Rating: 
Summary: Noah's Ark in Space
Review: When I first started this series I was not sure if it would hook me the way Mr. Card's other books did. Generally I find he has great first and second books in a series but then goes on too long and by the end of the series you don't care anymore. This series is good in the beginning and gets better in the middle but in usual style for Orson Scott Card it petters out by the last two books. This first book starts things off in a remote place on an ancient planet that is the remains of a population who escaped their home planet to find habitable worlds. A computer satilite acts as a God keeping everything in check. The computer prevents people from going off and just destroying each other by intimately controling their minds from exploring forbidden subjects. The concept is a great exploration of religion, God and technology and the world in its present state. I loved the themes and characters in this story and especially the allegory trhreaded throughout. Card is brilliant at those things and it makes you forgive him for always ending his serieses with a dud. I love his characters. I agree with the theology he infuses. For a man of religion (he's Mormon) he keeps his characters real. They are not perfect beings and they usually know it. None of his stories, including this one, has a Christ-like figure. All the phophetic saviors are deeply flawed and troubled. Just like us. It's a great story populated by great characters and great political and theological intreige.
Rating: 
Summary: The strength of this book lies not in its plot
Review: In reading this book, it will most likely only seem truly worthwhile if you realize that the book is not built around a plot. What this book is, is an exploration into the minds of the characters which Card has created. The plot is made to put these characters in different situations so that you can observe how they react to it. The brilliance of the book is found not in the plot (although it is by no means bad) but in the fact that he has created characters that are so fully developed by the end of his five-book series that in our minds they can become like real people. He created a story without two-dimensional characters of good and evil, but a story in which he shows that each character's actions and choices are understandable, if not condonable, when the situation is shown from their perspective. Card created a story in which "evil" is shown not as an innate want to do wrong, but as the misguided attempt to do right. It is for this very truthful perspective on the human mind, and Card's prowess in describing it, that earned this book a 5 star rating in my book.
Rating:
Summary: What a well written book!
Review: This book is the first of Orson Scott Cards' I have read and I am thoroughly impressed. His characterization and plots are second to none. I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: So, So, as far as Card goes
Review: After reading the Ender's Game series, its hard not to be a bit dissapointed by this book. I'm not going to get too discouraged however, because I see the foundation for lots of potentially awesome scenarios (which I hope to find in the rest of the series) established in this book. The characters in this book are actually some of the coolest I've seen in a while, although after reading this first book, you don't really feel like you know them very well. Still, the good guys are really good and the bad guys are really fun to hate. There are still a lot of mysteries that are yet to be unveiled and I'm sure that the next four books will explain some of them fully. The low rating basically comes from the lack of serious action. There are a few exciting parts, but not what I've become used to in Card's books. The overall plot is cool as hell though, with the Oversoul computer loosing control over the minds of the planet Harmony and trying to find a way to return to Mother Earth. Even though this book isn't one of my favorites, I still look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Not His Best
Review: I've seen Card write better, and so I picked up this book. But the book is afflicted by a number of problems. Card still writes great characters- surprisingly so in the science fiction genre. These people aren't flat- they're very developed and changing. The protagonist isn't someone perfect, that you immediately like- he's a very believable young teenager.But the story drags for a while, and then never really draws you in. It's a tale of a computer controlling the lives of humans on the planet below, in order to keep them from self-genocide, or even xenocide- but Card gets very bogged down with the mundane details of the city. Indeed, it seems he focuses on character at the expense of plot. In the end, events happen, the story moves forward- only to be incomplete until the next book, woefully incomplete. I felt like I read half a story, and not just the first segment of a longer epic. All this time spent in the story, to achieve a particular goal, with the expectation that that goal would make something amazing happen, and then nothing. And parts of the summation are simply morally horrific to contemplate. I understand Card is attempting a Patriarchal Biblical parallel 40 million years in the future on another planet- but some updates in terms of progressive revelation would be more helpful. Recommend you try out PastWatch for great Card reading instead.
Rating:
Summary: A Forgetable Book
Review: A disappointing effort, especially for Card. The Memory of Earth reminds me of the great disappointment Xenocide had been for me after a brilliant book like Ender's Game.... Why is this book so disappointing? The hero, a young boy, is interesting but his time and culture is not. Much of the early portions of the book are spent talking about irrelevant cultural issues. Worse they are brought up in incredibly dull ways. Do we really care that actors in this city perform plays behind masks? Why is that important? Does Card need to talk about the voting rights of men, or how they can't own property in the city? The fact men are, in essence, inferior is also a bore. Yes, yes, it may sound more political correct, but is it really? If it is wrong to be sexist against woman, it is also wrong to be sexist against men. No women will be raised up, by throwing down all of the male. Now, if it advanced the story, we would read it, enjoy it. Here, much of the PC presentation (only woman can talk to the Oversoul, only woman can be true scholars) add nothing and is a bore. The truth is half way through, I quit. I read the last two chapters, which only confirmed my choice. This is a bad book. Worse it was written by Card after so many other great efforts. If you must read Card, try to read his other, better works. This one should be skipped on by so your Memory of Card won't be hurt by this forgettable book.
Rating:
Summary: One of OSC's best
Review: A great opener to an excellent series. This series is actually better then the Ender's original series and almost as good as the Shadow series. Some great charachters are introduced in this book and developed throughout the next books.
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