Cheater
By Orson Scott Card; Read by Orson Scott Card
MP3 File – 33 minutes – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show
Published: 2006
ISBN: None
A new story from the Ender universe, involving Han Tzu. This story is an audio bonus from the current issue of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show.
Shadow of the Hegemon
By Orson Scott Card; Read by David Birney, Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, and Stefan Rudnicki
11 CDs – 13 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Audio Renaissance
Published: September 2006
ISBN: 1593974809
Themes: / Science Fiction / War / Politics / Youth / Strategy /
In Ender’s Game, Ender Wiggin and his jeesh won the war against the buggers. From there, the story of Ender and his sister Valentine continues in Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. But what of the people Ender left behind? What of Ender’s power hungry older brother Peter? What of Bean and the other Battle School kids? Orson Scott Card gives us that story beginning with Ender’s Shadow, then continuing with this novel, Shadow of the Hegemon, and on to Shadow Puppets and Shadow of the Giant. (NOTE: Shadow Puppets is the only novel mentioned here that has not yet been released in unabridged format on CD by Audio Renaissance, but it is in their schedule for January 2007.)
One of the things I admire about the Ender novels as a whole is that Orson Scott Card has not written the same novel twice. Speaker for the Dead is a different kind of novel than Ender’s Game, and Xenocide different again. Ender’s Shadow marked a return in tone to Ender’s Game, but this book was different again. Shadow of the Hegemon is boardgame of a novel, a sort of international chess match between nations battling for dominance after the outside threat of the Buggers has been eliminated.
The Battle School kids are 14 or so now, and have all returned to Earth. Achilles (a failed Battle School student from the previous novel) works for Russia and is given a LOT of power. He orchestrates an operation to kidnap all of Ender’s jeesh from wherever they are in the world, then proceeds to convince these kids that they need to help Russia or rot in a cell where no one else can use them. I had tough time believing that this young man would be given authority to do what he does – what kind of government would give such power to a young teen? Even though history is full of young men in positions of great power, it didn’t ring true for me. The actions of all the other characters in the book were not problematic for me, but I couldn’t help but feel that Achilles just had too much authority, and I just couldn’t see adults readily giving that authority to someone that young.
The main character in the book, and in all the Shadowbooks, is Bean, who is a fascinating and engaging character throughout the series. He manages to figure out what’s going on before getting kidnapped himself, and thus starts the story.
The book switches point of view frequently, moving from Bean to Petra to Peter Wiggin. Scott Brick read the Bean chapters, Gabrielle de Cuir read the Petra chapters, and David Birney the Peter Wiggin chapters. Card provided plenty of dramatic moments in the novel for these performers, most notably the first meeting between Bean and Ender Wiggin’s mother, powerfully read by Scott Brick.
Card kept the scale of the novel both personal and global, and mentions Tom Clancy in his afterword as an influence. The book is an enjoyable addition to the Ender universe, and I’m eager to hear the next book, Shadow Puppets, when it is released. In fact, when it is, I may treat myself to the entire Shadow series again. They are superb productions, every one.
Audio Renaissance’s website has a page dedicated to the entire audio Ender series – find it here.
Posted by Scott D. Danielson
A podcaster who is currently and unfortunately unnammed is taking a writing class offered by Orson Scott Card and has scored an interview with his teacher! OSC and the unnamed student talk about essential writing techniques and OSC’s magazine Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show amongst other things. Check these three segments from the It’s The STORY Stupid podcast…
ITSS Podcast #16 OSC Interview Part 1 [MP3] – approx. 15 minutes
ITSS Podcast #17 OSC Interview Part 2 [MP3*] – approx. 35 minutes
*Includes bonus interview with Ed Shubert the new editor of OSC’s IGMS
ITSS Podcast #18 OSC Interview Part 3 [MP3] – approx. 10 minutes
Props to SFSignal.com for the link!
Magic Street
By Orson Scott Card; read by Mirron E. Willis
11 CDs – 13.5 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Published: 2005
ISBN: 0786178264
Themes: / Urban Fantasy / Fantasy / Shakespeare / A Midsummer Night’s Dream / Dreams /
Orson Scott Card’s Magic Street is an urban fantasy that links Shakespearean characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a middle-class black neighborhood in Los Angeles. Already not sounding like your cup of tea? Don’t scratch it off your list just yet. If Orson Scott Card wrote a book about a snail moving under a plant in a garden we would probably all marvel at the character development, be enraptured by the pacing of the story and how the plot develops and empathize with the moral dilemmas the snail must face! This excursion into urban fantasy, while not what we’re used to from Mr. Card, still gives us what we value in his writing.
