Earthfall (Homecoming) [Mass Market Paperback]

Orson Scott Card (Author)

Book Description

Series: Homecoming | Publication Date: January 15, 1996

The Oversoul of the colony planet Harmony selected the family of Wetchik to carry it back to long-lost Earth. Now grown to a tribe in the years of their journey to Harmony's hidden starport, they are ready at last to take a ship to the stars. But from the beginning there has been bitter dispute between Nafai and Elemak, Wetchick's youngest son and his oldest.

On board the starship Bailica, the children of the tribe will become pawns in the struggle. Two factions are each making secret plans to awaken the children, and themselves, early from the cold-sleep capsules in which they will pass the long decades of the journey. Each side hopes to gain years of influence on the minds of the children, winning their loyalty in the struggle for control of reclaimed Earth.

But the Oversoul is truly in control of this journey. It has downloaded a complete copy of itself to the Ship's computers. And only Nafai, who wears the Cloak of the Starmaster by the Oversoul's command, really understand what this will mean to all their plans for the future.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

High above the planet Harmony, the Oversoul watches, programmed forty million years ago to guard the human settlement from all threats, especially themselves. In the latest in the Hugo- and Nebula award-winning author's Homecoming series, the great artificial intelligence has lost control of the population, forbidden technology has been rediscovered, war has broken out, and the only repair lies light years distant on a lost and ruined Earth.

"There seems little doubt that the whole series will prove as readable--and as morally committed--as we've come to expect from Card." --Locus --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth and penultimate book in Card's Homecoming Saga carries the travelers from the planet Harmony back to Earth at last?the first humans to set foot there in 40 million years. The journey through space intensifies the strife between Nafai, leader of the expedition chosen by the Oversoul (Harmony's master computer), and his brother Elemak, which erupts again into violence midway through the voyage. Nafai's Oversoul-given powers and the obvious futility of a rebellion in deep space force a renewed truce, but hostilities continue to simmer as the travelers reach Earth. As the humans establish a colony, they must make peace with two sentient species, evolved in humankind's absence, which live in a constant state of enmity. This action-packed, plot-rich installment features Card's typical virtues?well-drawn characters and a story driven by complex moral issues. As the narrative pace accelerates, however, the later episodes fragment and characters fade into the background.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (January 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812532961
• ISBN-13: 978-0812532968
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Card, Orson Scott

More About the Author

Orson Scott Card is the bestselling author best known for the classic Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow and other novels in the Ender universe. Most recently, he was awarded the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in Young Adult literature, from the American Library Association. Card has written sixty-one books, assorted plays, comics, and essays and newspaper columns. His work has won multiple awards, including back-to-back wins of the Hugo and the Nebula Awards-the only author to have done so in consecutive years. His titles have also landed on 'best of' lists and been adopted by cities, universities and libraries for reading programs. The Ender novels have inspired a Marvel Comics series, a forthcoming video game from Chair Entertainment, and pre-production on a film version. A highly anticipated The Authorized Ender Companion, written by Jake Black, is also forthcoming.Card offers writing workshops from time to time and occasionally teaches writing and literature at universities.Orson Scott Card currently lives with his family in Greensboro, NC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first three but still pretty good, July 30, 1999

By 

James ([e-mail]) (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earthfall (Homecoming) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was actually quite let down by Earthfall. If you've read the first brilliant three in the Homecoming Saga you'll recognise that the story is a huge build up of tension and competition amongst the characters. Well I know it could only go on for so long, and the tension finally erupts in some places... but the big build up, between Nafai and Elemak... well it's builds up and up during the whole book again... and then everything is let down in the last few pages. An anti-climax, I can't tell what happens without spoiling things but new plot lines have taken over that have ended that brilliant one. Unless the final book in the series can redeem Earthfall, to me, it's an anti-climax.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's downhill from here..., March 13, 2003

By 

IHiJump "ihijump" (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earthfall (Homecoming) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to admit it... Card is a master of developing characters. By the time I made it to Earthfall I was on the edge of my seat! I loved Luet and Nafai and loathed Elmark. That is what Card does so well. You know the characters so intimately by the time you're through reading that you feel like you're a part of their world.

Unfortunately, you don't want to be a part of this world. It has become a Cliche... Elmark hates Nafai, tries to kill him at every opportunity and Nafai does absolutely nothing about it. At some point in this book you'll be screaming at the book to just let Nafai get it over with!!

Overall... Card's books are some of the best reads ever! You're hooked and can't put the book down.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Character of the Patriarchs, December 5, 2003

By 

Jedidiah Palosaari "Not My Real Name" (Fes, Morocco) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Earthfall (Homecoming) (Mass Market Paperback)

As the journey continues Card matures the characters. Yet we see no one flat- everyone, the most evil, has good points; the most good have their own private evils. The Patriarchal disagreements continue- Card uses the vast history of the Genesis stories of Jacob & Esau, Joseph, Abram, and Moses in one cast of characters to give us an idea of how the issues those men dealt with might be recapitulated 40 million years from now on another planet. And so just as in the time of the Judges and the Kings in the Old Testament, here people try to stop the journey from happening, and try to keep the people of God (God now being referred to as The Keeper of Earth) from reaching the homeland when they are almost there. Many of the followers attempt to gain their own power and ignore the desires of the oversoul and the Keeper, just as occurred in the time of the Kings. And yet in the midst of this, as in II Isaiah, one rises up to be a Suffering Servant to bear the burdens of his people.

But when they reach the promised land, not everything is perfect, for there also, the Philistines and Canaanites are already there. How shall they deal with them? In warfare, or bringing them into their new nation? Both options were chosen by the Israelites at different times, in different places in Palestine.

As I reflect on this book, I continually see new Biblical parallels, and gain new insights- into the book, my understanding of Biblical exegesis, and into my own relationship with God. Card lays out how the Keeper's awesome plan will go forward, and how He wants to bring everyone She can into it. I contemplate how the same is true of God.

The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English