Game (though still amazing) and while he was strong. The book was easy to read, and my only problems with it were the ending felt rushed, and a few things weren't explored thoroughly due to it being the third book.
The Worthing Chronicle follows a boy Lared, who is the son of a blacksmith, living on a simple agricultural based world experiences two life changing things. One is the Day of Pain, a day when suddenly everyone can be hurt and feel pain, up until now Lared's people have never felt any pain, have no memory of malice or being hurt, do not grieve at death and are free of these types of hardships. One day suddenly they feel the pain of loss so gripping that people cry, and strike out, men burn themselves and people fall and get injured. Their lives are turned upside down and they must learn how to live with this new fear. In addition to the day of pain, two strangers arrive in the village, speaking only to Lared and his sister in their minds. These strangers want Lared to write a book, to write their story. We learn that one of these strangers in Jason Worthing, and Worthing is the name of god among Lared's people. Jason Worthing and his descendant Justice share Jason's memories with Lared, and show Lared how once Jason was just a man, and then he created a planet, and eventually became like a god. He slept for 15,000 years and has re awoken to see what his descendants have become.
The style of this book is one of my favorites. I enjoy the linked short story, especially in this case where they flow into each other so perfectly that I didn't realize they were short stories until I researched them later. Every transition from present to memory is clear, but ends with the present being affected. The stories were all parabolic in nature, Jason teaching life lessons, and showing his experience with human nature through his memories and the memories of others in a budding humanity. Lared at times was a little whiny, but then again, I cannot say what it feels like to experience others memories as vividly as if they were my own. He felt real and believable, his towns transition was portrayed in a natural way. At no point did their emotions feel forced or poorly written.
The book is beautiful written, Card's writing style is strong and fluid, it felt almost melodic. Everything flowed smoothly and had purpose. For those who want Ender's Game, this is not it, it's still his amazing writing, it's still his idea of right and wrong and humanity. But it's completely different. It's quite, and slow in comparison, it's more self reflective. These characters aren't fighting, they're learning what it means to be a human, and why pain and sadness is important to make joy all the stronger.
The main issue with this book has little to do with the book itself. It's more the marketing of it. While you can read this without reading the others, I think it would be much more meaningful to read the others. I know I will be reading them.. These are short stories that revolve around a greater story that has already been told. Even though they are disguised with linking dialogue and story telling rather than being Story 1, Story 2, etc. There are instances where I believe I could have gotten more out of the point, the moral, the significance of characters, had I read the first two.
My other issue is partially due to the short story nature as well, and something I've been suffering from with a lot of books lately, so maybe it's me. The ending felt rushed. I want more of course, but it just felt like suddenly that was the last story and there could have been more. The last story was fitting, but the lead up to it made me think there would be more. But I suppose that's where reading the other books comes into play.
When I read the other two i'll update this review, we'll see if it pulls everything together in a nice package. Until then I'm still left with a beautiful book of parables from a far flung future. Where a starpilot had to raise humanity from infants on a distant planet, and found himself thousands of years later considered a god, even though he remembers himself just a man. This story of Jason Worthing and the boy Lared was a satisfying read that I couldn't put down. I recommend it, and I look forward to reading the other two books.

"It's what isn't me in you that I most love," said Doon. "Where I have torn down, you will build up. I have made the chaos for you, and the world is without form, and void. You are the light that will shine on the face of the deep."

I felt like this was a little uneven - I really enjoyed the first part, got a little antsy and bogged down in the second quarter, and then felt like it took off and was very compelling for the last half.

Card continues to excel at writing engaging conflict that isn't physical violence. Abraham and Sarah were good characters to follow. I liked them both and found their struggles compelling.

This depiction of Hagar is interesting -- on the one hand, you might say she's a flat, static character who is only bad and doesn't grow. But on the other hand, her badness is nuanced and feels real. I feel like I've known Hagars while I've never known the flat, moustache-twirling villains of many adventure stories. She's flat, but she's also the embodiment of that phenomenon where someone just refuses to understand. The dwarves from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle? They won't have the wool pulled over their eyes, no sir. And Hagar won't be fooled into thinking that Abraham and Sarah genuinely care for her and will provide for her and Ishmael even though they now have a different heir. Overall, I found her a compelling and tragic character, even if she doesn't grow and change.

Leaving out the Abimelech story was probably a good choice, and Card's explanation in the afterword makes sense; the story doesn't make a lot of sense.

Overall, I liked this a lot. I suspect it's a very incorrect depiction of how things really went down, but it's as good a guess any others I've seen. And more importantly (for a novel), it's an absorbing story. Recommended to anyone who thinks this might be a story you'd like. If you think that, you're probably right.

I really enjoyed the perspective this put on the life of Sarah. I think it helped to explain some of the cultural aspects of her life that are not written in the bible.

I thought this was a great book. I really liked how it was written bringing the story to life. The author does a fantastic job I thought of bringing real human emotions into the story. I turned many a corners of the pages to go back and see what passages I liked most, but I am sure I won't have time as there are too many turned.
The first passage I liked was on page 21, when the father of Sarah says to her sister. "And I was born to rule a great city.....We don't always live the life we were born for." Made me really think about how life is so unpredictable and nothing of what you thought it would be sometimes....
The last passage from the author I liked on page 371. "Our task in reading the scriptures is not to read it blindly as if God were dictating it to his secretary, but to read it faithfully, trying to understand what truths are being shown to us by means of it, or in spite of, the words used to tale the tale" I think speaking most of the Bible stories!