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Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow
First Published in 1999.
Synopsis
"In this new book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean--the one who became Ender's right hand, his strategist, and his friend. One who was with him, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers.
Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else's. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older.
Bean's desperate struggle to live, and his success, brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender..." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Ender's Game
Ender #1
First Published in 1977.
Synopsis
"The human race is at War with the "Buggers," an insect-like alien race. The first battles went badly, and now as Earth prepares to defend itself against the imminent threat of total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable alien enemy, all focus is on the development and training of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win.
The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth--they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high--orbital facility called the Battle School.
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Speaker for the Dead
Ender #2
First Published in 1986.
Synopsis
"Card's novel Ender's Game introduced Ender Wiggin, a young genius who used his military prowess to all but exterminate the ``buggers,'' the first alien race mankind had ever encountered. Wiggin then transformed himself into the ``Speaker for the Dead,'' who claimed it had been a mistake to destroy the alien civilization. Many years later, when a new breed of intelligent life forms called the ``piggies'' is discovered, Wiggin takes the opportunity to atone for his earlier actions. This long, rich and ambitious novel views the interplay between the races from the differing perspectives of the colonists, ethnologists, biologists, clergy, politicians, a computer artificial intelligence, the lone surviving bugger and the piggies themselves." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Xenocide
Ender #3
First Published in 1991.
Synopsis
"As an armed fleet from Starways Congress hurtles through space toward the rebellious planet Lusitania, Ender Wiggin, his sister Valentine, and his family search for a miracle that will preserve the existence of three intelligent and vastly different species." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Children of the Mind
Ender #4
First Published in 1996.
Synopsis
"Orson Scott Card returns at last to the story of Ender Wiggin, the child hero of the Hugo and Nebula award winner Ender's Game, who as a man found a way to redeem the Xenocide of his youth and restore the Hive Queen to life. Now his adopted world, Lusitania, is threatened by the same planet-destroying weapon that he himself used so many thousands of years before. Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos, a strange race native to Lusitania; a large colony of humans; and the Hive Queen, brought there by Ender. But the Starways Congress fears Lusitania and a strange virus that it harbors, and they have gathered a fleet to destroy the planet. Ender's oldest friend, Jane, the computer intelligence that has evolved with him over three thousand years, allowed the Starways Congress to discover her existence when she tried to stop the fleet. Now they are trying to kill her as well, by shutting down the network of computers and ansibles in which she lives. They are afraid of her, and of her control over all human communications. Jane can save the three sentient races of Lusitania. She has learned how to move ships outside the universe, and then instantly back to a different world, abolishing the light-speed limit. But it takes all the processing power available to her, and the Starways Congress is shutting down the Net world by world. Soon she will not be able to move the ships. But there is hope: during the first trip outside, Ender's mind briefly took control and created two new beings - replicas of his brother Peter, who was the Hegemon, and his sister Valentine. These two children of Ender's mind, together with his adopted children from Lusitania, are racing against time to discover new worlds, to influence the Starways Congress to recall the fleet, and to save Jane by finding a home for her disembodied intelligence once the Human Network is closed off to her." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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The Memory of Earth
Homecoming Saga Vol. #1
First Published in .
Synopsis
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The Call of Earth
Homecomming Saga Vol. #2
First Published in .
Synopsis
"The Call of Earth continues the story of Nafai, his family, and the few other people selected by the Oversoul to leave the city of Basilica, and their former lives. When the human refugees from a ruined Earth founded a colony on the planet Harmony, they determined that this world would not be devastated by the endless cycle of vicious warfare that had characterized human life from the beginning. They didn't try to change human nature. Instead they installed a powerful computer, called the Oversoul, and gave it the task of governing human affairs by subtly influencing human minds. That was millions of years ago. Now the Oversoul is growing weak, breaking down. It must be returned to Earth, to the master computer called the Keeper of Earth, to be repaired. The Oversoul must have human help to make that journey. But as the Oversoul grows weaker, a great warrior has arisen, stronger, smarter perhaps, than Nafai and his allies. His name is Moozh, and he is deliberately flouting the will of the Oversoul. He has won control of an army using forbidden technology. Now he is aiming his soldiers straight at Basilica, that strong fortress above the Plains. Who will stop him? Basilica remains in turmoil. Wetchik and his sons, Nafai and Issib, Elemak and Mebbekew, are not strong enough to resist alone. Can Rasa and her allies defeat him through intrigue, or will Moozh take the city and all who are in it? And meanwhile, in their dreams, the most sensitive people of the planet Harmony hear the call of the Keeper of Earth." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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The Ships of Earth
Homecomming Saga Vol. #3
First Published in .
