Very decent continuation of the first novel. Happy to have not lost interest and will eventually continue with the others.

Nafai and his family have been prepared by the Oversoul to make the long journey back to earth, but first they need to clear up a few things in Basilica. They need to gather their wives and supplies. With General Moozh angling for a bloodless capture of the city and Nafai's family entrenched in his plans, they must obey the Oversoul and divert Moozh's schemes.
This "bridge" book could have been rather boring, but Card's skill in bringing tension to every machination is its saving grace. The suspense continues and the plans of the Oversoul are revealed at an excellent pace. The characters are flawed and genuine; even if the reader doesn't like them most of the time, one is still interested to know what happens to them. Looking forward to The Ships of Earth so we can get this show on the road!

I am a huge Orson Scott Card fan but this book was absolutely terrible. I hate to say it but it was borderline unreadable for me. I felt like it was written by an uninformed and sheltered teenager. I did enjoy the first book of this series (albeit many years ago) and was excited to read the next installment. Unfortunately this narrative is rather slow and to be honest, quite shallow.

The characters are all one dimensional and their actions are laughable. Card's message about religion and faith comes through as almost forced and overwhelming (we get it, move on now and please tell me something else).

The bottom line here is that there is no original insight provided between the covers of this book. It is a manuscript dictating the importance of ensuring that you have something to have sex with whenever you abandon a city riddled with corruption for the emptiness of a desert at the request of some admittedly flawed deity. On second thought, I suppose this novel is the only place I have actually learned this lesson. I recant my earlier statement, it is actually an original idea. It's just a stupid idea for a book.

The subtle influence of the Oversoul remains the most compelling aspect of this series. Since reading the first installment, I have learned that this is actually a sci-fi retelling of a portion of the Book of Mormon, which makes this somewhat more interesting from an anthropological angle. I guess my dire predictions of forcing myself to read all of these to fuel my sense of completion have come to fruition after all.

second book in the homecoming saga, again, it was just okay. it really did very little to move the plot of the story along though. it felt like a filler book, a book that could have really been written in maybe a couple chapters of another book. that is to say, it didn't seem to drag on. orson scott card has a talent for never making a book feel like that. still, by the end, i said to myself: what was the point of that book?

Computerul principal al planetei Harmony nu era proiectat să intervină atât de direct în problemele oamenilor. Era profund tulburat de faptul că tocmai îl provocase pe tânărul Nafai să-l ucidă pe Gaballufix. Dar cum să se întoarcă pe Pământ fără Catalog? Şi cum să obţină Nafai Catalogul fără să-l ucidă pe Gaballufix? Nu exista o altă cale.
tSau exista? Sunt bătrân, îşi spuse computerul principal. Am patruzeci de milioane de ani, o maşinărie proiectată să dureze nici pe departe atât de mult. Cum să fiu sigur că judecata mea este corectă? Am provocat moartea unui om, iar tânărul Nafai suferă de remuşcări şi vinovăţie pentru ceea ce l-am împins să facă. Şi totul pentru a duce Catalogul înapoi la Zvezdakroog, ca să mă întorc pe Pământ.
tDacă aş putea sta de vorbă cu Păstrătorul Pământului. Dacă mi-ar zice cum să procedez. Atunci aş acţiona cu încredere. Nu m-aş mai îndoi de fiecare decizie, nu m-aş mai întreba dacă nu cumva tot ceea ce fac este produsul propriei mele decăderi.
tAvea disperată nevoie să discute cu Păstrătorul, însă n-avea cum decât întorcându-se pe Pământ. Era un cerc frustrant. Computerul principal nu putea acţiona înţelept fără ajutorul Păstrătorului; trebuia să acţioneze înţelept ca să ajungă la acesta.
tŞi acum? Şi acum? Este nevoie de inteligenţă, totuşi cine să mă îndrume? Am imens mai multe cunoştinţe decât poate stăpâni orice om, şi totuşi nu am alte minţi decât cele umane ca să mă sfătuiască.
tEra oare posibil să fie de ajuns? Nici un computer nu ar fi vreodată atât de strălucitor de dezordonat ca un creier uman. Oamenii iau cele mai uluitoare decizii doar pe baza unor fragmente de date, deoarece creierul lor le recombină în moduri stranii şi pline de adevăr. Ar fi cu siguranţă posibil ca de la ei să se extragă unele idei utile.

I don’t have the patience for the moralizing in this book alongside a “gathering of wives” storyline. The introduction of Moozh, a general who tries to resist the power of the Oversoul (space computer God) was a redeeming factor. But then the two page prologue trivializes about the last 100 pages and his story. So. That blew.

The planet Harmony, some thousand light years from Earth, was settled some 40 million years ago by humans fleeing some disaster taking place on the home planet. A series of orbiting satellites run by an artificial intelligence computer known as the Oversoul, can control and monitor the populace through dream messages, accessible and interpreted by those particularly sensitive. Recently the messaging has become more urgent and seems to be indicating a desire for a return to Earth for the purpose of reseeding its biosphere with seed stock on Harmony. Meanwhile unrest has accelerated on Harmony, with the leaders of both the ruling house and its major opposition in the city of Basilica murdered by a young relative, Nafai, and his mother’s husband has exiled himself in the desert with his other sons. A power-hungry general known as Moozh has taken advantage of this unrest and has launched a successful offensive on the women-led city while it is in riot. Against his Imperator’s direct orders. A sequel to The Memory Of Earth, Orson Scott Card has given us a more nuanced character-driven book which gives us a deep dive into their motivations and demeanours. With a vaguely New Testament feel, it is nonetheless an entertaining book without advancing the overarching plot much.

