This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.(July 2022) |
The Homecoming Saga is a science fiction series by Orson Scott Card. The series is patterned on the Book of Mormon. [1] Some of the names also come from the Book of Mormon.
The series, containing five volumes, takes place forty million years in the future, with volumes 1-3 taking place on a fictional planet called Harmony. The main premise of the series is that a human diaspora occurred after Earth was rendered uninhabitable by human wars. Forty plus planets, including Harmony, are colonized by humans (though only two are actually named in the series: Ramadan, settled by Arabs; and Harmony, apparently settled by Slavic cultures, as its languages all developed from Russian.)
On Harmony, the advancement of human technology is controlled by the Oversoul – an artificial intelligence monitor, using a small army of satellites, established by the original colonists to monitor the planet. It also influences the actions of humans. Though it does not prevent them from doing evil, it keeps their societal capability for destruction limited by suppressing any thoughts that might lead to things like long-distance travel or instant communication. Thus the technology on Harmony includes basic computers and solar-powered handheld energy weapons, but no cars or even wagons. The Oversoul, however, was only designed to last twenty million years, so eventually it begins to break down. It decides to send an expedition back to Earth to seek advice from the entity of which it is an imitation: the mysterious Keeper of Earth. Soon after, the people begin to receive dreams similar to those that the Oversoul sends that come directly from the Keeper of Earth via faster-than-light transmission.
As loosely inspired by the themes of the Book of Mormon, the first three books in the series deal with the main characters travails in journeying the site of the ships via a slow trek across Harmony. The fourth book, Earthfall , concerns itself with the journey of one of the ships back to Earth and the culture class that results upon its homecoming, specifically, establishing a settlement and reconciling human culture with the existing creatures that have risen on Earth in the intervening millennia. The final volume, Earthborn , takes place five centuries further in the future; the one remaining member of the original expedition seeks to alter the path of the changing culture and see the Oversoul's mission finally fulfilled.
The characters listed here are those who go on the expedition to Earth; they play major roles throughout the series. For characters whose significance is primarily in one book, see that book's page.
Speaker for the Dead is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, an indirect sequel to the 1985 novel Ender's Game. The book takes place around the year 5270, some 3,000 years after the events in Ender's Game. However because of relativistic space travel at near-light speed Ender himself is only about 35 years old.
The Memory of Earth (1992) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the first book of the Homecoming Saga, a loose fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub "the buggers". In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, Earth's international military force recruits young children, including the novel's protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, to be trained as elite officers. The children learn military strategy and leadership by playing increasingly difficult war games, including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.
Patricia Kathryn Helms Kidd was an American author. Many of her books concern the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She co-wrote some of her works with her husband, Clark L. Kidd, and also co-wrote a novel with Orson Scott Card.
Ender's Shadow (1999) is a parallel science fiction novel by the American author Orson Scott Card, taking place at the same time as the novel Ender's Game and depicting some of the same events from the point of view of Bean, a supporting character in the original novel. It was originally to be titled Urchin, but it was retitled Ender's Shadow prior to release. Ender's Shadow was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 2000.
Xenocide (1991) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, the third book in the Ender's Game series. It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Novel in 1992. The title is a combination of 'xeno-', meaning alien, and '-cide', referring to the act of killing, together meaning the act of killing populations of aliens; comparable to genocide.
Shadow of the Giant (2005) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, the fourth novel in his Ender's Shadow series, also called the Bean Quartet.
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is a fictional character from Orson Scott Card's 1985 science fiction novel Ender's Game and its sequels, as well as in the first part of the spin-off series, Ender's Shadow. The book series itself is an expansion of Card's 1977 short story "Ender's Game."
Earthborn (1995) is a science fiction book by American writer Orson Scott Card, the concluding fifth book of the Homecoming Saga. The series is a fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Earthfall (1995) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the fourth book of the Homecoming Saga, a fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Kolob is a star or planet described in the Book of Abraham, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Several Latter Day Saint denominations hold the Book of Abraham to have been translated from an Egyptian papyrus scroll by Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement. According to this work, Kolob is the heavenly body nearest to the throne of God. While the Book of Abraham calls Kolob a "star", it also calls planets "stars", and therefore some Latter Day Saint commentators consider Kolob a planet. The body also appears in Latter Day Saint culture, including a reference to Kolob in an LDS hymn.
The Ships of Earth (1994) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It is the third book of the Homecoming Saga, a fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.
The Call of Earth (1992) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card. It the second book of the Homecoming Saga, a fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Robota (2003) is an illustrated book by Doug Chiang and Orson Scott Card about a mysterious fourth planet of the solar system named Orpheus. In a time before the events of the book, an alien race known as the Olm came to Orpheus and warned the people, explaining that their planet will crash into Earth in several thousand years. The Olm gave humans very advanced technology and the ability to create robots with artificial intelligence. But over the centuries, entropy and mismanagement have taken their toll. The humans have reverted to a preindustrial existence in a world populated with chimerical beasts such as the saurian jodhpurs, relying on bio-sciences for whatever support they can derive. With their mysterious leader, Font Prime, silenced, the robots have fallen under the baneful influence of Kaantur-Set, who directs a program of human extermination. But the robots themselves are on the point of extinction, as their technologies of reproduction no longer work. In this dire end of times, the story follows the adventures of Caps, a human who wakes up inside a metal capsule with no memory of his past.
Lovelock is a 1994 science fiction novel by American writers Orson Scott Card and Kathryn H. Kidd. The novel's eponymous narrator, a sentient monkey, takes his name from James Lovelock, the scientist-inventor who formulated the Gaia hypothesis, which figures heavily in the book.
Ender in Exile is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, part of the Ender's Game series, published on November 11, 2008. It takes place between the two award-winning novels Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. It could also be considered a parallel novel to the first three sequels in the Shadow Saga, since the entirety of this trilogy takes place in the span of Ender in Exile. The novel concludes a dangling story line of the Shadow Saga, while it makes several references to events that take place during the Shadow Saga. From yet another perspective, the novel expands the last chapter of the original novel Ender's Game. On the one hand, it fills the gap right before the last chapter, and on the other hand, it fills the gap between the last chapter and the original (first) sequel. Ender in Exile begins one year after Ender has won the bugger war, and begins with the short story "Ender's Homecoming" from Card's webzine Intergalactic Medicine Show. Other short stories that were published elsewhere are included as chapters of the novel.
Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Pathfinder (2010) is a science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. The novel tells the story of Rigg and his unusual ability to perceive the "paths" of living things throughout time. It is the first book in the completed Pathfinder series, and is followed by Ruins and Visitors.
Visitors is a science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card, who is best known for his novels, Ender's Game (1985) and Speaker for the Dead (1986). This novel continues the story of Rigg and his evolving ability to see and travel to the past, in an attempt to save the future. It is the third and final book of the Pathfinder series, preceded by Ruins and Pathfinder.
Aaron Johnston is an American author, comics writer, and film producer.