Customer Reviews

Earthfall (Homecoming)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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

Earthfall is perhaps the best novel of the Homecoming Series. Sadly, it is the last good novel in the series due to the poor production in the last novel.

But....back to this one. This novel has it all. There is action and hatred in the early part of the story on the starship. Battle lines have been drawn, and sides have been chosen. Death is a distinct possibility between some of the family members. Some of the scenes in the early part of this novel are very intense and descriptive. You can almost feel the emotion come out of the pages. It leads to some interesting times and some spiteful feelings.

Once the starship reaches Earth, things become very interesting. The humans are caught in the middle of a battleground that has been going on for years. Unfortunately, these two creatures are in need of one another. Family ties are now permantely broken, and now Earth creatures are also picking sides. Murder will occur, and certain key people will have their spirits broken. Revenge and hatred are found in the humans and the creatures they communicate with. There is also a lot of science to be found, and new flora to locate. Card does an excellent job creating a "new" Earth, complete with ignorant humans on the surface.

Perhaps the greatest letdown occurs at the end. Finally, the family has split into two. You will see what direction the members will take. But you won't know anything else. The final novel fails to pick up right where this leaves off. So enjoy this book, and come to your own conclusions as to what happens next!

If you have read into the Homecoming Saga this far, then Earthfall will not be a disapointment. On Earth, our favorite characters have begun having children and by extending thier family tree the story keeps building, pushing imaginations even further. With two new species included with the space travelers and thier children, you can't help but to be deeply connected, as if you weren't already, to the circumstances that all of the characters face. As The Ships of Earth prepared readers for this ride, Earthfall will have you creating such deep ties to the characters that the last instalment of the Saga could bring tears to your eyes. It did for me...(read the review of Earthborn for that one). Card's Earthfall was written with magnanimous proportion. I'm starting to choke up thinking about it.

Exploring Basilica, the holy city of women, in volume one of the Homecoming series, "Memories of Earth", was interesting. The various dreams and the arrival of General Moozh added spice to the second volume, "The Call of Earth". But Card had obviously run out of ideas by the time he reached volume three, "The Ships of Earth", and this retelling of the Biblical story of Abraham descended into the sort of traveller's diary written by unimaginative students going around the Med on their gap year.

The narrative errors in the later volumes of this series are awe-inspiring in their clumsiness. "Earthfall", volume four of the series, introduces two new races, the angels and the diggers, each of which had the potential to revive this moribund tale. But because they're used only as pawns in the family drama between the brothers Nafai and Elemak, the opportunity they presented is almost entirely lost. And can any reader really doubt who will triumph in the sibling dispute this time?

Also glaring is that the problem of infidelity, highlighted with the threat of capital punishment at the start of "Ships", is then totally ignored until midway through "Earthfall", when it emerges that bed-hopping had been occurring among the sleazier elements of the family since they made camp near the spaceport on Harmony years (and almost a whole book) earlier.

But perhaps the most critical failure is the lack of communication between the Elemaki and the Oversoul. Hushidh dreams of the exceptionaly strong gold and silver connections between the main characters and the Oversoul, and the point is made repeatedly that all 16 of the "chosen People" are the result of a selective breeding programme and have exceptionally strong ties to the 40-million-year-old computer. And yet, apart from Elemak's dream of the eight couples disembarking on Earth and the limited power of the Oversoul to cloud his mind about whether knots have been tied or not, there is no sign that anyone on his side of the sibling divide has any link to the God/computer at all.

While the first couple of books showed the women as powerful figures, the later volumes largely ignore them. Card tries to apologise for this every now and then, with acknowledgements to Lady Rasa over the naming of rivers and to Luet over the way Nafai proceeds without her, but it does nothing to bring them back into the mainstream of the story. The suggestion is made that strong women only exist in the luxury of a civilisation such as existed in Basilica. Tosh.

On a practical level, an abridged version of the story could start by cutting the third volume entirely. Nothing happens in "Ships" that could not have been condensed and included in either the preceding or subsequent volume. Consider the main events of the book.

1) Nafai and the Ovesoul best Elemak shortly after they leave Basilica with the women. (add to end of "Call")

2) Four hi-tech "pulse" guns are lost, forcing Nafai to learn how to make and use a bow and arrow and allowing Vas to plot his revenge on his wife, Sevet, and her lover from Basilica, Obring (Cut)

3) A flash flood washes away one whole camel and gives Mebbekew a chance to be a hero, a character development which thereafter is forgotten. (Cut)

4) After several years, the party, encumbered by children but without suffering a single human death, completes its 60-day trek to the site where mankind arrived on Harmony (cut, or add to the end of "Call")

5) After another few years of sitting around, Nafai finds his way into the spaceport. (Move to opening of "Earthfall")

6) Elemak and Mebbekew try to assassinate Nafai. ("Move to opening of "Earthfall" or, better yet, cut)

7) 35 kids are born. (epilogue to "Call" or fait accompli in the prologue of "Earthfall")

Yawn. The SF element in "Ships" is pathetically thin. So is the continuity. Zdorab tells Nafai in "Memory" that the Index has always been inert, then a few weeks later in "Ships" he tells Rasa about his researches in the index two years earlier. And not one of the devoutly Basilica-loving family thought to check with the Oversoul about their holy city, which, according to the epilogue of "Call", fell some two or three years after they left.

