Rating: 
Summary: Some of Card's earlier work shows where his talent came from
Review: Anyone who is interested in the works of Orson Scott Card must read this book! The Worthing Saga is actually a collection of stories, some of which began when Card was a teenager! First, there is The Worthing Chronical, which is the most recent and complete story of Jason Worthing. Then read tales of Capitol, unrelated stories that all took place on the planet Capitol, providing basis for parts of The Worthing Chronical. Then read Worthing Farm, Worthing Inn, and Tinker, three of the earliest short stories that tell of the decendants of Jason Worthing, men and women with unusual psychic abilities that must be used for good or evil
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome book, awesome concept
Review: I think that this is one of Card's best books. A little more mature than Ender's Game and simply more entertaining than the Homecoming series. In the Worthing Chronicles (the first and main part of this book), the story of Lared and Jason Worthing is told. The book contains a very complex universe in the distant future with many diferent planets and cultures. The most fascinating is the culture of the planet Capitol and the use of somec to obtain "immortality" by the rich and famous. The connections between this society and our own are somewhat disturbing with the complete abandon of any kind of morals and the separation of the elite classes from the others. My favorite character in the book has got to be Abner Doon, whom some people consider the "devil" but could be said to have saved the human race. The lives of Lared and the other villagers are very interesting and Card's way of writing to explain multiple cultures and tie in the distand past with the present is amazing. The last part of this book, Tales of Capitol and Tales of the Forest of Waters, help to tie together a lot of missing information and just make the whole story better by increasing the reader's understanding of the very complex universe that Card has created. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and reccomend it to anyone of any age.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a read
Review: I first discovered Orson Scott Card as did most everyone else, reading Enders Game, in fact one of my top ten books is its sequel Speaker for the Dead. The Worthing Saga is Card's very first story he wrote. It demonstrates his promise as an author. While he acknowledges that he afterwards rewrote the entire tale, the basic plot and premise remained. One thing that I enjoy about Scott novel's is how he creates a moral dilemma, often through tension of a desired ideal, and the consequences of faulty execution. This story spans thousands of years and follows the diaspora of the human race among the stars, the scientific miracle of living "forever" and the power to save that developed in the progeny of Jason Worthing. The dilemma centers on the age old question of suffering; why we suffer, what if you could prevent suffering and some of the possible consequences of eliminating suffering.
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Summary: Greatest book ever written. Its the source of my morality
Review: Unlike others here who have loved this book and claimed they disagreed with Card's supposed message that God allows suffering because it makes us truly human and worthwhile, I feel I have truly understood the message of this book. I will not speculate as to what Mr. Card intended with this book, but the message I clearly got from this book was a hypothesis for disproving the existance of god. Masterfully, Card shows us that if God truly existed in the way Christians believe it does, that it could not restrain itself from relieving human suffering. Those who have read this know what I speak of. When Justice saved Sala at the end against her "better judgment," even Jason himself, the doubter of the good intentions of Worthing, told her that she "passed the test."
This is a wonderful book that has guided me through some of the more diffucult parts of my life and allowed me to retain my strong, secular morality. With all the pressure to give in to one of the many fanatical forms of religion out there, a Mormon author has given me the gift of understanding to hold myself against a tide of emotional predation and undue influence.
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Summary: The Best of OSC
Review: This is my all-time favorite OSC book, and I have just about everything he's written. Broken into three sections, these masterful stories begin with the Day of Pain, in which a world that never knew physical or mental pain -- due to the watchful eyes of a powerful race of mutants -- is suddenly left unprotected. As the people of this planet come to grips with their new reality, they are visited by the man (Jason Worthing) who caused the Day of Pain - a man who has slept for thousands of years while his offspring developed their strange powers and began watching the world, removing pain. The second section visits the world where Jason Worthing was born, and tells why he left it. The third section takes place while Jason sleeps at the bottom of the ocean, and is an account of the trials his descendants go through, coping with the powers that make them different - and separate from the rest of thr world. All in all a fantastic story, and a highly recommended book!
Rating:
Summary: Moving and thought-provoking
Review: This book finally clinched it in my mind: I like Card's writing.
This collection of works (a novella and short stories) examines what is important in life, the impact our mortality has on our lives, and what it means to be human in a way that is touching and thought-provoking. I would recommend this to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Heavy handed
Review: While Card is, as usual, a master of plot development and vivid action scenes, the heavy-handed morality in this book clouded my enjoyment of the story. Much effort was made to make the antagonists blatantly evil, complete with racism and sexual depravity. There's also a fundamentally pessimistic view of humanity: it seemed he was trying to make a point through analogy that when people are safe and confident that they can fulfill their basic needs, they always become immoral and decadent, while people constantly surrounded by pain and suffering are always good.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book, awesome concept
Review: I think that this is one of Card's best books. A little more mature than Ender's Game and simply more entertaining than the Homecoming series. In the Worthing Chronicles (the first and main part of this book), the story of Lared and Jason Worthing is told. The book contains a very complex universe in the distant future with many diferent planets and cultures. The most fascinating is the culture of the planet Capitol and the use of somec to obtain "immortality" by the rich and famous. The connections between this society and our own are somewhat disturbing with the complete abandon of any kind of morals and the separation of the elite classes from the others. My favorite character in the book has got to be Abner Doon, whom some people consider the "devil" but could be said to have saved the human race. The lives of Lared and the other villagers are very interesting and Card's way of writing to explain multiple cultures and tie in the distand past with the present is amazing. The last part of this book, Tales of Capitol and Tales of the Forest of Waters, help to tie together a lot of missing information and just make the whole story better by increasing the reader's understanding of the very complex universe that Card has created. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and reccomend it to anyone of any age.
Rating:
Summary: Card's "Q" Document
Review: This book is OSC "Q" document. His three mains series-Ender, Alvin Maker, and Homecoming-all trace themselves back to this collection of stories. Jason Worthing ins Ender Wiggin, the Tinker is Alvin Maker, and the sweep of history in both "Saga" and "Homecoming" are rooted in the Book Of Mormon. In fact, it is this sweep of history that appeals so much to me. It rivals "Foundation" and "Dune," and Card has a better sense of individual humans within the flow of time.
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Summary: A Mormon theodicy.
Review: Like most of Card's fiction, the book is heavily influenced by his Latter-day Saint heritage. God is a mortal man who hibernates in orbit, coming to the surface every several generations to provide guidance for his stumbling "children." Due to a mishap en route, the colony ship was damaged and the hibernating colonists that survived lost their memories. Jason Worthing, the pilot of the ship, was the only one to survive and thus is responsible for guiding a civilization from infancy to the space age.Oh, and Worthing is a telepath. He eventually reproduces, creating a race of telepaths. Eventually they become powerful enough to control the minds of others, most notably to remove pain and avert injury. Worthing's descendants take it upon themselves to rid the universe of all pain and suffering. Eventually, though, the telepaths decide they are depriving the inhabitants of the universe of something important by keeping them from suffering. The story is told by an inhabitant of a backwater village who writes Worthing's story as Worthing dictates it to him (just like the alleged ancient prophet-historian Mormon). In the conclusion, Worthing decides to use his power one last time to save a child and her father in a scene reminiscent of the Atonement of Christ. The last part of the book is a series of short stories that are intended to provide background for the world in which the story takes place. They are mediocre and not worth reading. The first part of the book, however, is quite interesting and is (alas!) probably the best characterization of the Mormon view of God and the problem of evil.
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