Earthfall

Homecoming: Volume 4

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

When war broke out on the planet Harmony, the Oversoul of that colonized world selected the family of Wetchik to carry it back to long-lost Earth. Now the tribe is ready at last to take a ship to the stars.

But from the beginning there has been bitter dispute between Wetchik's sons, Nafai and Elemak. On board the starship Basilica, the children of the tribe will become pawns in the struggle for control of reclaimed Earth. Each faction is making secret plans to awaken the children early from the cold-sleep capsules in which they will pass the decades-long journey, hoping to gain years of influence on their minds and win their loyalty.

But the Oversoul is truly in control of this journey, and only the son who wears the cloak of the Starmaster really understands what this will mean to all their plans for the future.

©1995 Orson Scott Card (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This action-packed, plot-rich installment features Card's typical virtues: well-drawn characters and a story driven by complex moral issues." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[Card's] literary gifts and philosophical turn of mind continue to carry [this saga] on at a very high level...." ( Booklist)
"This series continues to impress." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Still Interesting

This particular episode of the Homecoming saga continues to develop the ideas of power, psychology, and consequences. Every action creates sets in motion a variety of things that may or may not always be predictable.

One thing I do not quite appreciate is how little change Card's characters seem capable of even over decades. There is a little room for improvement, but a variety of characters just seem to plateau and level off disinterestingly. They then become annoyingly predictable.

Aside from that, there are some great themes here as humans meet and ineract with other sentient creatures. Seeing the drama that unfolds is stimulating and trying to figure out how it will finally end up keeps up the steady forward momentum.

A great ending!

This really is the ending to the arc that started in book 1. It does a great job at tying up loose ends and explaining mysteries that may have confused you for a while now.

The only complaint I have is that conflict is getting a bit formulaic and predictable: all of the conflicts seem to have the same causes and same resolutions, so you always know roughly what to expect. I docked the story one star for this.

Otherwise, it's a very entertaining end to a very entertaining series. I'm glad I invested the time to read these!

Review

Too many characters wired unrememberal names tried to lengthen story then gave you a good story about what happened after

This series is a treasure

This is the most intense so far of the 5 books! Can’t believe I missed it years ago! Expands on ideas from the Ender series and is great from all standpoints. Nobody reads better that Stephan Rudniki!

Best narrator

I love Stefan's talent for reading each character in a unique way. I'm on a quest to listen to every book ORC has ever written and am always amazed at how invested I get in each book and series.

Good story, good narrator.

The story is entertaining and the characters are well developed but I almost quit listening early in the first book due to the ridiculous names of the characters. Seriously, these names are so bad they nearly ruin a decent story.

Another OSC hit(until Mormon overtones shine thru)

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'm a fan of series books and OSC, and have enjoyed "Homecoming" quite a bit. The "Book of Mormon" overtones start to shine through a bit more in "Earthfall". It doesn't quite get in the way of the story, but it does start to pull you out of it a bit.

What does Stefan Rudnicki bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Stefan Rudnicki may be the best narrator out there. That guy could make the phone book entertaining. The twins having basically the same name would have been a pain, but letting Stefan handle pronunciation made it easier to deal with.

Have I read this before?

Spoiler alert!

Toward the end of this book, the story got a little too reminiscent of the last books of the Ender series. Genetic manipulations leading to implausible symbioses in an alien ecosystem?

I guess it should also have taken me fewer books to realize that the Oversoul is sort of like Jane redux.

I am ready to begin the next one!

Orson Scott Card does not disappoint. I really enjoy his use of many beliefs and systems.

This can be a good conclusion to this series

So far this is the best book of the Homecoming Series. By now it is clear that the story is more about humans and their personal agendas, than about the storyline. This series is definitely inspired by - maybe even drenched in - the Book of Mormon and feels very "religious." Yet Orson Scott Card also twists the classical Mormon story, introducing some ethical conundrums and politically correct ideas in the series, which makes it interesting. Stefan Rudnicki is an excellent interpretive reader and does the series proud. I do think that you must have a special acquired taste for Orson Scott Card to treasure this series.