Keeper of Dreams [Hardcover]

Orson Scott Card (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2008

This huge new collection of the short stories of one of Science Fiction’s most beloved and popular writers is sure to please his millions of fans. The volume contains 24 stories, Card’s new introductions for each story, and commentary on his life and work.

Like the earlier Maps in A Mirror, this collection is a definitive retrospective of the short fiction career of the writer that The Houston Post called “the best writer science fiction has to offer.”

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Multiple Hugo- and Nebula-winner Card offers short, revealing commentaries on these 22 compelling short stories, novelettes, and novellas, noting that short work has inspired some of his best and best-known long fiction. These short science fiction, fantasy and literary stories, along with a handful of Hatrack River tales (related to the Alvin Maker series) and four stories written by a Mormon, about Mormon culture, for Mormon readers, illustrate Card's fascination with complex child protagonists, touchingly portrayed in Inventing Lovers on the Phone; absorption with moral dilemmas, wrapped up in family love and tensions in Worthy to Be One of Us; and new views of old traditions, familiar and discomfiting in Homeless in Hell and Christmas at Helaman's House. Card intended several of the included stories, like the powerful In the Dragon's House, to open novels not yet written, but even on their own they provide significant examples of his perennial themes: morality, salvation and redemption. (Apr.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—The prolific Card published one short story collection, Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card (Tor, 1990), which supposedly included all of the short fiction he was willing to share. But apparently there are now a lot more selections, as demonstrated by this hefty volume. This compilation, composed of science fiction, fantasy, literary tales, and Mormon stories contains no clunkers. There is some truly innovative and wonderful storytelling here. Card's ability to create believable characters that readers come to care about remains his strongest selling point. Sometimes those characters happen into other worlds, as in "Space Boy" and "Dust." Other times they stay firmly grounded in this one, yet their stories give a new and different perspective on life. Teens who enjoy Card's earlier work, who like short stories, or who are just looking for a new world to lose themselves in can't go wrong here. Standout stories include "Space Boy," "Homeless in Hell," "Inventing Lovers on the Phone," and "50 WPM." Short essays give the origins of the individual selections.—Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (April 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076530497X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765304971
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not Card's best work, May 12, 2008

By 

bakergirl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeper of Dreams (Hardcover)

There are a few really good stories in the book, but most of them are just okay. The stories don't feel as well developed as those in Maps in a Mirror. The characters aren't terribly compelling. The themes of the stories are repetative. Perhaps some of the problem is that many of the stories are his older work? Disappointing on the whole.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 27, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keeper of Dreams (Hardcover)

The collection is broken into categories with six Science Fiction entries; eight Fantasies; two Literary; two Hatrack River (short novels related to Alvin Maker); and four Morman Stories. Each entry has notes afterward in which Orson Scott Card provides additional information. The compilation showcases the depth of the author as Mr. Card runs the gamut of the sci fi-fantasy continuum. Many have children especially teens and the lead characters are caught up in complex moral scenarios or questions on ethical choices. The "nonreligious" Morman tales are obviously timely and although Mr. Card explains that he targets Mormon readers as a Mormon writer; other fans might think these are "weird", but many of these others in the audience will still appreciate tales of characters facing personal crisis inside a "ward". Well written throughout, readers will relish the deep yet wide skills of Mr. Card to coax his audience to think beyond his enjoyable KEEPER OF DREAMS.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars series of vignettes, July 17, 2008

By 

katherine "liquidanbar" (baton rouge, la) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeper of Dreams (Hardcover)

I enjoyed the diversity of the short stories in the book, and I really liked that many of the stories fall outside of the more common "Hatrack River" and "Ender's Game" series that everyone reads.

Other have commented that the stories and characters are not as developed as in some of the other short story collections, and that is true for some of the stories included but not all. Part of the beauty in this collection is OSC's detailed notes following each story describing when it was written, what was happening and why it is what it is, and not more or less.