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Space Boy  By  cover art

Space Boy

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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Publisher's summary

Is it space travel that children dream of, or merely visiting other worlds? Todd had always set his heart on being an astronaut, but when he meets an alien and travels to another world, he doesn't use a spaceship; he just hangs out in his own back yard.

In Space Boy, Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game, takes listeners into a strange and wonderful future, where people from another world regularly visit Earth, usually without being noticed. And when humans travel to their world, they find themselves dangerously weak and powerless, until Todd finds a way to set both worlds to rights.

By turns funny and painful, Space Boy is Card at his best, exploring human nature for the entertainment of readers young and old.

©2007 Orson Scott Card (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Card works both pathos and humor into this tale of a family pulling together to rescue one of their own." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Space Boy

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Nice entertainment "snack"

What other book might you compare Space Boy to and why?

This Card short story actually reminded me a lot of some Heinlein's early books for teens - a young anti-hero with a bit of sci-fi/fantasy mixed in.

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

Stefan Rudnicki made the story a lot of fun - I think this was more entertaining because the reader was good than it might have been just reading it for myself.

Any additional comments?

The Sale price made this a great buy. Orson Scott Card is much better with a longer format, but Space Boy makes for a nice little OSC snack.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Short and Strange

This is a wierd and silly story that plays on universal relativity theories in a fairy tale sort of way. I wasn't impressed by the story either way. Nothing was developed in either the characters or the story line to endear the reader to them one way or another... Like the shortest science fiction story (Frederic Brown's "Knock"). There's little for anyone to be impressed or unimpressed.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Both author, and reader are are among the best at

What they do. I came to love Sci-Fi as a boy of 10 years. You can take the word of a seasoned critic at 73 years now.
If you too enjoy Sci-Fi you will enjoy "Space Boy," a much better story than the title name...

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sci fi

Orion Scott Card did it again. Cute story about a worm 🐛 whole where one end started In the bedroom closet and the other end outside. First casualty was the mom🐼🐼🐼🐼🐼🐼🐼🐼🐼again I say it’s a very cute story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

It's not long, but it is an interesting story!

If you don't mind that this is just a little story that isn't in any way connected to a bigger picture you may like this story. It's a little odd, and different and uses the word anus more times then I have EVER heard in any other book- but it's sweet and worth listening to!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Space Boy

A very nice short family Sci Fi story. Narration was excellent. I will be buying more of Orson Scott Card's books.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this quick one

Card is a great writer. Even in his short books he never fails to deliver a believable story that takes you somewhere else and makes you think about what you would do in these circumstances. Well worth the money.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Solid

Enjoyable, interesting, OSC working very well in small scale. Suitable for any age. Great for a car ride.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Querry JH Space Time Storuy

Card just had fun with this space, time story. Aimed at youth but a fun story all the same.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

A kid's tale with crude humor and no real science

The only redeeming quality of the story is that it is short. As an adult, I could not enjoy it. The humor is crude - butts, farts, and naked people (no graphic detail) - that seems to target elementary school boys. The reader for the audio recording makes the alien's voice sound annoying and obnoxious (probably on purpose) and it grated on me. The kids are smarter than the parents and have more patience than any young boy I've ever met. The trappings of science are unrealistic fantasy. I rated it as 2 stars instead of 1 because the audio production quality is good, the solution to the story's main problem was relatively creative, and I've read books for kids that were even dumber.

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