The Memory of Earth (Orson Scott Card)

Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

The Memory of Earth
by Orson Scott Card

***
The Homecoming: Harmony series is one of Orson Scott Card's most controversial works. While Ender's Game and, to a lesser extent, Speaker for the Dead were accepted enthusiastically by the science fiction community, the Homecoming novels have always suffered from a bad reputation stemming from accusations of plagiarism. According to many, many sources, the story for Homecoming is a really sci-fi version of the Book of Mormon. Everything down to the characters' names were apparently derived from that religious text. Although it is slightly dismaying that Card might do such a thing, I must say that this 'borrowing' has no effect on the quality of the series, and someone who knows nothing about the Book of Mormon (like me) would likely have no clue as to the books' original source (though the religious overtones are not particularly subtle.)

That said, this is the first book of a very interesting series. The world of Harmony is home to a human civilization which has thrived for millions of years under the care of a human-made super-computer, called the Oversoul. No one exactly knows what the Oversoul is, only that it acts as their supreme being. Its real purpose is to prevent mankind from killing itself (as it almost did ages ago with Earth), and it does this by telepathically interfering with the thought processes of select human individuals. This prevents them from inventing dangerous technology; without guns and bombs, humans are less likely to annihilate their own species. But now the Oversoul is breaking down, and its control over the minds of the human race is weakening. Its only hope is to journey back to Earth, where a mysterious 'Keeper' can alone repair the Oversoul's malfunctioning machinery, but to get to Earth the Oversoul needs human help. And so the Oversoul turns to a handful of humans to aid in its monumental task.

Immensely fascinating concepts abound in this novel, though the execution could have been better. Card does a good job in portraying Basilica, the main city which forms the setting for the entire book, and the technology that is somehow both advanced and backward at the same time. Sometimes the clash of technologies is disconcerting, but certainly innovative - for instance, I believe there is one scene where the cripple Issib (older brother of the main character, 14 year old Nafai) wanders through an old-fashioned market place on a pair of high-tech 'floaters,' which keep his body elevated above the ground. Also, the society is matriarchal, an interesting reversal of traditional social customs.

Equally intriguing is the religious aspect. Only Nafai and Issib are aware of the Oversoul's predicament, and because of their faith in the Oversoul (which is symbolic of God) they are willing to sacrifice much in order to fulfill the Oversoul's intentions. But their solutions are constantly hindered by the 'unfaithful' or those consumed by greed and lust. These conflicts of interest form the main tension in this novel. (Too bad they're never resolved...)

The action is slow, unfortunately, and the story doesn't really seem to start till the end, where it leaves you hanging and waiting for the next book. Much of the novel consists of very casual conversation, but Card's conversations are always worth reading: they're easy to relate to and have that element of the familiar that is lacking in many harder-type sci-fi novels. The book's many sexual innuendoes are never overdone; often, they are witty and amusing. As for the characters, Card spends a great deal of time developing them, so it's not surprise that they're generally quite strong. Recommended as a start to a good series.