Orson Scott Card
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Orson Scott Card (born August 24 1951) is a prolific and best-selling author of numerous genres.
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Overview
Card's launch in the publishing industry was with science fiction (Hot Sleep and Capitol) and later fantasy (Songmaster). He remains best known for the seminal Ender's Game, which has been among the most popular sci-fi novels ever since its publication in 1985. Both Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead were awarded both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, making Card the only author (as of 2004) ever to win both of sci-fi's top prizes in consecutive years. Card continues the series with Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and the 2005 release of Shadow of the Giant. Furthermore, Card recently announced that Ender's Game will soon be made into a movie (see Ender's Game (movie)).
He has since branched out into contemporary fiction, such as Lost Boys, Treasure Box and Enchantment. Other works demonstrating his versatility include the novelization of the James Cameron film The Abyss, the alternate histories The Tales of Alvin Maker and Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, Robota, a collaboration with Star Wars artist Doug Chiang, and the comic book Ultimate Iron Man for Marvel Comics' Ultimate Marvel Universe series.
His writing is dominated by detailed characterization and moral issues. As Card says, "We care about moral issues, nobility, decency, happiness, goodness—the issues that matter in the real world, but which can only be addressed, in their purity, in fiction."
Some of his novels, for example Stone Tables, about the life of the Biblical prophet Moses; his Women of Genesis series; The Folk Of The Fringe stories; and Saints, about Latter-day Saint pioneers, have explicit religious themes. In his other writings, the influence of his Mormon beliefs is less obvious; Card's Homecoming and Alvin Maker sagas are partly retellings of the Book of Mormon and the life of LDS founder Joseph Smith, Jr.
Card was born in Richland, Washington; raised in California, Arizona, and Utah; served an LDS mission in Brazil; graduated from Brigham Young University and the University of Utah; and now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. He and his wife Kristine are the parents of five children: Geoffrey (a published author in his own right), Emily (who adapted his short story "A Sepulchre of Songs" to the stage in Posing as People), Charlie Ben, Zina Margaret, and Erin Louisa. The children are named for the authors Chaucer, Brontë and Dickinson, Dickens, Mitchell, and Alcott.
In addition to his novels and short stories, Card has had an active career as a nonfiction writer. During the 1980s he wrote many technical articles and columns, primarily for Compute!'s Gazette and Ahoy!, two magazines covering Commodore home computers.
Card is also active as a critic, political writer and speaker. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks Card began to write a weekly "War Watch" (later renamed "World Watch") column for the Greensboro Rhino Times as well as "Uncle Orson Reviews everything" which are both archived on Card's website. Although a self-described Democrat, Card is a vocal supporter of George W. Bush, the war on terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, and U.S. support of Israel, while being publically opposed to gay rights and action on global warming.
In 2005, Card accepted a permanent appointment as professor at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Virginia. Card has justified this action by citing his frustration with pervasive and dismal teaching methodology for creative writing. Card has worked closely with colleagues to develop new and effective ways to educate aspiring writers and has published two books on the subject. He was eager for the opportunity to apply these techniques in a university environment—his assorted workshops did not allow the follow-through he desired. Card splits his time evenly between writing and teaching.
Selected bibliography
Pre-Ender's Game works
- Capitol (1978)
- Hot Sleep (1978)
- A Planet Called Treason (1978)
- Songmaster (1979)
- Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980)
- Hart's Hope (1983)
- The Worthing Chronicle (revised edition of Hot Sleep and Capitol) (1983)
- Saints (1983)
The Ender saga
- Ender's Game (1985)
- Speaker for the Dead (1986)
- Xenocide (1991)
- Children of the Mind (1996)
- First Meetings (collection of short stories) (2002)
The Shadow series
- Ender's Shadow ("parallel" novel to Ender's Game) (1999)
- Shadow of the Hegemon (2001)
- Shadow Puppets (2002)
- Shadow of the Giant (2005)
The Tales of Alvin Maker
- Seventh Son (1987)
- Red Prophet (1988)
- Prentice Alvin (1989)
- Alvin Journeyman (1995)
- Heartfire (1998)
- The Grinning Man (short story) (????)
