The Worthing Saga

by Orson Scott Card

Book Overview

Orson Scott Card is "a master of the art of storytelling" (Booklist), and The Worthing Saga is a story that only he could have written.

It was a miracle of science that permitted human beings to live, if not forever, then for a long, long time. Some people, anyway. The rich, the powerful--they lived their lives at the rate of one year every ten. Some created two societies: that of people who lived out their normal...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812533313
• ISBN13: 9780812533316
• Release Date: December 1992
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

The Best of OSC

This is my all-time favorite OSC book, and I have just about everything he's written. Broken into three sections, these masterful stories begin with the Day of Pain, in which a world that never knew physical or mental pain -- due to the watchful eyes of a powerful race of mutants -- is suddenly left unprotected. As the people of this planet come to grips with their new reality, they are visited by the man (Jason Worthing) who caused the Day of Pain - a man who has slept for thousands of years while his offspring developed their strange powers and began watching the world, removing pain. The second section visits the world where Jason Worthing was born, and tells why he left it. The third section takes place while Jason sleeps at the bottom of the ocean, and is an account of the trials his descendants go through, coping with the powers that make them different - and separate from the rest of thr world. All in all a fantastic story, and a highly recommended book!

A story filled with compassion and character!

This book combines "The Worthing Chronicle" with the other stories Card wrote which detail the tales told in the chronicle. Jason Worthing, a poor young man, bears witness to the decline of a human empire based on sleep through time and is sent away with the empire's malcontents to create a new human colony. Why is pain and fear and aging and dying necessary? Jason tells his story to a future colonist and tries to explain what happened and why in a series of tales from his origin and the early colony. What sticks with me about this book though is the compassion and humanity of the characters and how all the wisdom and miraculous power is no substitute for that compassion, character and humanity. This is a great book! Why does God allow pain and suffering? Any book that comes close to explaining why certainly deserves reading. But the humanity of the characters is what will grab you and make you want to read this book again. This book will make you feel,laugh, and cry.

A question... and an answer

"If God is kind and merciful, why is there still such pain in the world?" I've heard this question many times, and never could really come up with a satisfactory answer, other than a few platitudes about free will and understanding ourselves. Now, I do have an answer, and it is this book. This book is a compilation of short stories written by a young Orson Scott Card, along with the title novel which ties them all together. It opens with the story of a "Day of Pain" where a people who have never felt pain before feel it for the first time. The rest of the story is spent explaining how this all came about, and what caused Worthing to finally reach the decision to unleash pain again upon the universe. All of Card's usual strengths are here; his well-developed characters tie in with a plot that is exquisitely beautiful. The question he chooses to tackle is difficult, but his answer tackles it well.

Epic

Card could have easily made "The Worthing Saga" into a three-part trilogy - in fact, it is probably the only one of his novels that cries out for it. There's A LOT of story here. The worlds of Capitol. Worthing and Flat Harbor are brilliantly realized - they each have enough history, characters and plot-threads that an entire novel could be devoted to each. The concept of "somec" alone is enough to jump start an entire series (he did much more with much less in the Ender books). However, card opted to write it as a montage of loosely connected short stories - and it is much the better for it. Card is always at his strongest when it comes to short stories. It is in the short story form where he truly shines - he focuses his talent into something purely majestic and beautiful. His short stories always leave me weeping for more. This is probably why I've read "The Worthing Saga" at least once a year since I bought it six years ago.

This is the basis for many of his other themes

I first picked up this book in the mid 1980's when it was published as 'The Worthing Chronicle' by Ace publishing (c 1983). At the time Card was unknown and most large bookstores did not carry him. I read the book at least six times, and gathered new meaning each time. The timeline spans several eons and the social commentary runs deep. His illustrations on the key role of pain reflect almost an eastern expression of the yin and yang. The beginning of the book talks of full time 24 hour real life stars that are followed by remote camera, a spooky concept that continues to edge toward reality. From the wild west/frontier settings of a new planetary colony (ie the exodus of the Mormons) to the magic abilities of Alvin Maker, you can see many of Card's basic themes in one place in 'The Worthing Saga'. I don't want to give up too much of the plot as it is as enjoyable a read as any, and in my mind even superior to his excellent Ender series (although I haven't read the fourth). For new Card readers this is a must, and for those who have devoured his other novels this will show a genesis of many of the ideas expressed in his later series. All in all a great read.