CALL picks up right where MEMORY left off. MEMORY, I think, was just slightly better than CALL. Not to say that this book isn't good (it is), but throughout the novel, we get the feeling that things are about to happen, and about to happen, and about to happen. Card's pacing is slightly slower. His dialogue . . . well, decide for yourselves about that. But he keeps with the characters. In MEMORY, we're introduced to these great, full characters. In CALL, we go deep inside them and find out what's making them tick.

When I say this book picks up right where MEMORY left off, I mean that quite literally. Nafai and Co. return to the city to find wives--that's their storyline. Meanwhile, a brilliant general of a powerful nation has conquered Basilica, only it's not really a conquering. Ah, it's confusing, and takes pretty much the entire book to clear things up.

There are three main storylines in this one: Nafai and Co.'s quest for wives, Rasa's quest for peace and freedom for Basilica, and Moozh's quest for the city itself. And like I said, the tension just keeps getting higher.

This is also when we're introduced into the minds of several new characters that help to even things out in terms of point of views. We get Elemak's mind, in particular, and his jealousy and hatred of Nafai.

The interesting thing I've always liked about Orson Scott Card is that when he uses two conflicting viewpoints, he gives us justification in believing both sides. Yes, we can see from Nafai's point of view that is essentially a goodhearted young boy, trying to be a man in a situation that keeps shifting out of control. And then from Elemak's perspective, we are shown that Nafai is merely a suck-up and an attention-hogger. And we're given justification for both sides.

But, like all good novels (and all bad ones, for that matter), there were some moments.

Nafai's marriage to Luet, in particular. This is the part of the book that will make people either fascinated, or disgusted. Unfortunately for me, I am a very perceptive person. I can see the reasoning behind plot choices, and that makes me accept them more easily. The kicker: Nafai's fourteen; Luet's thirteen.

I almost cried out in relief when one of the characters (two, actually) even commented on the beastly aspect of this relationship. But at the same time, I saw it coming. The thing was, I didn't think it would be that soon. You'd think Card, being a religious man, would frown upon this marriage. I certainly did. But I see the reasoning behind it, and am okay with it. More or less.

The novel really gets interesting at the end when just when you think Card's not going to pull it off (and I mean there is literally ten pages left of the book at this point), he does. With a few tricks, some help from our favorite God-like computer, and a woman whose name means Thirsty. I am not joking. I'll stress the point that the book was written in the early '90s.

I liked it, to put it simply. Again, not for you if you hate religious undertones, overtones, or religion in general. And if you block the part about child sex--not explicit, thank God; I have very specific views about sex scenes in novels--I think you'll enjoy it as well. And, as always, Card leaves us with a sense of a good TV show: it wraps up the episode's storyline (actually, probably one of the best endings I've ever read), and leaves us with the sense that the over-arching story is not finished.

While it is still a great book, it's definitely not as intense as the first book of the series. There are some twists and turns that you end up expecting. However, OSC made sure to leave some food for thought. In my case, this refers to the giant rats and the flying monkeys. Looking forward to reading the sequel!

Ce deuxième tome rattrape les maladresses du premier volume en introduisant un véritable antagoniste (réussi), et développe les personnages dans le bon sens. Ils sont moins impulsifs, moins insupportables, et le récit, toujours centré sur Basillica, prend de l'épaisseur, et les enjeux deviennent clairs et intéressants. C'est une très bonne suite au premier tome qui s'attachait plus à poser le décor, fait vraiment avancer l'histoire.

L'auteur distille aussi des indices sur les tomes suivants, et comme j'en suis à la seconde lecture, et me souviens de la suite, je me rends compte que la série est vraiment bien construite et que tout a été minutieusement planifié.
Un bonne suite donc, qui pose de bonnes bases pour le reste de la série.

In the second installment of Orson Scott Card’s five book series Homecoming we pick up right where The Memory of Earth left off. This time however we are not solely focused on the Wetchik clan, instead we learn about a new character Moohz, a great Gorayni general. Although the Gorayni worship differently, they still worship the Oversoul, but call it God. As we delve more into his story we learn his people were conquered and annihilated by the Gorayni and he is biding his time until he is able to strike a death-blow to the Gorayni empire and their leader, a self-titled human manifestation of god.

In contrast to this we delve more deeply into the Wetchik family and Lady Rasa’s family and ties. Her two idiot daughters Svet and Kokor and their husbands, Wetchik’s sons from the previous book, and Rasa’s nieces become focal points of this novel. Wetchik’s sons return to the city on the command of the Oversoul to find wives and to bring them out to the desert in order to then complete the journey back to Earth which has waited some 40 million years.

Click here to continue reading on my blog The Oddness of Moving Things.