On the book #3.

WHAT THE HELL was OSC thinking? This is the biggest piece of crap I've read in years. I've LOVED 16 Ender books. I've Loved the 3 Gate Thief books. Those all had Great writing, great characters, great adventure.
THIS load of crap is like he lost a bet, and had to write a bad book in a week, with despicable characters, no action, no hero, no anything. Page after page after page after page of 1 dimensional stick figures, whining and whining and whining. About nothing. This book is like Oakland -- There's no There, there. Avoid this series at all costs. Such a huge disappointment, for a big OSC fan. Yikes, this book sucks.

That said, the final 1/3 of the book is slightly better than the terrible crap sandwich that is the first 2/3, and tells a complete story, that isn't the worst thing I've ever read. But it is not enough to make up for the endless droning on and on and on in the first 2/3rds. Sorry I ever started this series. (Though in some sense, I am curious how they hell these chips are going to get to Earth . . .

So, I did find out how all the primary characters got back together as I had hoped. Another person, who one might have thought was important, and who did provide some important context, turned out to be a passing fad. That was well done. Most interestingly, another person closely related to the primary characters was gradually introduced and eventually connected to the passing fad, then left behind as well. All of this advanced to story and connections of the key players. Good stuff. As before, the ending does not end the story but is a reasonable stopping point. Kind of like another night of a thousand and one nights. Still an old school presentation.

Se trata de la segunda parte de una serie de libros que no se pueden leer por separado. Aquí van a aparecer elementos externos a Basílica, la ciudad donde transcurría la primera parte, con eventos importantes de política entre reinos. Poco a poco se va avanzando hacia el Retorno que da título a la saga.
Lo mejor, como siempre, el tratamiento de los personajes. La curiosidad es que escribe en clave de ciencia ficción lo que cuenta el Libro de Mormón, algo que nunca habría sospechado leyéndolo.

I am loving this series for the second time.

This is an all around excellent book. An incredible cast of characters, a great plot, plenty of crazy twists and turns, and dialect that brings it all to life. While all of the characters from the first book play a big part in this one too, the new character, General Moozh, puts this book on a diferent level. It's going to be hard for the rest of the series to live up to expectations if General Moozh isn't replaced by someone as likeable. However, this books leaves off with the Earthbound party just leaving Bascilica, so the rest of the serires should hold some great excitement. This book was enhanced by the abundancy of dreams, in my opinion. It brings a somehow more serious and meaningful prospective to the whole story. I just hope that the rest of the series can live up to such a high standard.
One question: What scene is the cover of the book depicting??

I think I'll stick my rant about Arthur C Clark on this book, just for good measure. I should probably recommend it as an important read, maybe give it a bit more star... I think any book that stays with you over the years was worth reading, and this series, certain scenes and ideas from it anyway, has stayed in my head since high school. But it's not a favorite. I just personally can't get over the dreamy idealism... my remembered impression of the story is lack of spunk:p I might have to reread it, maybe I'm not giving it enough credit... but there is a quality to OSC's stories that has kept me away from reading much of his work.. it's a preachiness in the turn of events, a certainty in the character of the players that is unrealistic... can I call it Fate? I never liked reading a story with no surprises.

I made a decision to read the 'Homecoming' series by Orson Card. This is Book #2 in that series and it succeeded in getting me hooked into the overall series. It provides a unique view of the future of humans. It appears that Earth is ravaged by nuclear war and what-not ... humans have to leave earth in order to find other places to live. Some of the people arrive on a world in another galaxy that is called 'Harmony'. They live in peace for 40 million years ... with one catch ... the computer that controlled the exodus of Earth to this new place had some type of bio-chip placed in the genetic code of the humans on Harmony. The computer uses this bio-chip to ensure that humans don't repeat the original mistakes made on Earth.

The computer is 40 million years old and it's getting weaker ... and it's not able to maintain total control of all the people. There is a chance that the errors of our past ... war, destruction and such ... could occur again.

The computer, known as 'The Oversoul'... determines that it is time for the people to go back to Earth. That is the 'homecoming' in the series title.

Anyhow, Book #2 gives us the completion of the story on Harmony and it does it in a good and complete way. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Card is an excellent writer, but this is a terrible book. Hamfisted allegory, stilted philosophy, and awkward "romance." The conflict feels beyond pointless, and the motivations at work aren't believable in the least.

I get it. Card is trying to cram Mormon canon into his fictitious world. The problem is that he has no skill at it. His allegory is bald-faced, hackneyed, and juvenile. What good is (attempting) allegory when the two main characters have a literal debate about the nature of God and free will?

I will not waste my time with finishing this series.

This is a good book - sequel to volume 1

I really liked the character development but did not like the abrupt ending of this book nor the way it was told in an epilogue.

This was going to be a two star review because of all the ridiculous political machinations and focus on a new character, the General. However, once I slogged through it and got to the late climax of this one, I feel all the slogging was worth it.

Truly, I did not see the ending of this one coming and Card still has the ability to “wow” outside the Ender Series! This book is also one of the few sequels that turns out to be better than the first book, but I imagine it’s because he wrote each volume with the entire series in mind and used the first book as a mere setup for the rest of the plot to unfold across four more books.

It’s also nice to see that the philotic connections (though they are not identified as such) are alive and well, uniting people in a mysterious universe that includes the Outside of the Ender Series! This series is biblical in scope and reads like the establishment of the patriarchal Abrahamic lineage of the Hebrews as they depart from civilization in search of a promised land. On this time, it’s Earth.

The Memory of Earth (1992) 330 pages

The Call of Earth (1993) 332 pages

Forty million years ago a colony ship from Earth settled the planet Harmony. An orbiting computer was put in place to keep the people from destroying themselves. The society is sort of pioneer, feudalism, mysticism with some technology (computers, stun guns). We get the idea that this is due to the Oversoul (the orbiting computer) tweaking people away from ideas that would allow them to build things conducive to war. There are no wheeled vehicles, no wagons, no gunpowder, etc. After 40 million years though the oversoul is not quite what it used to be.

Our main characters live in or around the walled city of Basilica. Card has set up a bunch of rules for Basilica, men can't own property inside the gates, there's a lake in the middle of the city where men aren't even allowed to go. I wouldn't call it a matriarchical society, men still have power, too. Marriage contracts are on a year by year basis, leading to there being a lot of half and step brothers and sisters.

There are several plot lines going on. Nafai is the youngest of four brothers in the Wetchik clan. He has issues with Elemak, or Elemak has issues with Nafai. There is the city wide struggle for power. Gabullufix is advocating building war wagons for one of the neighboring empires so they can fight a different neighboring empire. People are getting visions from the oversoul, Nafai and Issib are learning things from the computer library.

The first book deals mainly with the power struggles within Basilica. In the second book we start getting scenes from factions outside of Basilica. We learn more about the oversoul and how it has kept in communication with the people.

The books were very compelling, and the plot lines came together pretty well at the end. Well worth going out to your used book store. I suggest you get both or neither.