- The Yazoo Queen (short story) (2003)
- The Crystal City (2003)
- Master Alvin (forthcoming)
The Homecoming Saga
- The Memory of Earth (1992)
- The Call of Earth (1992)
- The Ships of Earth (1994)
- Earthfall (1995)
- Earthborn (1995)
The "Women of Genesis" series
- Sarah (2000)
- Rebekah (2001)
- Rachel and Leah (2004)
- The Wives of Israel (forthcoming)
Other post-Ender's Game works
- Cardography (short story collection) (1987)
- Wyrms (1987)
- Treason (revised edition of A Planet Called Treason) (1988)
- The Folk Of The Fringe (1989)
- The Abyss (1989) (with James Cameron)
- Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card (1990)
- The Changed Man (short story collection) (1992)
- Flux (short story collection) (1992)
- Cruel Miracles (short story collection) (1992)
- Monkey Sonatas (short story collection) (1993)
- Eye For Eye / Tunesmith (Tor double novel) (1990) (Eye For Eye is by Card, Tunesmith is by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.)
- The Worthing Saga (1990) (revision of The Worthing Chronicle)
- Lost Boys (1992)
- Lovelock (1994) (with Kathryn H. Kidd)
- Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996)
- Treasure Box (1996)
- Stone Tables (1997)
- Homebody (1998)
- Enchantment (1999)
- Magic Mirror (1999) (children's book, art by Nathan Pinnock)
- Robota (2003) (art by Doug Chiang)
- Magic Street (forthcoming - June 2005)
- Pastwatch: The Flood (forthcoming)
- Rasputin (forthcoming) (with Kathryn H. Kidd)
- Ultimate Iron Man [1] (http://www.hatrack.com/misc/ultimateironman/index.shtml) (graphic novel) (2005)
Plays
- Posing as People (2004) (three one-act plays based on short stories by Card, first production directed by Card)
- Clap Hands and Sing (adapted by Scott Brick)
- Lifeloop (adapted by Aaron Johnston)
- Sepulchre of Songs (adapted by Emily Janice Card)
Non-fiction works
Books on writing
Columns
- World Watch (formerly known as War Watch) for the Rhinoceros Times (an independent Greensboro, NC newspaper)
- Uncle Orson Reviews Everything for the Rhinoceros Times (an independent Greensboro, NC newspaper)
- Hymns of the Heart for Meridian Magazine [2] (http://www.meridianmagazine.com) (an LDS online magazine)
Other projects
- Ender's Game (movie) (forthcoming)
- Advent Rising (June, 2005) a third-person shooter being developed for Windows and Xbox by GlyphX
- Advent Shadow (forthcoming, July 12 2005) a video game, being developed for the Sony PSP by Majesco
- Alvin's World (forthcoming) an MMORPG, being developed for Windows by eGenesis
- The Secret of Monkey Island wrote the insults for the insult swordfighting section
See also
- Science fiction
- Science fiction authors
- Science fiction novels
- Science fiction short stories
- LDS fiction
External links
- The official Orson Scott Card website (http://www.hatrack.com)
- Biography at the Orson Scott Card website (http://www.hatrack.com/osc/about.shtml)
- Detailed bibliography at the Orson Scott Card website (http://www.hatrack.com/osc/bibliography/index.shtml)
- Strong Verse - Online poetry magazine published by Orson Scott Card (http://www.strongverse.org/)
- The Ornery American - Orson Scott Card's political site; includes his weekly column (http://www.ornery.org/)
- Riots of the Faithful (http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2005-05-15-1.html) - Contains Card's criticism of Muslim reaction to Newsweek's report of Qur'an desecration
- "Why I Am Teaching at SVU... and Why SVU is Important" (http://ldsmag.com/articles/050516whyteach.html) by Orson Scott Card
- "Under the Influence" (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/167/story_16700_1.html) on Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith and its Jedi religious concepts
- A Fan resource website and community. (http://www.philoticweb.net)
- Orson Scott Card Has Always Been an Asshat (http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2005/5/28/22428/7034) - long thread on Kuro5hin, highly critical of Card's politics.
- Template:Imdb title on the forthcoming film
- Template:Isfdb name
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