The character development is as shallow as a scuff mark in the dust. The only character who makes any real change is Elemak, who eventually learns patience. Even the hero, Nafai, grows up without changing. The rest are occassionally dragged in to contribute dialogue to a conference, but don't actually do very much. Dol, despite her theatrical background, is kept almost entirely in the wings.

And after the reader manages to wade through these 1,200-pages or so of heavy prose, what does Card have waiting to surprise and delight in the final volume of this epic history of the Wetchik clan? Er, nothing. The first thing he does is kill off all but one of his main characters.

Enough said?

Earthfall is the continuing story of Nafai and his companions as they travel to Earth aboard Basilica and their trials as they settle. They find that there are two sentient species on Earth - the Angels are bat-like creatures that are almost always born as twins and the Diggers are large, mouse-like rodents that live underground. They have been living in a savage harmony for 40 million years, until humans come back.

The story begins as the group makes ready to leave Harmony on the starship Basilica, a ship that has been preserved for the 40 million years since humans first arrived on Harmony. The group argues over many things, most importantly the sleep schedule of the children, as the deep, cryosleep will cause the body's functions and growth to slow while children that are awake will grow to be near-adults and be able to choose sides, to follow Nafai or follow Elemak.
Once they reach Earth and settle, they discover the Angels and Diggers, which were foretold in dreams in the earlier books in the series. The humans quickly dominate the indigenous species and discover that they've upset the balance and that they must fix the situation.
Meanwhile, the patriarch of the group, Volemak, the former Wetchik, is dying. Because of an oath taken by all in the group that Volemak would be the leader until his death, the settlement, now made up of four generations, must take sides.

New characters are developed in Earthfall, those being the children and grandchildren of the 8 original travelers. Some take after their parents and some do not. Then there is question of genetics - who must marry and who must not? A new Earth is also set here...one that is not the same as when humans were last there.

One thing that has become stagnant in this series is the continuing rivalry of the Nafai camp and the followers of Elemak. It's the same arguments of power all over again for the nth time. There are characters killed off in Earthfall, but it does not change the same rivalry that seems to never be quelled, only fueled.

Earthfall is volume four in the Earthbound series by Orson Scott Card.

Well, finally the moment of truth has come, and the actual journey to Earth will begin. I personally, loved the intire series, but if you are one of those who disliked the first three because of the lack of action, than you'll like this one much better. Finally, the tension that has been building gradually since the first book is finally about to explode, and at the worst possible time; during the journey to Earth! The first part of the book chronicles the journey to Earth itself, and the problems they have getting there, and the second part tells of what happens to them once they get there, and gives a very insightful opinion of what Earth might be like forty million years from now; when two other dominent, sentient species have also rison in the absence of human beings. Also, since a lot of people seem confused about this, yes there is a fifth book, but it takes place several hundred years later, and is about how humans can overcome their prejudeces and truly come home at last. Anyway, I really liked this book a lot, and definitely recommend it to those who have been following the series.

Card makes a stunning return to the world of good writing with this book. While book 2 and 3 were a bit slow, Book 4 is very exciting. It parallels very nicely with the arrival on Lusitania in the Ender's series with the arrival on Earth, the discovery of 2 species, and the human's interactions with the 2 species. Faced with interacting with a new rat-person hybrid and a bat-person hybrid, stereotypes run rampant as the evil rat people tream up with Elemark and Mebbekew to form a nasty combination of people while Luet and Nafai join the "good" people of the colony with the bat people. The two sides go to war, and the humans begin to really understand why they were first removed from the Earth in the first place...

An excellent read for anyone, if they have ever read the series or not!

The storyline is relatively decent. Not as great as the Xenocide/Ender universe, but pretty good.

Other than claiming human civilization is only 10k yrs old, most of the universe in this series is fairly consistent with itself and with possibility.

The characters are fairly well developed, and overall it flows fairly easily.

The problem I have is that there are OCR errors all through these books which is an unacceptable editing quality for any format of book. Also, the maps and similar front matter are not high enough resolution to pick out all of the details from the original graphics.

These limitations come across as disrespectful to the author and to the audience.