|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
September 19-25, 2002 artpicks Orson Scott CardOrson Scott Card belongs to the ranks of genre writers who can't -- or perhaps just don't want to -- escape their ghettos. Embarrassingly prolific, Card has authored literal scores of books and has juggled several series of novels, ranging from American-frontier "alternative history" to the distant future of his latest, Shadow Puppets (Tor). A past-master in the world of science fiction, a two-time (consecutive) winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards (the highest honors in SF, which he won for Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, the first two novels in the series Shadow Puppets continues), and a devout Mormon to boot, Card has reached the top of his game. But far from the literary pretensions of, say, Stephen King, or the franchised pulp-industry of Tom Clancy, Card seems content to stick with what he knows best. His latest novel sticks very close indeed, continuing a sub-series of his Ender's Game books that retells stories from earlier novels through the perspective of a rival character. Combining a detailed and sensitive development of a child hero with an examination of the morality and costs of heroism, Ender's Game displayed a serious and thought-provoking talent in an often-frivolous genre. Shadow Puppets continues both Card's saga and his exploration of the moral quandaries of too much power too young. Incidentally, Card's website promises a family-friendly atmosphere, "because only nice people read OSC's books and therefore only nice people come to his signings." Orson Scott Card, Sat., Sept. 21, 2 p.m., free, Free Library of Philadelphia, 19th and Vine sts., 215-686-5322. 
-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
| ||||||||||||||||||