Under inexplicable circumstances a boy named Mack Street is born into the world not yet alive and is immediately abandoned. Later found, he is raised by a couple of unlikely yet caring individuals. As he gets older Mack begins dreaming the deepest wishes of the people in his community. However, each time he experiences a “cold dream” the wishes invariably come true in a tragic way. Unable to understand the magic or speak to others about it, Mack keeps it a secret.
Then one day Mack discovers an entrance to fairyland. As he begins to interact with the magic of that world, his origin and purpose come into view. Mack and his community must act fast to guide events away from a tragic end.
The magic in the world is not explained until late in the story. The reader learns about it as Mack Street himself discovers the explanations. For me it was a bit taxing to go through so much of the story without being able to understand the meaning of the magical events, but the unfolding of the magic world is central to the story and, in a way, really facilitates identifying with the characters.
One of my favorite things about the book is the end. While the story intertwines itself with some of Shakespeare’s more light-hearted work, Magic Street is no comedy of errors. As the story reaches its climax it looks to be a tragedy of Shakespearean ilk. Disciples of the Bard can argue whether the ending is truly “Shakespearean” or not, but it concludes in a wonderfully complex way that leaves you feeling mournful of what was lost, but also that all is right and balanced.
It seems people either love or hate the story. Among the detractors are those disappointed to find the story departing from the genres they typically associate with Mr. Card. It certainly isn’t the fantasy of the Alvin Maker stories, but it isn’t trying to be. It’s an urban fantasy, and if you loathe urban fantasy you’ll dislike this book.
More critics, though, seem to focus on the racial issues. Mr. Card is not black and has written a story about black characters in a black community and does not shy away from discussing racial issues as he imagines them discussed among the characters. I don’t really know how to evaluate the validity of criticisms of how he approaches race, but I wonder what someone might think reading the same dialogue if they thought the author was black himself (I suspect they would be less critical). In any case the story is about people who are black and middle-class, and not about black, middle-class people. The characters are compelling because of what the reader shares with them as human beings, not because they are a case study of some part of Black America.
Mirron Willis was the reader for the story and did an excellent job. Among other projects he made a few appearances on ER as Detective Watkins, and on Star Trek: Voyager he appeared a couple of times as Rettik. Willis has won two Audiofile Earphone Awards and, coincidentally, he performs in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
The synopsis on the back of the disc case dramatically reveals that Mack pursues “a forbidden relationship”. I think there must be a list of pre-approved comments to put on CD cases to entice people to buy it. I’ll wager that, as we speak, said list is attached to a dart board in someone’s office with a small hole in the words “forbidden relationship”, because it didn’t come from the story.
Magic Street is another story from Orson Scott Card that has been beautifully translated into audiobook format that is well worth your time.
Posted by Mike
We missed a great title in our recent New Releases post. Just in from Audio Renaissance is Orson Scott Card’s Children of the Mind, which completes the original 4-volume Ender series, all on unabridged audio! Preceding this book are Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide. Audio Renaissance has page dedicated to the Enderverse on audio – click here to see it.
Blackstone Audiobooks‘ release of King Kong, from way back in 2005 (read our review of it HERE) is something I’ve just now finally got my grubby mits on. I was especially excited to get a hold of it because of last disc in the 5 CD set – it contains the “special features” – and they are, quite possibly, the most special of features ever to have been added to an unabridged audiobook. The narrator/producer, Stefan Rudnicki, has tracked down some of the biggest names in Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction and asked them to give their opinions of the original King Kong. The resultant disc is some of the most interesting and insightful film commentary I’ve ever heard. The creators of the Peter Jackson King Kong DVD were utter fools not to have hired Rudnicki to produce just this sort of material for the bonus features. Not only does “disc 5” give fond memories of an absolutely iconic fantasy film, it also dispenses deeply insightful criticism and sharp commentary from those who were influenced by the film. There are even some funny related real-life stories. Harlan Ellison, for example, talks about his overwhelming need to watch the original film whenever it airs on TV – as well as his hatred for remakes of ‘perfect movies’ in general. Stop-motion animation god Ray Harryhausen steps in to talk of how the original character of Kong became the tipping point for his amazing life’s work. And Orson Scott Card boldy dismisses the original film as irrelevant to his life and work. Indeed this is perhaps the finest collection of commentary on Kong ever collected – and that it could be recorded in the commentators’ own words, and in their own voices (except for Williamson) makes this a true treasure for the ages. Kudos to Blackstone Audiobooks, they could have just cashed in on the Kong-kraze but instead they kicked it up a notch, creating something worthy of its own page in the first printing of The Encycolpedia Galactica (publication date 2362).
Well played Blackstone, truly well played.