What do You think about The Worthing Chronicle (1983)?
As interested I am in the reasoning behind the Fall of Adam and Eve, I never expected to find an explanation in a book of science fiction. Yet Orson Scott Card manages to both entertain and explain, and which line you follow is completely up to you. The overlaying view of the novel is pure entertainment, and it is quite possible to enjoy it without straining your mind. Not one but two stories are entwined, with the protagonist of one growing from the other. Normally I would critique a story told entirely in flashback, but although Jason’s story is told entirely in dreams, each one stands alone in terms of action. Each dream grips us, so we, too, are living the story. Lared, the second protagonist, dreams each dream, and he, too, is fully involved – more fully than even the reader, as he lives the action – and his understanding of his own world is changed. As the novel begins, Lared and his family are waking from a life of painlessness and ease. Unknown to them, a group of people – descendents of Jason – have been keeping the entire universe from both physical and emotional pain. Not only do people not hurt themselves, they also never experience grief, anger, or loss, for their memories and behavior are tampered with. Throughout the novel, Lared comes to understand why such a utopia is not ideal. Jason’s story is the reason behind Lared’s. Born with the ability to read minds, he is shunned and hunted, and finally leaves behind his home world to colonize a new one. Through a freak accident, he winds up with a city of people who have lost their memories and must start with the most primitive of societies. Such a world becomes a virtual Eden, where the people only know goodness and kindness. Yet Jason chooses to introduce the one person who retained his memories of how things used to be, and allows him to wreck havoc upon the society. In the process, good men become great. As an underlying theme, Card addresses the need for the Fall of mankind from the Garden of Eden. In a world that knows only good, he argues, no man can be great. No choice can be righteous. No one can be courageous. It is only when faced with evil that we can show our true strength of character. This is a wonderful novel, both in terms of pure entertainment and in terms of provoking great thought. Whichever level you read it at, you will be certain to close the book with a smile.
—Nola Redd
This work has all the telltale signs of a Card novel. It spans 15,000 years, revolves around a genius/superhuman, and is very mormon. Card lets his Christian values shine through in this book more than most. He condemns the Catholic Church, praises monogamy and creates a Jesus-like figure for a new universe. In it, Card answers the age-old philosophy question of the Happiness Box. He argues that true joy is different from happiness and that one only experiences joy if there is pain and suffering in the world, that there can be no humanity without suffering.
—Scott Shepard
