I have such a love/hate relationship with Orson Scott Card. I happily read everything he published, starting with Songmaster many years ago. I loved the Ender books and the Alvin Maker books especially for their originality, their ideas & intelligence. I loved how Card makes us think about the big issues.

Then, I read Folk of the Fringe, which is basically a Mormon tract. And I read some of Card’s essays and interviews. It turns out that Card is a very public and vehement homophobe. He uses the platform afforded by his success and celebrity to broadcast his ideas about how we (queer people) are going to burn in hell for our sins. So, I no longer read all of his books and I absolutely do not purchase any. Do I still think he is a good novelist, worth reading? Yes. Do I now read his books with a much more skeptical eye? Yes.

For more information on Card, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card

I have read this multiple times and am always surprised by wht happens. I get completely immersed and gripped by the story every time, even when I listened to the book on tape. I told my friend be careful and not read it when he had stuff to do. I think he had his doubts, but he didn’t sleep until he finished it.

This book and the entire series of books that follow are amazing works of Science Fiction. They make you really think about what our world could come to, if we allow ourselves to keep going at things the way we are.

They are masterfully written and I don’t know about anyone else but I can reread it over and over again.