30 October 2007

Enderverse...

Our beloved Ender Universe has just gotten a little bit larger. Please welcome the new addition of "A War of Gifts"!!!!

This Battle School story takes place while Ender is in Rat Army and centers around the practice of religion in the Battle School. It is so much fun to see all our heroes in a new and wonderful light. Ender as always is a master at solving any problem. And Dink is amazing to read--gotta love those Dutch kids. This story also corresponds well with the EG story in Issue six of IGMS, "Ender's Stocking." I actually thought that they were the same for a short while.

The main problem I had with this story is that Dink seems so concerned about trying to do what is best for the Bugger War...and he says in EG that he doesn't even believe that the Bugger War is real. It was incongruous and weird. I felt like i had to really reevaluate how I had thought of Dink. I really think that if Card says stuff like that then there ought to be more of an explanation of how Dink decided there really was a Bugger War.

Regardless of how disconcerted I felt...it was terrific. The only thing I can't live with is the length. Books really should be longer...

Also I want to apologize for the 2 week delay in this post. Sorry. I seem to have acquired a boyfriend and (believe it or not) I spend more time with him than I do with Card. So if the posts seems fewer and further in between then its because I finally have a shadow of a "life."

Please post your comments and your reviews of this novella! YAY!

17 October 2007

Done the Impossible

There is this documentary made for the T.V. series Firefly and it's companion film, Serenity. Called--Done the Impossible: A Fan's Tale of Firefly and Serentiy.
I have through some kind of fate aquired myself one of the DVD's. Fact it--Scard loves this show. And why shouldn't he? Everyone that actually watches three or four episodes does. Plus the show is totally character oriented...which is just like Card.

Firefly: (for those of you who don't know it) is about another part of the galaxy where the human race has fled after they destroyed "The Earth That Was." The story follows a couple of the most awesome characters in the 'Verse, Mal, Zoe (said Zo-e), Wash, Kaylee, Jayne, Simon, River, Book, and Inara. These space cowboys travel from outer planet in looking for any kind of job that they can get--legit or not. Mal is captain of the Firefly-class transport "Serenity." He is the fearless leader of the crew--Zoe the first mate, who is married to Wash the pilot, Kaylee the mechanic, and Jayne the mercenary. They bring passengers Simon and River Tam and Sheppard Book onboard. Simon and River are fugitives running from the government "The Alliance."

Firefly is fantastic and from a fan's POV--perfect! The people that watch this show are almost cultish...You can't help but love Mal and all the other characters throughout the series.

Now Serenity, the film, is no less fantastic and definetly shows the more interesting part of River's character...but I digress...the documentary is about how the fans reacted to the show and the movie and how dedicated they are. I really think that even if Card wasn't in it, it would be an interesting thing to watch. But Card IS in it and so I own it...and am defintly going to have to watch it again.
Likewise I own Serenity and Firefly and I love the shiny characters so much! If the Ender's Game movie is anything like Serenity--we all are going to love it beyond recognition. If only Joss Whedon could write an intro song for EG?

14 October 2007

Capitol: An Analog Book

So this book is by all means--absolutely amazing. The concept is pretty funny to me actually. An entire book centered around somec and not one mention of Jason Worthing.

So seriously, why hasn't the development of somec become one of those stories that is repeated in every volume? Or why is it that "A Thousand Deaths" is always forgotten as a somec story, even though it wouldn't make any sense without it?

Why is it that Abner Doon is assistant Minister of Colonization and Graff is the ColMin? Why is it that after reading this book I really want to write some essays about the world of Capitol. And why is it that "Breaking the Game" (the story about Nuber's Italy) is my favorite one?

So many questions...so many...

I think that at this time I am going to put up a poll to find out everyone's favorite somec tale...and I think that I will begin a few essays drawing ties between this book, Hot Sleep, and The Worthing Saga. It will be fun!

09 October 2007

An Essay for the Doomed

It is immensely hard to write a research paper about something that I absolutely adore and know a lot about. Currently I am writing one for my English class on science fiction. I bet you can imagine how it's going. (In case you can't...I keep trying to work in Card quotes, and I keep wanting to rant about how amazing SF is...)

Also I found this amazing book at the Salt Lake City Library about SF. Age of Wonders by David G. Hartwell. This has to be the funniest book I have ever tried to use to write a paper. I love it! I mean its like one of those satires that make fun of science fiction readers but in a way that only science fiction readers will truly understand. Its fantastic!

Furthermore, my roommate is up to her neck in Ender's Game...and loving it. We had an amazing literary discussion the other day about Ender and how he perceives himself. She's reading my copy of EG, with all my annotations and highlights, so she's getting a slightly different experience than I did my first time through. But then she's rooming with ME, so of course her experience will be tainted by my mere presence.

Oh and I have a friend who doesn't read SF, at all. But when I told her about my papers about EG and Card she decided to read it. She really had a good experience with the whole thing...she just really doesn't like SF that much. She really loved the character of Ender, but then how can you not? I really think she had a good time, and she said that she might read Speaker just to see what happens with Ender.

Drink deeply!

05 October 2007

The Long-Awaited Arrival

Hip hip hooray!
So finally all five of the books that I ordered on Amazon have arrived. Finally I am the proud owner of 80 Orson Scott Card books. I am so excited!!

I have finished Robota...and holy bovine! it was amazing! I can't believe 174 pages of pure awesome! I don't know how much Scard is in the book...but that is one sweet picture book. I really liked the character of Caps. He was very intriguing and I wish there was more about him.

Also I have started The Abyss. Yes, I have seen the movie and I do love it's very essence. I am so pleased with Card's adaptation of the screenplay. Personally it feels like he took the dialog and actions from the movie and wrote them straight from the book. I think James Cameron is a genius for getting Card to write this book. This is probably my favorite novelization of any movie!!

I have started An Open Book...but I really don't feel right about reading it all the way through (since it's poetry, and reading poetry straight through feels weird) There are some really great poems in there though. Even though some of them are depressing--that just makes it all the more Scard-like!

Also I bought Ainge which I am really apprehensive about and How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I am writing a paper using How to Write Sci-fi and Fantasy for my English class...so I'll post that when I get it done. I hope you all have an Ender-rific day!