Treason

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Lanik Mueller is a "rad" - radical regenerative - a freak who can regenerate injured flesh...and trade extra body parts to the Offworld oppressors for iron. On a planet without hard metals, or the means of escape, iron offers the promise of freedom through the chance to build a spacecraft.

But it is a promise which may never be fulfilled, as Lanik uncovers a treacherous conspiracy beyond his imagination. Now charged with a mission of conquest - and exile - Lanik devises a bold and dangerous plan to finally break the vicious chain of rivalry and bloodshed that enslaves the people of the planet Treason.

©1988 Orson Scott Card (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Card provides a colorful dramatization of ethical issues and questions of identity against a backdrop of bizarrely fascinating races." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Exemplifies Card's talent for creating disturbingly compelling, beautifully written stories." ( Library Journal)

Great all around book and reading!

This is a great classic by card and like him I would love to see the movie version!

So good!

Better than expected! If you are a fan of any of Card's books, you will enjoy Treason.

Interesting premise

Would make an interesting self revelation movie if done in more than just the first person as the author suggests. Needs a different title. It’s Altered states meets the serious side of middle earth and a tiny bit of the Empire (ambassador) thrown in. Could be a 2-3 movie story.

Perfect story. I disagree with other critics.

One critic isn’t impressed with the characters. There are characters in this book that are among some of the most interesting in all my years of reading. One person used the word “fantasy” in their review; this is not the right word but I see what they meant. This book is very much-so listener-friendly, it is nearly not science fiction but DEFINITELY does not tread into the fantasy category (in my humbler-than-thou opinion!)
Also hey- I’m equally curious about the horses with nazi names (which were mentioned only once,) but let’s ask the genius why he wrote that in… Furthermore, if one can’t get past the black savages thing as a literary device to show the ignorance of ruling classes and slams the book shut, then one won’t find out that those savages provided amazing [spoiler censored] that would leave all others shamefully inferior to them. Finish the book. Every page matters. So there. :-P
I am glad that I disregarded these reviews which nearly persuaded me to pass over this title.
I got more than I expected, the overarching plot is very neat and the ending is classy and very well-done. Rarely does the end of a book satisfy me, and even more scarce is a good ending also as simple and organic as this.
5 stars for how superbly packaged this really neat story was.
Archiving this title.

So many ideas in this book

I've loved other works by OSC. However, this one just didn't pull me into the story as the other books have. OSC captures so many cool sci-fi ideas and concepts in this story, but it's hard to convey them accurately as the story is written in the first person. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless you are just interested in OSC's early work. IMHO, your time could better spent listening to one of his later books.

What a story

This was definitely one of the most original stories I have ever heard. Loved it through and through. Card hit it out of the park yet again!

Huge fan!!

I am a huge fan of Orson Scott Card, and have passed this book to many of my friends, so I was excited to find it was released on audible.

Card is an amazing story teller and I love how they read like a movie and there is no unnecessary descriptions. He has an amazing imagination and I have read everything of his that I could get my hands on in the past 10 years.

This book in particular is one of my favorites because I enjoyed learning about each community and wondered what the next unique developed talent would be!

The reader, Stefan Rudnicki, sometimes annoys me because his voice is so deep that the resonance literally hurts my ears. He narrates most of Card's books, so I have had to just deal with it and I didn't think it was so bad in this book. In fact, I thought he did probably his best job with this book so far.

I couldn't figure out which cameo was Card because I have only listed to it once... Next time I will definitely listen closer to try to pick him out!! If anyone figures out which character he is, do tell!

Lastly, I just love Card's support of audio books and enjoy listening to his background on the books. I am always left wanting to know more about him and how he thinks. He is a true artist!! If I was more of a writer myself I would take one of his writing classes to uncover how he does it!!

Love this book and highly recommend it along with Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Song Master.

Skip chapter 1 then hold on to your socks

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

A great story after a bad first chapter. Twists and surprises all through the ride.

Interesting Story

Where does Treason rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is not the best book I have listened to, but I enjoyed the story. It was certainly interesting and mostly easy to follow. I say mostly, because it was never really clear what the ambassadors were until the end. With that said, it is not vital to know what the ambassadors are in order to enjoy and understand the story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Treason?

No one moment was more memorable than another. However, I really enjoyed reading about the unique skills/gifts different families/nations had. This really added to the story.

Pont of View

Would you consider the audio edition of Treason to be better than the print version?

I like Audio better than print for one reason specifically: It "speaks" to me. I thought tat the first person aspect in the narration enhanced by this abd gave added meaning ti the word "I".....

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was the narrator because he had to explain to "himself" who he was before anyone else could understand.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I thought that the lack of sympathy toward the stepmother was annyoing

Any additional comments?

Everybody feels "different" but not always proud of itso can understand the characters....