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

Relevant

The main story is simply excellent, although it ends somewhat ubruptly. Scott Brick of course has a voice of gold. I was unsure of whether or not I would enjoy the short stories at first but I really did! The narration wasn't as strong in some.
Overall excellent story, excellent narration.

Marred by odd moral arguments and poor narration

This is (by his own admission) one of Card's earliest works, and it was written during a lot of his early missionary and bible college times. This explains the heavy morality themes throughout. In fact I would classify this story as more allegory than sci fi. I had trouble understanding the protagonists' motivations at times -- why kill yourselves because you created a utopia? And why are people so much happier when they are suffering?

I found these arguments puzzling but overall they didn't hamper my enjoyment of the story. This is apparently a rewrite of the original tale, and it is structured well. I often found it hard to put down. The collection of short stories afterward are a mixed bag, though. Some were interesting, some dragged on to resolve little.

I would have given this story 4 stars if the narration was better. The narrator's inflections didn't fit the scene most of the time. The narration plodded along and most of the dialogue came out angry. The worst I've heard on an audiobook.

absolutely splendid

I just marveled at how the telling of these woven stories captivated me. The primary story and the following collection is a telling of the story of the history of lives lived in a complacent empire, the subsequent demise and the planned scattering of humanity to continue the seed of humanity in all it's unique variety and the specific story telling of the life and history of one particular thread of humanity saved from the brink and forging a life on one of the scattered planets and the parallel evolution of the descendants of their mythical saviour and their own development and trials with their unique abilities and their interaction with their fellow humans. Man, angel and messiah in it's execution and just a fantastic story. Sometimes preachy and morally thought provoking in it's structure but not negatively so, I think it works wonderfully with the structure of this story.

Anyhow it's late and I'm rambling. It's sci-fi so there is little reason to overanalyze the stories as some tend to do. And although Sci-fi, should be taken as seriously as is sensible and I found it such a good telling of a story I listened to it 3 times in succession I was so enthralled with it.

Give it a go, you wont regret it.

Decent Story Typical of Card

I liked it. It's no Ender story but caries the same principles the entire Ender series has. Where is man. Where is God. What is Man. What is God. What defines a soul.

It's a good listen. I'll probably listen to it again in about 6 months.

Foundation lovers rejoice

If you can't get enough Foundation, I feel this book has a very similar vibe. Very satisfying read.

The Never Ending Story

This is not one of his best books. It is in fact a little boring. After reading most of his work I was dissappointed in the story (or stories)which have no focus. The book just dies.

Save a credit

The first half of the book tells a sci-fi/fantasy story that is ok. I was puzzeled why the second half would re-tell the same stories just from a different point of view. Then, Orson Card himself explained it. This is a collection of his attempts to tell a certain story. So, unless you are interested in the somewhat arbitrary collection of variations of the same story - save your book credit for something else.

Utterly depressing, with no redeeming qualities

I love the Ender series, but this story is apallingly bad. It should come with free Prozac, it is so depressing. I simply could not make it to the end of the book, even though I had nothing else to read. I hope this review will save someone a credit and a lot of wasted hours. If not, you were warned.

Pure Crap

Some of the worst Sci-Fi I have ever read or seen. Incomplete storylines. Babbles on and on. Takes 50 words to describe what could be done in 10. Incoherent. Pure crap. The audio voices would probably be better enjoyed if the subject matter was not so awful.

Be forewarned

I usually have neither the time nor the inclination to write book reviews, but THE WORTHING SAGA provoked such a negative feeling in me that I decided to take the time to write a review for the benefit of those of you who want to make informed decisions about books on which you decide to spend your money.

This is a dark, dark story. From my personal perspective, the religious, social, moral, and/or literary message that Card has in mind is far overshadowed by the graphic violence depicted in the book. I agree that as good human citizens, we all must do our best to be aware of the realities of the world: the good with the bad. However, the real world is enough for me, and I'm not personally willing to wade through all the incredibly violent and negative behavior in this book -- especially involving children -- to ferret out the moral message that Card has in mind. I was too distracted by these graphic depictions of extreme human misfortune to care about the message. If Card was eliciting a visceral reaction in his reader, he certainly succeeded with me, but he lost me in the process.

I think Card is a great writer, and I highly recommend the Ender/Bean/Petra/Peter/etal books he's written, but you will have to have a stronger stomach than I to enjoy THE WORTHING SAGA.