About half of the book reads like a season of This Old House. If I hadn't just had my own house built, I'd have probably gotten very bored before page 100. That's probably the only reason I gave this 3 instead of 4 stars: because the house parts make it slow.

Of course the house parts are important. Every part is important, and you can see that at the end. That's what Card does. That and characters, and it was the characters that brought me through the story. Even though I should be bothered that the protagonist is a tough, working, blue collar guy - a man's man, the anti-geek - he didn't bother me at all. In fact, I liked him. He was a real person with real problems and I wanted him to succeed. I wanted everyone to succeed.

That's what Card always does well - he makes us care about his characters, and even though I know how he does it (Card wrote an excellent how-to-write book called Characters and Viewpoint), it doesn't make it any less effective.

Un poco sin sabor, predecible pero no me costó leerlo. No lo leería de nuevo.

An overall well written and compelling story that fell short. A good addition Orson Scott Card's non-scifi fiction and a quick read, even if a bit predictable.

I enjoyed our Halloween read this year. It was not scary but had supernatural twists to it. I lived the thought that a unique home with lots of love in it has power.




I didn't have problems with the story line but I still appreciated Tracy's comments at book club. "If a book touches on areas that are part of your own life, you need them to be accurate and realistic." There can be ghosts and supernatural happenings but when the things that are supposed to link the story to the real world are off it can ruin the whole book for you.