Treason

Rating:
Summary: Great book -- a must for sci-fi fans
Review: I read this book several years ago and loved it. It ranks up with Ender's Game as one of Card's best. Readers of the bug war genre (Starship Troopers, by Heinlein, Armour, by Robert Daly, etc] should not miss this one. The book also shares many of the issues of Frank Herbert's The Dosadi Experiment. Excellent book!!!

Rating:
Summary: Better than Ender!
Review: I, like most, became familiar with Card through the Ender series. I also found the series to be one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. After completing all six books, I still craved more. I picked up a bunch of OSC books (Pastwatch, Enchantment, and found Songmaster and Treason used) that seemed interesting. When it came time to pick one; I randomly picked Treason. I was pulled in by a very strong opening but soon found myself wondering if I should continue on. This book is, in some ways, similar to the Ender books but in others, very different. There are some disturbing ideas presented that turned me off of the story. However, I kept going thinking it would get better. Not only did it get better, it became my favourite book. It is truly an epic story and one I will never forget.

Rating:
Summary: When will someone make this a movie?
Review: My comparative literature professor turned me on to Card back in 1989, and since then I have read everything Card title I could get my hands on. This novel is one of his better stories, though some might find the tale a bit more "twisted" than his other offerings. Persoanlly, I think it would make a great action film. Treason is a rich fantasy where the inhabitants of the planet Treason have maximized their family skills and genetic traits, each struggling to survive and some to gain control of this tiny little resource-starved planet. The hero travels the land, an outcast of his own family because he cannot control his genetic abilities, and finds the secret behind the shifting of power. This is a spellbinding story - you will not be able to put this one down.

Now that my nose is firmly placed on Mr. Card's posterior, I will return to my current reading project: Pastwatch - The Redemption of Christopher Columbus.

Rating:
Summary: The most insightful book on the multi-faceted human nature.
Review: Not only is this novel a great sci-fi read, but Card demonstrates his mastery in the understanding of human nature. He succeeds in touching every characteristic that makes us human beings and teaches a poignant lesson. This is sure to become a classic and should be considered required reading for all.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece Called Treason
Review: Not since Ender's Game has a book so successfully denied me my much-needed rest. Treason took me two days to read -- only interrupted by two eight-hour shifts that I refused to call in for, and, even then, it stole my breaks.

Now, while I would like to resent the work itself for exhausting me so, I could never bring myself to hate something so brilliantly constructed, so perfectly woven and so beautifully written. Card's outdone himself this time. A first-person shifting-milieu character piece -- only Card could pull that off. And pull it off, he did. It was, perhaps, the greatest reading experience of my life.

Life, death, fear, discovery, perseverance, deception...all incorporated into a story that shakes the earth at will, makes the hours pass like minutes, and engages the reader's imagination so greatly -- so completely -- that he/she might well radically regenerate a second, maybe even third mind. This book was so damned good that I bought a second to lend to friends.

I have no higher a recommendation. Satisfied?

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece Called Treason
Review: Not since Ender's Game has a book so successfully denied me my much-needed rest. Treason took me two days to read -- only interrupted by two eight-hour shifts that I refused to call in for, and, even then, it stole my breaks.

Now, while I would like to resent the work itself for exhausting me so, I could never bring myself to hate something so brilliantly constructed, so perfectly woven and so beautifully written. Card's outdone himself this time. A first-person shifting-milieu character piece -- only Card could pull that off. And pull it off, he did. It was, perhaps, the greatest reading experience of my life.

Life, death, fear, discovery, perseverance, deception...all incorporated into a story that shakes the earth at will, makes the hours pass like minutes, and engages the reader's imagination so greatly -- so completely -- that he/she might well radically regenerate a second, maybe even third mind. This book was so damned good that I bought a second to lend to friends.

I have no higher a recommendation. Satisfied?