Synopsis
"The Oversoul's chosen people flee the city of Basilica (destroyed in their wake by General Moozh) and travel across the desert wastes, eventually to settle in the hidden valley where long ago the exiles from Earth who founded the colony of Harmony left their starships--and the machines that can make them fly again." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Earthfall
Homecoming Saga Vol. #4
First Published in .
Synopsis
"At last, the Wetchik tribe is ready to take a ship to the stars. But from the beginning there has been bitter dispute between Nafai and Elemak, Wetchik's youngest son and his oldest. And only Nefai, who wears the Cloak of the Starmaster by the Oversoul's command, understands what this means to the future of all." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Earthborn
Homecoming Saga Vol. #5
First Published in .
Synopsis
"High above the Earth, the starship Basilica orbits. On board the huge vessel are a sleeping woman and an artificial intelligence, the Oversoul of Harmony, returned at last to its planet of origin. Of those who made the journey, Shedemei alone has survived the hundreds of years since Earthfall and the return of the children of Wetchik to Earth. Shedemei and the Oversoul have recorded much of the history of Earth since they came. But in all the long years of watching and searching, the Oversoul has not found the thing it sought across the light-years from Harmony to Earth. It has not found the Keeper of Earth, the central intelligence that alone can repair the Oversoul's damaged programming and allow it to return to Harmony. But on the planet below, among the people there, Shedemei and the Oversoul can see the influence of the Keeper. And now, in Shedemei's dreams, the Keeper speaks to her again, sending powerful warnings. She is needed on the surface below, with her knowledge and the power of the Starmaster's Cloak. And so at last she determines to go. The last living child of Harmony will return to Earth and search for the Keeper as she once searched for the Oversoul - by being its servant until at last they come face to face." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Seventh Son
Tales of Alvin Maker, Vol. #1
First Published in .
Synopsis
"Young Alvin is the seventh son of the seventh son. Such a birth is a powerful magic, such a boy is destined to become something great, perhaps even a Maker. At the age of six Alvin doesn't seem to have any special talents at all; unless it's the knack he has of working with stone and wood, crafting tools and ornaments; unless it's his ability to paint a hex just right; unless it's the way he has with animals. Yes, Alvin is something special, and even in the loving safety of his home, dark forces reach out to destroy him." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Red Prophet
Tales of Alvin Maker, Vol. #2
First Published in .
Synopsis
"In this sequel to Seventh son, Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son, learns about the land and its chosen people in an America that might have been." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Prentice Alvin
Tales of Alvin Maker, Vol. #3
First Published in .
Synopsis
"Young Alvin returns to the town of his birth and begins his apprenticeship with Makepeace Smith, committing seven years of his life in exchange for the skills and knowledge of a blacksmith. But Alvin must also learn to control and use his own Talent, that of a Maker, before his destiny can be fulfilled." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Alvin Journeyman
Tales of Alvin Maker, Vol. #4
First Published in .
Synopsis
"Using the lore and the folk magic of the men and women who settled the North American continent, Card has created an alternate frontier America: a world where folk magic really works, and where that magic has colored the entire history of the colonies. Charms and beseechings, hexes and potions, all have a place in the lives of the people of this world. "Knacks" abound: Dowsers find water, the second sight warns of dangers to come, and a torch can read the heart of anyone. And Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a very special man indeed. Alvin is a Maker, and what he can make is a new future for America. But to do that he must defeat his ancient enemy, the Unmaker, whose cruel whispers and deadly plots have threatened Alvin's life at every turn. Now a grown man and a journeyman smith, Alvin has returned to his family and friends in the town of Vigor Church, to share in their isolation, to work as a blacksmith, and to try to teach anyone who will learn the knack of being a Maker. For Alvin has had a vision of the city he will build, and he knows that he cannot build it alone. But the Unmaker is not through with Alvin. If that spirit of destruction cannot stop him by magic, or war and devastation, then it will try to crush the young Maker by simpler means - more human means. By lies and innuendo, and by false accusations, Alvin is driven from his home back to Hatrack River, only to find that the Unmaker has been there before him, and that he must now stand trial for his life." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Heartfire
First Published in .
