For some reason, this is the only book in the Homecoming series I don't own, so I'm finally getting around to reading it. If you're LDS, you'll know the story - family on a ship headed to promised land, older bro gets mad and ties up younger bro, chaos of a "storm" until older bro relents. A little more science fiction than the story we know and love, but very enjoyable.This is the first time we get to see the animals from the Keeper of the Earth's dreams, and I'm sorry, but they bug me. I know Card is setting us up for the family's arrival on Earth, but all that statue making and statue rubbing bugs me. And the bat-moles (yes, I know, two different creatures) creep me out. (Needless to say, I’m not overly fond of the fourth book in the series, either.)I enjoyed the way the brothers are portrayed. One thing I love in this series is that Card provides a solid reason why the older brother keeps rebelling against his father and, uh, the computer that is in charge. It is a perfectly logical reason for such illogical behavior. The family relationships are really fleshed out and defined here.I also enjoyed the strong female characters Card presents. I think he did a wonderful job with Chevya (did I spell that right) in this novel; she does a wonderful job for standing up against Elemak for what is right. I think Card makes an interesting point about the parents who remain silent, for fear of retribution against their children; in times of danger, parents must be protective. But I also struggled with this, because if any group was set up to consider the long term effects of passivity, this would be THE group. That said, there are times when the here-and-now takes priority.The conclusion of the novel is both interesting and disconcerting. I’ve never seen anyone hold a grudge like Vas. I don’t necessarily know that Elemak’s response was best. Somehow, through the entire series, despite his manipulative, selfish thirst for revenge, I still felt sorry for Vas. Mind you, he didn’t create much of a persona to have sympathy for – being willing to walk away from your child to achieve revenge definitely proves that you have crossed the line - uh, okay, in case attempted murder didn’t already – yeah, I really shouldn’t sympathize with him, but for some reason, I did. It’s probably because, of all the “bad guys” in the series, he didn’t whine, complain, or beat children. I suppose he was the most like Elemak, which is odd; committed, decisive, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. But he was more subtle. His actions in this novel caught me completely off guard, despite the fact that all of the signs were there.Overall, a great conclusion to the series. I always hoped for some form of reconciliation between the brothers, but since I knew the story this was based on, I knew it was not to be. The novel was well written, well paced, and engaging, and despite the fact that I’m reading it for the fifth or sixth time – if not more – I am still highly motivated to turn the next page and start the next chapter.
40 million years ago mankind was forced to flee the planet Earth as a result of their own shortsightedness. Those few who survived vowed never to let their descendants repeat the mistakes of the past so they created the Oversoul, a sophisticated AI programmed to watch over mankind on their new world, Harmony. When the time was right, the Oversoul was designed to lead the humans back to their ancient home world. That time has finally come and the Oversoul carefully selects the family of Wetchik to make the long voyage back home.But Earth is not the same planet mankind left those millions of years ago. The planet has healed itself, yes, but in the absence of man two intelligent species have risen: the bats and the rats, flyers and diggers, not so distantly related but forever separated by attitude and mentality. The humans have seen both creatures in their dreams but have no idea what to make of them or what they will make of the returning humans. The flyers and the diggers have long been at war with one another. Will the returning humans bring peace or only add fuel to the fire?Now this is more like it! Books 2 and 3 of Card’s Homecoming series were sort of long and drawn out and, frankly, not a lot happened. Book 4 finally returns us to the point of the story and Card does not disappoint. It seems perfectly natural to me that new species would evolve on Earth if the pesky humans were out of the way and why not the rodents? They’re pretty smart and they’re durable. And besides, this was much better than coming home to a planet full of giant cockroaches or spiders.I like how Orson Scott Card developed the bats and the rats. He gave each species a history and culture and even something like a religion. The two are always at war with each other but are irretrievably linked to each other as well. Of course, later on in the story we learn some pretty fascinating facts about those links, something I didn’t see coming at all. Besides that those two species very neatly mirror the two factions in the Wetchik family. The flying bats, called angels by the humans because they don’t know any better, who fly and have a higher sense of morality, are a lot like Nafai and those who follow him. For the jealous and murderous Elemak, we have the rats that dig in the mud and steal babies. As long as Nafai and Elemak’s father lives, there is a tenuous peace but what will happen when the old man finally dies? I smell a war in the making.Stefan Rudnicki, as usual, did a fine job in the narration of Earthfall. His voice just never grows monotonous or tiresome no matter how many hours you spend listening to it and I’ve spent quite a few I can tell you.So mankind has returned to Earth after 40 million years and has brought their wars right along with them. Big surprise. Only time will tell if the past is going to repeat itself, or if the humans, flyers, and diggers can at last find peace.Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven
What do You think about Earthfall (1996)?
This book was better than The Ships of Earth, but again I feel as if five books was a bit much for this story. It could easily have been split into two separate trilogies, but it wasn’t so we get the somewhat disjointed story through the first four novels and what appears to be a fifth book which may be completely unrelated.Roughly half of this novel takes place on the spaceship Basillica, named after their abandoned town, and Nefai and Luet have proceeded to follow the Overlord’s plans and have kept a large portion of the children awake throughout the long journey to Earth in order to train them and have them ready to stand against Elemak and his supporters.All hell breaks loose when a pre-set alarm lets everyone out of the stasis chambers and Elemak and his supporters realise that the children have had at least 10 years education and growth and he holds the ship hostage until finally he is convinced to return to stasis along with everyone else.Click here to continue reading on my blog The Oddness of Moving Things.
—Geoff
This was a good book, and fit with the nature of the rest of the series. It gets into some weirdness by introducing sentient species that I found to be more than a bit of a stretch to believe, but they were more plot devices than compelling characters. After reading this and the original four Ender's Game series, Card seems to write interesting human stories and mix them with aliens that I have a lot of difficulty getting attached to (or even interested in) in the way he seems to intend us to. E
—Peter
This is interesting, but not my favorite. I expected, by it being part of Ender's quartet, to see more of Ender. I am sad that I haven't seen any of the characters set up in the first couple of books. Where'd they go? Even still I am anxious to start the next book. We'll see how long I can hold off. I do have a mountain of reads waiting for me.Oh, for those who get this on Kindle, there are a lot of typos. I don't know if it is that way in the paper or hardbacks. VERY distracting!***When I had already posted the above, I went to Amazon to review over there and realized:Maybe I needed to be more careful! This was number 4 in the Homecoming Series! Not the Ender's Games series. No wonder it had none of the characters I was looking for. Well, if it is any help, I can't believe I enjoyed a number 4 when I haven't read the first three!
—Darlene
