Julie, who has read (by her own admission) most everything Orson Scott Card has written, was appropriately shocked when I had no idea what Basilica was when she mentioned it in a comment a while back. After informing me it was the city in Memory of Earth, she “assigned” me to read it, hopefully before we met up for not-coffee in Ann Arbor last weekend. Well, I didn’t quite make the deadline, but I did read it.
My first reaction on picking up the book was: “Oh, yeah, this one.” I was in college when it came out and I remember when it hit the bookstore. I took one look at the book jacket, and was put off by Card’s blatant stealing of the Nephi story in the Book of Mormon. I didn’t want to give it the time of day; the man plagerized scripture (or what I believe to be scripture) after all.
Now, though, I’m glad I was encouraged to give it a chance. Yes, the plot for any good, church-going, scripture-reading, LDS member is completely predictable. I knew what was going to happen, especially as the book got going. That said, the way Card adapted and fleshed out the story was completely fascinating. Basilica is truly a fascinating place; what city that has existed for 40 million years (my mind can’t even begin to wrap itself around that one) isn’t? But beyond that, I found that the motivations for Elemak and Mebbekew to be completly believable; no longer are they just punk, bullying older brothers. And Nafai’s whole “conversion” process is understandable. Of course he would have questions and doubts. Okay, there were some weak spots (aside from the obvious plot hangups) and Card did spend a lot of time on probably needless details. And Gaballufix wasn’t excatly totally believeable as a bad guy. But overall, it was a decent read. I haven’t decided, though, whether to read the others or not.
The Book Nut 
Hmm. I am a lukewarm Card fan. I like the stories but not the writing, and I’ve always avoided that one because I’ve heard so many people complain about just what you mentioned. Maybe I should try it . . . Have you read My Name Is Sus5an Smith, the 5 Is Silent? First YA book by an LDS author that I’ve liked.
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I haven’t — I’ll have to look for it. The only YA book by an LDS author I’ve liked is Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. But it’s not directed towards an LDS audience. About the Homecoming series… I’ll pass along the advice Julie gave me: she said only the first two are worth while reads. Card, unfortunately, has a bad habit of getting worse as he goes along in series.
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Did you know that Orson’s main tongue-in-cheek defense against cries of plagiarism was “you can’t plagiarize non-fiction”?Really 🙂 I liked that. I haven’t read the series, and I probably won’t for reasons odd enough that I can’t explain. I like nearly everythign of his that I’ve read, though.
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Ooh, I like that too! I heard him speak at the Y once, and he was very impressive. I just think he is a better storyteller than writer.Susan Smith wasn’t for an LDS audience either. But then, Chaim Potok didn’t write just for a Jewish audience–I am still waiting for an LDS Potok to emerge, but so far I have not found one.
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I agree with Laura that his prose is nothing special. It’s his ideas that just stick in my brain. Basilica, the tapestry in the Alvin books, the Hive Queen, etc. They are just. So. Compelling. To me, anyway.Not to mention the fact that my 9yo son recently got me addicted to a stupid shoot-em-up video game and all I can think as I blast my way to the enemy planet is “Remember, the enemy gate is down.” See, this stuff comes in handy when you least expect it. 🙂
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This was the book which poisoned my desire to read OSC books. I guess it was right around the time that I read <>Lost Boys<> or whatever that other horrible book he wrote was, so that might have had some effect as well. I do appreciate OSC’s response to cries of plagiarism, but it wasn’t the so-called “plagiarism” which turned me off from his writing. It was his lack of a substantial editor reviewing his writing.It was around this time that he became “reknown” enough to feel that he didn’t need anyone reviewing his books besides himself and his friends and family. To me, this decision has shown clearly in books he has written since then and I just can’t get through any of them. He might have some interesting ideas for stories, but they aren’t reviewed or refined beyond ideas; a major flaw in an author.
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