Synopsis
"Peggy is a Torch, able to see the fire burning in each person's heart. From the moment of Alvin Maker's birth, when the Unmaker first strove to kill him, she has protected him. Now they are married. But Alvin's destiny has taken them on separate journeys. But only one slender path exists that leads through the bloodshed, and it is Peggy's quest to set the world on that path to peace." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Songmaster
First Published in .
Synopsis
"A haunting story of power and love--a tale of the man who would destroy everything he loves to preserve humanity's peace, and the boy who might just sing the world away." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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The Folk of the Fringe
First Published in .
Synopsis
"Only a few nuclear weapons fell in America-the weapons that destroyed our nation were biological, and, ultimately, cultural. But in the chaos, the famine, the plague, there existed a few pockets of order. The strongest of them was the state of Desert, formed from the vestiges of Utah, Colorado, and Idaho. The climate has changed. The Great Salt Lake has filled up to prehistoric levels. But there, on the fringes, brave, hardworking pioneers are making the desert bloom again." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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The Worthing Saga
First Published in .
Synopsis
""This book brings together all the Worthing stories for the first time in one volume. In a way, the Worthing tales are the root of my work in science fiction. The first science fiction story I ever wrote was an early version of 'Tinker'; I sent it to Analog magazine when I was nineteen years old." -- Orson Scott Card" (Excerpt from bn.com)
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Legends
First Published in 1998.
Synopsis
"Robert Silverberg, one of the field's most distinguished editors and authors, has put together an incredible anthology that no fantasy fanatic will be able to live without. Legends includes new, never-before-published works by Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist, Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card, Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, Tad Williams, and George R. R. Martin. Each story is set in its author's distinctive, unforgettable world.
Stephen King tells a tale of Roland, the Gunslinger, in the world of the Dark Tower, in 'The Little Sisters of Eluria.'
Terry Pratchett relates an amusing incident in Discworld, of a magical contest and the witch Granny Weatherwax, in 'The Sea of Little Fishes.'
Terry Goodkind tells of the origin of the Border between realms in the world of the Sword of Truth, in 'Debt of Bones.'
Orson Scott Card spins a yarn of Alvin and his apprentice from the Tales of Alvin Maker, in 'Grinning Man.'
Robert Silverberg returns to Majipoor and to Lord Valentine's adventure in an ancient tomb, in 'The Seventh Shrine.'
Ursula K. Le Guin adds a sequel to her famous books of Earthsea, portraying a woman who wants to learn magic, in 'Dragonfly.'
Tad Williams tells a dark and enthralling story of a great and haunted castle in the age before Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, in 'The Burning Man.'
George R. R. Martin sets his piece a generation before his epic, A Song of Ice and Fire, in the adventure of 'The Hedge Knight.'
Anne McCaffrey, the poet of Pern, returns once again to her world of romance and adventure in 'Runner of Pern.'
Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga is the setting of the tale of 'The Wood Boy.'
Robert Jordan, in 'New Spring,' tells of crucial events in the years leading up to the Wheel of Time, of the meeting of Lan and Moirane and the beginning of the search for the child who must grow to lead in the last battle." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
First Published in .
Synopsis
"Card does not discuss how to write in general, e.g., plotting, style, dialogue, point of view, or characterization, but instead covers creative writing as it relates to the science fiction/fantasy genre. He includes such diverse topics as inventing a world, creating alien societies, the rules of magic, etc. This well-written volume is an excellent resource for beginning writers or a refresher for those already on their journeys to other worlds and other stars." (Excerpt from bn.com)
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