The Memory of Earth: Final Review

"The Memory of Earth" is a somewhat interesting sort of science fiction book. The Memory of Earth is the first book of the Homecoming Saga by Orson Scott Card, also known for his other book "Ender's Game". The story itself takes place in the desert, possibly a couple hundred years ago told through a third person point of view. Nafai, the main protagonist is a young man who lives in a city called Basilica. Instead of living on Earth, as I thought the title implied, Nafai and his family live on a distant planet known as Harmony. The planet holds true to the name it was given, harmony throughout the land, but not for long, as turmoil is in the air. The Over soul, a powerful super computer watches over all of Harmony. The inhabitants of the world have been specially modified so that the Over soul is able to remotely control people's thoughts. All this work to preserve the harmony...yet it is losing control. What may be surprising to most is how the simple life of the population mixes in together with sophisticated technology. Technology such as refrigeration, finger print scanning, and hovering chairs, used side by side with camels and caravans. As the book progresses, relationships will be broken, relationships mended, secrets revealed, secrets hidden. Complete with lust, friendship, faith, action, and vengeance, the first of the five book series offers an in depth look into the life of an ordinary boy turned upside in the midst of a war for power. “The Memory of Earth” will catch the eyes of readers with patience, and a taste for slower-paced novels.

How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?

When I heard the hype of “Ender’s Game”, written by Orson Scott Card, I naturally assumed that his other books would be as interesting. I have never read Ender’s Game, but hearing from classmates and teachers, it seems like a pretty well- written and exciting book. The Memory of Earth on the other hand, is a book in which the reader has to read and reread to understand certain parts of the book. They have to read well into the last few chapters since the author has stretched to the brink of boring the reader out of their minds. Orson Scott Card’s style of writing in this book is not bad, but is still needs a bit of refining. While I was reading the book, I encountered many chapters where the only thing happening is a conversation. When I encounter paragraphs where it just seems the paragraphs are used to take up space, like the conversation between Nafai and Issib, where Nafai says “...I study history all the time. I left my class behind years ago. I know something about how wars start and who wins them. And this is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard. Potokgavan has no chance of holding this area and no compelling reason to try. All that will happen is they ‘ll send an army, provoke the Gorayni into attacking, and then they’ll realize they can’t win and go home.” I end up skipping pages because of all the non essential information provided. The information is not unlike the things in Patient Zero, but the extra information provided in Patient Zero actually has a purpose. I can’t vouch for the other books Orson Scott has written, but I don’t think that The Memory of Earth is his best work, all the reviews I have searched rate the series as mediocre and not as good as the other books he has written.

Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.

           

Nafai, the protagonist of the series is a young man who is basically the interpreter for the Over soul. Born in the city of Basilica, Nafai is a tall, well-built, eighteen year-old-boy. He is the youngest son of wealthy parents, Wetchik Volemak who is the most prominent man in Basilica, and Rasa the most well- known woman in Basilica. He has three brothers: Elemak, Mebbekew, and Issib. Studious, and a thinker, he led a normal life, thinking about things boys worry about at his age like marriage, finding a trade, and planning for the future. One day, everything changes because he hears the voice of the Over soul in his thoughts after Nafai and his brothers and father are banished from Basilica and are forced to live in the desert. He’s going through his normal routine one day, and the next he’s in the desert using skills he has learned to stay alive. Everything he learned before has changed. Rules that have never been broken for thousands of years have suddenly been broken. Nafai himself has to break a rule to follow the Over souls orders. Nafai is an interesting character to talk about because he is so cunning and he is able to adapt quickly to everything that happened. Unfortunately, everyone has faults and his biggest fault is his big mouth. There’s one thing that Nafai has not been able to change about himself, and that is he can never seem to keep his mouth shut. Little disputes where he and his brothers argue over something ridiculous and he just HAS to have the last word. For instance, in one of the many fights with his brother Elemak: “…Nafai knew he should let Elemak’s taunt go unanswered, shouldn’t provoke him anymore. But the very fact that he looked up to Elemak so much made it impossible for Nafai to leave the gibe unanswered.” His big mouth also gets him in trouble with his brothers when they bargain with Gaballufix and loses their inheritance because he thought that his more experienced brother was going to lose their one chance to acquire the Index. I haven’t read the other four books in the series, but making an educated guess, I think that Nafai will learn to become the man he wants to be, through trial and error, and with the help of the all powerful Over soul.