Rating: 
Summary: A writing wonder
Review: This book allowed me to write some of the best books I had ever hoped for. It gives (in detail) how to write an Ender's Game quality book. I had trouble getting of the first page of my writitng. Now thanks to Orson Scott Card I can write excellent stories and give me a basis for setting and feeling. If you want to have good writing that is intelligent and powerful I urge you to buy this book!!
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Summary: Paperback motivation
Review: This book alone constituted more useful information than the past six books I've read combined. Short and to the point, but written in a way where it's actually interesting, not some third-person, ambiguous lecture. This book talks about following certain "galactic" rules so you're story won't come off as fruity, creating a world with plausible rules that you stick to, using different methods of plot structure in order to keep your book from becoming boring and confusing, maintaining the same level of diction and story flow, avoiding ruining the climax or ending of the story (or overkilling either one), getting your book published, and maintaining your health and sanity. Whether you be young or old, if you have a desire to write science-fiction, but find yourself at a major block, I guarantee this book will give you new insight and rekindle your old ideas. I think a couple of bucks is worth the motivation to get started again.
Rating: 
Summary: for beginners only
Review: This book is great if you are a beginner to writing/reading fantasy/sci-fi. OSCard pretty much explains most of the basic precepts that go into making a believable world and story. However, most of it is elementary and once you have read the book once you will never have to read it again.
The best piece of advice that he gives through the entire book is more or less: to assume that your reader already knows. That is, in normal fiction an author does not need to explain exactly how Earth is; similarly the fantasy author must present this new world as if the reader had been raised there.
Other than that gem, if you are a fan of fantasy you will know and recognize most everything else in the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the time to read
Review: This book is no different than most of the other "How to" books dealing with SF&F. Most of what is written is dealing with SF than Fantasy. If your trying to write Fantasy, you would be better off looking somewhere else.
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Summary: A must readf for anyone who hopes to improve their writing.
Review: This book is simply wonderful. I teach writing everyday and I was able to take advice from this book and use it immediately in my classroom. Not only does Card do a masterful job of explaining how to construct a story, but he also discusses some of the harder aspects of writing such as character development, writing exposition, and determining where a story should begin and end. Card also emphasizes the importance of creating the rules of Time, Space, and Magic for your world and following them, a rule that many writes often forget. Most importantly though, Card reveals all this useful information in a way that makes it easy to understand, so that you can start using it immediatly.
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Summary: Will Help You Write Better Fiction
Review: This book, written by a master storyteller and best-selling author, has something important to offer to every developing fiction writer.I'm a long time SF fan who has written and published reams of non-fiction, but always dreamed of joining the ranks of Sturgeon, Dick, and Turtledove (sounds like a wierd law firm). This book has given me a clear path towards making that fantasy a reality. There are some, as some reviewers have pointed out, obvious guidelines on consistency and other topics more suitable for beginning writers. But the book also contains some very subtle discussions of important ideas--such as the relationship of genre and style to the management of readers' expectations. Because Card is such a great and versatile writer, the book is also enjoyable to read. The lessons read like stories, and the brief examples used to illustrate his points are entertaining and thought provoking.
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Summary: Any writer can benefit from this ten-star book!
Review: This excellent how-to book is cram-packed with practical suggestions on how to write good fiction. Although it focuses primarily on science fiction and fantasy, the principles it explains are applicable to any type of creative writing.
I especialy liked the chapters on consistency in world-building. In science fiction lingo, "world building" refers to the process of creating an alien culture. In order to be convincing, that culture must make sense in terms of its ecology, history, technology, lifeforms, etc. Doing this requires quite a bit of preliminary thought before you can even begin to write your novel, but that planning is absolutely necessary if your characters are to be believable. For example, as Card points out, the type of space travel available to your characters will determine their attitudes about a lot of things. If a group of colonists arrived at their new planet in a multi-generational ship that took centuries to get there, they will be out of contact with the homeworld, and their culture will probably evolve independently. On the other hand, if they can travel back and forth in a matter if days, they will be in close contact with (under the control of?) the homeworld, and your story will be quite different. So, you have to make clear decisions about technology before you start writing.
The same is true for the rules of magic, time travel, social customs, evolution of alien species, etc. You, as the author, can decide what these rules will be, and there is a great deal of leeway in a lot of directions. But once you make your rules, you must be consistent within the system you created. Orson Scott Card takes you through this process step-by-step, using actual examples from his own and other SF novels. This valuable lesson can be applied to any type of fiction. What makes a good novel is the creation of a believable world that your readers can enter into with their imaginations -- and that requires pre-planned consistency.
In fact, I found Card's book to be helpful in my own work with re-telling Hasidic stories for non-Hasidic readers. (cf. "Jewish Tales of Reincarnation," available here on Amazon.) These stories take place in a traditional Jewish culture that is as "alien" to most American readers as the fictional worlds in the SF genre. Breaking into the general market meant explaining things in the Hasidic stories that I would normally take for granted. Card's book got me thinking in a new way about the rules -- written and unwritten -- that form the framework of the Hasidic worldview. Card taught me how to weave the necessary "alien" cultural info into my narratives so that my readers can understand that world and the people in it -- without falling into the deadly trap of preachy, boring prose. That insight alone was well worth the price of the book -- and it contains much, much more. Ten stars!
Rating: 
Summary: It' okay
Review: This is a good book for a high school level or above who want to get into the "mainstream" sci-fi writing scene. Card doesn't delve much into the fantasy genre because, as he states clearly in the first few pages, he's mainly a sci-fi writer. It contains a few tips and tricks that will be useful. However, it's a bit outdated in some of the views (it was written almost 15 years ago) and the genres have changed a bit, especially with the advent of Harry Potter. But again, it's allright IF your just starting to get interested in writing.
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Summary: Great Author, Great Book
Review: This is a great book by Orson Scott Card, one of the masters of the genre of science fiction and fantasy. My only complaint is that the 2001 addition, which I do not own is not listed as a revised edition. Many New authors and books, have appeared since and this book could appear to be dated information, since it was first published in 1990. and a lot has happened in science fiction and fantasy in 14 years! He does not even mention the internet as a resource to writers in this book, that makes it seem ancient info.
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Summary: Master class in the creative heart of the genre
Review: This is an excellent read and a stimulating package of advice for anyone interested in writing science fiction or fantasy. Orson Scott Card makes an immediate point: no one can teach you how to write in these genres. What he sets out to do is deliver a superb exposition of the process of creativity and how it infests the imagination. He delivers a vision of creativity as a process, one you can stimulate and use, rather than something you sit back and wait for. Inspiration might be creative, but creativity is not limited to inspiration. Here we have an analysis of how ideas emerge and how they take root.
Card questions what is science fiction, what is fantasy? He offers advice and generates a score of absorbing ideas. But his advice takes a vital, practical direction. If you wish to write, then read, read, read!
To succeed as a writer, there is no magic formula. You need to learn the skills of your trade, you need to learn to free your imagination, and then you need discipline and the determination to work hard and improve and hone your skills.
An excellent, stimulating read, well worth the money, and a book you will treasure.
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