The Worthing Saga

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

It was a miracle of science that permitted human beings to live, if not forever then for a long, long time. Some people, anyway. The rich, the powerful, they lived their lives at the rate of one year every 10. Some created two societies: that of people who lived out their normal span and died, and those who slept away the decades, skipping over the intervening years and events. It allowed great plans to be put into motion. It allowed interstellar empires to be built.

It came near to destroying humanity.

After a long, long time of decadence and stagnation, a few seed ships were sent out to save our species. They carried human embryos and supplies and teaching robots and one man. The Worthing Saga is the story of one of these men, Jason Worthing, and the world he found for the seed he carried.

Orson Scott Card is "a master of the art of storytelling" (Booklist), and The Worthing Saga is a story that only he could have written.

©1978 Orson Scott Card (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Early Work of a Master

Card was heavily influenced by the Foundation series in this work. I'm not making that up. He says so in the afterward. But he brings his own unique style and perspective to "universe building".

These stories require some patience. Don't expect alot of action and aliens. This isn't Ender's universe.

Card examines the influence of two technological events on the development of human society; the ability to "sleep" for decades at a time, and psychic ability to control the thoughts and memories of others. How do these changes influence the way people act and relate? What happens when whole classes of individuals can skip through time like stones across a pond? The stories are thought provoking and prove that card is a much more interesting writer than the recent "Ender and Bean" novels would indicate.

The production is excellent and the readers are first rate.

Can't be a 70's scifi!

This wasn't clear from the description but this audiobook has more than one story in it. I would say that it is a collection of short stories, except that the first story is about 10 hours long. The rest are about 45 minutes. So it's more like a novel with a bonus collection of short stories.

Scott Brick narrates the novel part and is very good, the other narrators aren't as good (especially following immediately after Brick), but are still easy to listen to.

This is the 4th audiobook of 70s scifi that I've listened to and if I didn't know better, I would never believe it was written in the 70s. The story comes ahead of the scifi, the characters feel real, and the author makes you care what happens. There's an underlaying sense of injustice running through the stories that the author makes us want to correct.

I wanted the stories to go faster, not to get through them, but because I wanted to know what happened. This audio is worth the price for sure!

Great Story

I really enjoyed this book and the shorts at the end were a great addition.

Waaay to long.

Would you try another book from Orson Scott Card and/or Scott Brick?

Yes, I just thought this one was too long. I liked the story but, it went on forever.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting was the play between the child and Jason Worthing. The overall concept of Somac made me think about how it's use would affect our species.

Did Scott Brick do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes I had no trouble following the characters.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

weird

Weird. It took forever to get invested in the story. On the other hand, reading the extra tales of various characters helped round out the whole story, and I ended up liking it.

Worthing Revisited

A "stellar cast" of fine readers make this collection of earlier stories by Card a "must hear" for fans and audiophiles. I was totally captivated and engrossed as a listner. There is no better way than a good audiobook to enjoy this fine writer.

One Word: Fantastic

Any additional comments?

Orson Scott Card never ceases to amaze me in the questions he tackles in his writing.

In The Worthing Chronicle, Jason Worthing comes to a small village where Lared resides and asks him to write his story. As Lared writes we learn of two worlds - Capitol and Worthing. It is through Jason's story that Card explores the reasons why a god would leave their children unprotected when they have the power to provide lives full of happiness and devoid of pain, the power of corruption, and the obstacles of creating a peaceful and just human society.

The anthology continues with Tales of Capitol - which introduces more of the world of Capitol and its inhabitants and explores the affect of the sleep drug Somec that allows rich or successful members of society to sleep for years at a time, the corrupt society Somec created and the people people and relationships that are affected by it.

The anthology concludes with Tales from the Forest of Waters, which explores some of Jason Worthing's descendants who live on the world of Worthing.

The stories really made me think and offered some interesting insights on human nature. If you're into this type of thing, it's definitely worth a read.

The audiobook version was narrated by Scott Brick. He is one of my favorite audiobook narrators and he did not disappoint in his reading of The Worthing Saga.

The short stories were narrated by different narrators, whose names I can't seem to locate anywhere at the moment, but they were all well read and realized by the narrators.

"...and ye shall be as God."

The thing I like about Orson Scott Card's books is that he does more than tell a story. His stories often confront "Big Question" issues about life, death, and relationships. In the Worthing Saga Card deals with man's desire for immortality, our seemingly "inborn" character flaws, and the experiences that define us as "human."

All of these explorations are wound into a fascinating and detailed journey over centuries through the experiences and memories of the unwitting Man-God, Jason Worthing. The story cuts back and forth between the futuristic planet of Capital and the back-water worlds of the primitive and distant Colonies to explain how Worthing unwittingly helps topple an Empire and unwillingly becomes the father of a new society which holds him in god-like esteem.

Best Sci-Fi since Ender's Game

What made the experience of listening to The Worthing Saga the most enjoyable?

Deep philisophically demanding, yet strong memorable character development that makes it a joy to listen to and ponder. Great read. As always Scott Brick brings it home in the performance. I really enjoyed this.

What other book might you compare The Worthing Saga to and why?

Ender's Game, Pathfinder

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

Scott brings sharpness and contrast to the dialogue that makes it so easy to follow and easy to relate to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It provided a provocative setting for good vs. evil, choice vs. slavery, and misery or ignorance vs. joy.

Any additional comments?

Thank you for providing this!

Easily one of Card's best sci-fi novels.

Character arcs are forged by a strong fire. Imo the best novel Card has ever written. All the junky books getting their own TV shows, why hasn't this one made the cut? This could give "The Expanse" a run for it's money.