Title: Enchantment
Author: Orson Scott Card
Format: Kindle
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Still good?
No. Just... no. no. no. no.
Considering reading this? Go read Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente instead. Just trust me on it. Or don't.
Showing posts with label orson scott card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orson scott card. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Review:: Shadow of the Hegemon, by Orson Scott Card
Title: Shadow of the Hegemon
Author: Orson Scott Card
Series: Ender's Shadow, #2
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Previously:
Ender's Shadow was fine, if not great. This book is bad and should feel wrong. Orson Scott Card decides to get weirdly preachy and weird moments, he keeps emphasizing how nothing but children matter, he's incredibly offensive to people with genetic disorders (cough ME), and he seriously says at the end that Guns, Germs, and Steel laid the ground rules for him. And everyone should read it. Makes sense. Oh, and he can't write women. Spoilers everywhere.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Review:: Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card
Title: Ender's Shadow
Author: Orson Scott Card
Series: Ender's Shadow, #1
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I remember being excited as a kid when I saw this in the "New" section at one of the University of Texas libraries. I remember my mother and I thinking it was pretty decent. And that's the feeling I get from it now. It's okay, but doesn't stand up to the later Ender books, like Speaker for the Dead or Xenocide. It also deals with religion very differently, which isn't surprising to me.
I remember being excited as a kid when I saw this in the "New" section at one of the University of Texas libraries. I remember my mother and I thinking it was pretty decent. And that's the feeling I get from it now. It's okay, but doesn't stand up to the later Ender books, like Speaker for the Dead or Xenocide. It also deals with religion very differently, which isn't surprising to me.
Friday, June 19, 2015
48HBC:: One Down, ??? to Go?
I've now finished Ender's Shadow and the last 60 or so pages were actually pretty hard to plow through because my brain just wouldn't focus. I had a lot of feelings about it, but will probably put off writing most of my reviews until Sunday. Why? Well, my 48 hour period will end at 2am on Sunday, and I figured this means I would be able to cram in more reading time, and less blogging time.
However, while I won't be doing my reviews until later, I will give you my ratings.
Ender's Shadow? ★★★☆☆
I am now slightly over 7 hours in. Now that I've finished Ender's Shadow I'm going to read Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente.
However, while I won't be doing my reviews until later, I will give you my ratings.
Ender's Shadow? ★★★☆☆
I am now slightly over 7 hours in. Now that I've finished Ender's Shadow I'm going to read Deathless, by Catherynne M. Valente.
I've really wanted to read this one for a while, despite knowing pretty much nothing about it. (That makes sense. I promise. It's actually not that uncommon for me.) And well, the fact that the promotional blurb on the front is by Cory Doctorow, I'm even more excited to read it. I'm going to try to check in again at 11am, or 9 hours in. Wish me luck!
48HBC:: 6 Hours Done!
Originally, I was going to post at 4 hours in, but then I got distracted reading. Oh noes! So, I'm six hours in, and have not managed to finish my first book. This is a bit disappointing (just personal disappointment) but it makes sense. My pain is bad enough still, since I posted about how it's been difficult, and the meds I'm taking to manage the pain so I'm functional enough to do anything make me really fuzzy.
But this is one of the reasons I'm so happy with the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Unlike a lot of book challenges, it doesn't focus on number of books read or number of pages read. It simply looks at time commitment. And I'm hoping to commit a lot of time. Not just for the challenge, but for my own personal happiness and well-being.
It's been too long since I've been able to read properly (or close to properly) and considering it's one of the few things that keeps my mood stable, that's really been keeping me from turning the corner. But now that I have a reason to focus and read-read-read, it's easier to push myself to do the things I need to do to get out of this vicious cycle.
I'm almost done with Ender's Shadow and I'm glad that I read it after so recently finishing the Ender Quartet. While it deals with a lot of the same themes, there are some marked differences. Part of me feels that it being written later in his career might have contributed to this; his later writing seems to have a different focus. But it's been too long since I've heavily read any of his books... partially because it's somewhat difficult to reconcile liking his writing whilst finding him as a person so upsetting.
But as I've mentioned, a lot of the things discussed in the Ender Quartet heavily seem to contradict his personal beliefs. Which is pretty confusing for me... Frex, a man with such vitriol for the gay community wrote a book that is almost entirely about not acting in hate against those who are different because you may simply not be understanding where they are coming from. I really just don't get it, how Orson Scott Card could have written a book that speaks to me as much as Speaker for the Dead.
Anyway, I'm almost finished and I'm hoping to check in more than every 6 hours in the future. But it's so easy to simply get absorbed in a book instead.
But this is one of the reasons I'm so happy with the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Unlike a lot of book challenges, it doesn't focus on number of books read or number of pages read. It simply looks at time commitment. And I'm hoping to commit a lot of time. Not just for the challenge, but for my own personal happiness and well-being.
It's been too long since I've been able to read properly (or close to properly) and considering it's one of the few things that keeps my mood stable, that's really been keeping me from turning the corner. But now that I have a reason to focus and read-read-read, it's easier to push myself to do the things I need to do to get out of this vicious cycle.
I'm almost done with Ender's Shadow and I'm glad that I read it after so recently finishing the Ender Quartet. While it deals with a lot of the same themes, there are some marked differences. Part of me feels that it being written later in his career might have contributed to this; his later writing seems to have a different focus. But it's been too long since I've heavily read any of his books... partially because it's somewhat difficult to reconcile liking his writing whilst finding him as a person so upsetting.
But as I've mentioned, a lot of the things discussed in the Ender Quartet heavily seem to contradict his personal beliefs. Which is pretty confusing for me... Frex, a man with such vitriol for the gay community wrote a book that is almost entirely about not acting in hate against those who are different because you may simply not be understanding where they are coming from. I really just don't get it, how Orson Scott Card could have written a book that speaks to me as much as Speaker for the Dead.
Anyway, I'm almost finished and I'm hoping to check in more than every 6 hours in the future. But it's so easy to simply get absorbed in a book instead.
48HBC:: Starting... Now!
Well, it's 2am on Friday and so I'm going to get started with the 48HBC (because my sleep schedules make so much sense). I'm going to be starting off with:
Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card. I recently re-read the Ender Quartet and I figured, why not go along and read the parallel books?
Now, I know, I know. Orson Scott Card is a pretty awful human being. But for the most part, his books are nothing like his blog posts. I'm not about to heavily monetarily support him by purchasing his books new at a book store, but hey, I'll check out his book from the library. Chances are, looking at the state of this book, they won't be purchasing a new one any time soon.
...unless I damage it. So I better not damage it.
Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card. I recently re-read the Ender Quartet and I figured, why not go along and read the parallel books?
Now, I know, I know. Orson Scott Card is a pretty awful human being. But for the most part, his books are nothing like his blog posts. I'm not about to heavily monetarily support him by purchasing his books new at a book store, but hey, I'll check out his book from the library. Chances are, looking at the state of this book, they won't be purchasing a new one any time soon.
...unless I damage it. So I better not damage it.
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