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: Fascinating read; intriguing concepts
Review: A fascinating book that sometimes takes the point of view of "God." On a world 40-million years older than a humanless earth, a culture has developed free of large-scale weaponry and destruction. Guided carefully by a super-powerful human-made computer called the "Oversoul" by the human inhabitants, the inhabitants are made ignorant of complex technologies that may lead to the ultimate destruction of their race as it had once very-nearly happened on earth 40-million years ago. But now the computer begins to find its memory running out, its systems failing, and its control of the humans disappearing. A young boy named Nafai and his physically-disabled brother Issib begin to realize what the Oversoul actually is, and begin discovering what is happening and race to solve it. However, they are obstructed from a solution by greedy-minded people and highly-religious people who consider the Oversoul a god -- not a limited, man-made computer.Although not much on action, this book will have you fascinated to the end. If you're a Card-lover (which I doubt much aren't), then this is a must-read
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.
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: Mediocre Card
Review: As author of such excellent books as Ender's game and Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card has made his mark in the often-dubious world of science fiction. With The Memory of Earth, Card has succeeded in imagining a world and a plot that is creative and striking in its originality. What he tries to make up for in creativity, however, he lacks in writing style, development and diction. I have only read this book, the first of the five novels in the series, but it has done little to urge me to continue. That does not mean I don't like Card's ideas; they are quite refreshing as he attempts to write a truly spiritual science fiction book. Yet the concept of the Oversoul soon wore on me...and once I reached the end of The Memory of Earth, I was surprised, because in almost 300 pages, very little seemed to have happened. For some books, this means that the author has taken his or her time to develop the plot; not in this case. A part of me feels I am being hard on Card; if I could give an extra half-star star, I would, but the fact is that I have to measure up Card against his own writing. And this book (I cannot speak yet of the series) just does not quite make the grade.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Beginning
Review: From a predominant author in the sci-fi genre comes the first book of five in a series. The Oversoul, a mastermind computer that orbits the planet of Harmony, was built by the decendants of Earth, who came to the planet over a million years ago. It was designed to constrain thoughts of war and war-like technology from it's inhabitants, lest they repeat the fate of their ancestors. After working for a million or so years, the Oversoul is now starting to show signs of wear and tear. A select few on Harmony realize what is going on and hence the drama of the book.
This is the first Card that I have read and while I was not blown away, this left me impressed enough to pick up the sequel when I come across it. This is by no means action packed, but that's what I liked about it. This is more of a political and family drama set in the sci-fi genre. It deals with relationships and the functioning govornment of Harmony and how they are impacted by the Oversoul. While it does have the almost obligitory chase scene and really cool gadgets. This is more of a, dare I say it, thoughtful sci-fi novel. The concept, world and characters are fully realized. The women in this novel are exceptionally strong. However, it was somewhat tedious at the beginning because you feel like you have been dropped in the middle of something and you must catch up as you go along. A tad more expostion would have done the trick.
However the alternative could have been much worse. I have, as I'm sure you have as well, read too many sci-fi novels where the author tries to get an arcane philosophy across and it winds up being onanistic drivel. Not the case here. While there is some great food for thought, it lends itself to the story and moves it forward. I also liked that Orson Scott Card is influenced from the best. While this has the Old Testament all over it, look for nods to Aldous Huxley and Anthony Burgess as well. However it lacks an emotional pull and in some instances the use of dialogue can be somewhat strained. The alpha male bantering between the fourteen year old protagonist and his brothers, while relatable, seem awkward at times. Flaws aside, I can think of plenty worse out there. Not a bad way to pass some time and while by no means a classic, I can see the appeal of Orson Scott Card and will most likley buy "Enders Game" as a result.
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: 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: 3.5 star rating for this audio book version
Review: Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others STORY: The planet of Harmony have been settled by humans for over 40 million years. The original settlers set the Oversoul to guide the people of the planet. The problem is the Oversoul wasn't meant to last for 40 million years and is now breaking down. With the failing of the Oversoul, so society is beginning to fail. The Oversoul must find inhabitants of Harmony to travel back to Earth to find the creators of the Oversoul to guide the Oversoul and repair it. MY FEEDBACK:
1) You must keep reading the following books in the story to get the full story. This book does not stand on its own. 2) My biggest complaint is I felt this story took a lot to get going 3) But...once it got going I was very interested in the characters and want to get into the following books to find out how Card handles this great concept he has come up with 4) For some reason I really struggled with the unfamiliar types of character names. I couldn't keep them straight, probably because I was listening to an audio tape and didn't have the visual reinforcement 5) Mark Rolston does a good but not great job. For an audio dramatization it is hard to compare someone like Mark who reads all the characters in his own voice as compared to someone like BD Wong or Roddy McDowell who takes on different voice for different characters. I did like Mark in Aliens though. Go Drake! OVERALL: Worth the effort if you commit to reading the following books. If you give it the effort I'm pretty sure you'll want to read more just like I do.
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.
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