Rating:
Summary: Intellectually challenging and thrilling
Review: One of Card's earlier works is also one of his best. That's like saying one Sandy Koufax fastball is faster than his others.

I was blown away by the far-out ideas presented in this book. It's like nothing I've read before. It had me, a hardened reader, actually freaked out. I can't remember the last time something I read affected me so deeply.

Rating:
Summary: Shock-filled fantasy/adventure - not for the squeamish
Review: Over 3000 years ago, the finest scientific minds revolted against their authoritarian rulers and were banished to the metal-starved world now called Treason in this amazing fantasy adventure. Through the person of Lanik Mueller, former heir to the throne of a powerful nation, but now exiled due to a debilitating genetic defect, Card takes his readers on a journey
through the various states on Treason, each founded by a different would-be revolutionary, each facing unique geographical challenges, and each showing a remarkable resiliency in thriving despite the harshest of circumstances.
Will Lanik ever be allowed to assume his rightful place as ruler of Mueller, or does some other fate await this unfortunate young man? Be prepared to be floored again and again as Card throws us one mind-blowing surprise after another.

This is not exactly a science fiction novel, although Card does a fair job of making some of the wilder discoveries seem reasonable. After all, a lot can happen in 3000 years. The real focus isn't on the science, but on the diverse social and geographic settings, the breathtaking revelations, and on action that features a scorched-earth brutality seldom seen in this kind of book as our hero finds himself thrown into a series of ever-worsening situations. Warning: Mueller's society possesses genetic skills that allow Lanik to regenerate lost limbs and damaged organs, and Card includes plenty of distressingly gruesome scenes that call this into play, so this book is not recommended to the young or squeamish, especially since, while there are no sexual acts in the story, there are some sexually charged situations, (beginning when our young male hero grows breasts) that go far beyond standard prime-time sitcom innuendo. Don't let the easy reading and thrill-a-minute action fool you - this book is not for kids.

But if you're not easily put off by graphic scenes of people being hacked up, and you aren't hung up on the whole plausibility thing, and you're up for a traumatic-shock-filled adventure, this book's the real deal.

Rating:
Summary: Shock-filled fantasy/adventure - not for the squeamish
Review: Over 3000 years ago, the finest scientific minds revolted against their authoritarian rulers and were banished to the metal-starved world now called Treason in this amazing fantasy adventure. Through the person of Lanik Mueller, former heir to the throne of a powerful nation, but now exiled due to a debilitating genetic defect, Card takes his readers on a journey
through the various states on Treason, each founded by a different would-be revolutionary, each facing unique geographical challenges, and each showing a remarkable resiliency in thriving despite the harshest of circumstances.
Will Lanik ever be allowed to assume his rightful place as ruler of Mueller, or does some other fate await this unfortunate young man? Be prepared to be floored again and again as Card throws us one mind-blowing surprise after another.

This is not exactly a science fiction novel, although Card does a fair job of making some of the wilder discoveries seem reasonable. After all, a lot can happen in 3000 years. The real focus isn't on the science, but on the diverse social and geographic settings, the breathtaking revelations, and on action that features a scorched-earth brutality seldom seen in this kind of book as our hero finds himself thrown into a series of ever-worsening situations. Warning: Mueller's society possesses genetic skills that allow Lanik to regenerate lost limbs and damaged organs, and Card includes plenty of distressingly gruesome scenes that call this into play, so this book is not recommended to the young or squeamish, especially since, while there are no sexual acts in the story, there are some sexually charged situations, (beginning when our young male hero grows breasts) that go far beyond standard prime-time sitcom innuendo. Don't let the easy reading and thrill-a-minute action fool you - this book is not for kids.

But if you're not easily put off by graphic scenes of people being hacked up, and you aren't hung up on the whole plausibility thing, and you're up for a traumatic-shock-filled adventure, this book's the real deal.

Rating:
Summary: This book rocked.
Review: The rating "5 stars" is over used. This book deserves 6. I have read almost every book card has written and this is by far his best.