Xenocide (1991) is the third novel in the Ender's Game series of books by Orson Scott Card. It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Novel in 1992.^[1] The title is a combination of 'xeno-', meaning alien, and '-cide', referring to the act of killing; altogether referring to the act of selectively killing aliens.

Plot summary[link]

The plot alternates between characters on two planets: Path and Lusitania. Lusitania is an alien planet home to a curious species known as the piggies.

Lusitania[link]

Following the events of Speaker for the Dead, we find a story of another set of characters living as a member of a Brazilian Catholic human colony on Lusitania, a unique planet inhabited by the only other two known species of sentient alien life: the Pequeninos "little ones" and the Hive Queen. The pequeninos are native to the planet, while the Hive Queen was transplanted to this world by Ender, partly in penance for his near-total destruction of her Formic species in Ender's Game.

Unfortunately, the Lusitanian ecosystem is pervaded by a complex virus, dubbed 'Descolada' (Portuguese for "ungluing") by humans. The Descolada breaks apart and rearranges the basic genetic structure of living cells. It's incredibly adaptable to any species or form of known life, and easily transmissible. The native pequeninos and other life that survived on Lusitania after the Descolada's introduction to the planet thousands (or millions) of years ago are adapted to it. As a result of the deadly virus, the Lusitanian ecosystem is severely limited. Staying alive on Lusitania takes immense effort and research on the part of the Hive Queen and the humans, as they are not adapted to the descolada. Near the end of the story, it is revealed the Descolada is possibly an artificially engineered virus designed to terraform planets, but the original creators of the virus are unknown, and there remains a slim chance it evolved naturally.

After the rebellion of the small human colony on Lusitania in Speaker for the Dead to protect the future of the intelligent alien species, Starways Congress sends a fleet to Lusitania to regain control, which will take several decades to reach its destination. Valentine Wiggin, under her pseudonym Demosthenes, publishes a series of articles revealing the presence of the "Little Doctor" planet-annihilating weapon on the Fleet. Demosthenes calls it the "Second Xenocide," as using the weapon will result in the obliteration of the only known intelligent alien life. She also claims it to be a brutal crackdown of any colony world striving for autonomy from Starways Congress. Public anger spreads through humanity, and rebellions nearly ensue on several colonies.

After quelling much public discontent, Starways Congress finishes their analysis of the situation while the fleet is en route. Fearing the Descolada virus, further rebellions by colony worlds, and other possible unknown political motives, Starways Congress attempts to relay an order to the fleet to annihilate Lusitania upon arrival. After conferring with friends on whether a cause is worth dying for, Jane (a compassionate AI living in the interstellar Ansible communication network) shuts off transmissions to the fleet to block the order. As a consequence of this action, she risks her eventual discovery and death, should the government shut down and wipe the interplanetary network. No known smaller computer system can house her consciousness.

On Lusitania itself, Ender attempts to find solutions to the looming catastrophes of the Congressional fleet, Descolada virus, and conflicts among the humans and intelligent alien species. Much on Lusitania centers around the Ribeira family, including Ender's wife Novinha, and her children. Novinha and Elanora, the mother-daughter team responsible for most of the biological advances countering the complex Descolada virus, are unsure if they can manufacture a harmless replacement virus. Conflicts arise on whether they should even do so, since the Descolada is intrinsically tied in with the life cycles of all Lustitanian organisms, and may even be sentient itself. In addition, to try to devise methods to escape the planet, Lusitania's leading, troublemaking physicist Grego is persuaded by Ender to research faster-than-light travel, despite Grego scoffing at the idea. The third biologista of the family, Quara, is convinced that the Descolada is an intelligent, self-aware species, and deserves attempts from the humans for communication and preservation. An additional sibling and Catholic priest, Quim (Father Estevão), is determined to use faith and theology to head off another form of xenocide: a group of warmongering Pequenino wish to wipe out all Earthborn life via starship, carrying the deadly Descolada within them.

World of Path[link]

Starways Congress wants its fleet back. After all else fails, it sends the dilemma of the fleet's impossible disappearance to several citizens of the world of Path, a cultural planetary enclave modeled on early China. Path's culture centers on the godspoken-- those who hear the voices of the gods in the form of irresistible compulsions, and are capable of significantly superior intelligence. It later becomes clear that the godspoken of Path are victims of a cruel government project: granted great intelligence by genetic modification, they were also shackled with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder to control their loyalty. The experiment is set in a culture bound by five dictates - obey the gods, honor the ancestors, love the people, serve the rulers, then serve your self. This is a further safeguard against rebellion. The superintelligent godspoken are considered the most devout and holy of all citizens, and any disloyal thoughts in a godspoken's mind are immediately suppressed by overwhelming obsessive-compulsive behavior, believed to be a sign from the gods the thoughts are wrong. The most respected godspoken on Path is Han Fei-Tzu, for devising a treaty to prevent the rebellion of several colony worlds after the articles published by Demosthenes. Great things are expected of his daughter and potential successor Han Qing-jao, "Gloriously Bright." While doubting the existence of the gods himself, Han Fei-Tzu promised his dying wife he would raise Qing-jao with an unwavering belief in the godspoken. The two of them are tasked by Starways Congress with deciphering the disappearance of the Lusitania Fleet. Han Qing-jao's secret maid, Si Wang-mu, aids her in this task, her intelligence (partially) unfettered by the rigid caste system.

The young and naive Qing-jao eventually traces the identity of Demosthenes. Discovering that Demosthenes is Valentine Wiggin, Ender's sister – but that Valentine has been on a starship en route to Lusitania for the last thirty years – Qing-Jao concludes that the only possible explanation is advanced computer software closely tied to the communication network. This software must be hiding Demosthenes and publishing her work, while also causing the disappearance of the Fleet. All but discovered, Jane reveals herself to Han Fei-tzu, Han Qing-jao and Si Wang-mu, telling them about their genetic slavery and begging forbearance on their report to Starways Congress.

Already harboring suspicions about the godspoken's condition, Han Fei-tzu accepts the news of Congress's atrocity, as does Si Wang-mu, but his daughter Han Qing-jao clings to her belief that Demosthenes and Jane are enemies of the gods. Feeling betrayed by her father, who is violently incapacitated by OCD from the disloyal thoughts, Qing-jao argues with Jane. Jane threatens shutting off all communications from Path, but Si Wang-mu realizes this would eventually lead to the planet's destruction by Starways Congress. Understanding Jane to be truly alive and compassionate, through tears Si Wang-mu states Jane will not block the report. However, Qing-jao compares Jane to the servants in Path's caste system, merely a computer program designed to serve humans, containing neither autonomy nor awareness.

Knowing she has exhausted her last possibilities of stopping Qing-jao, Jane sacrifices her future and life, unwilling to bring harm to Qing-jao or the people of Path. A triumphant Qing-jao reports the knowledge of Demosthenes, Jane, and the fate of the Fleet to Starways Congress. Qing-jao recommends a coordinated date set several months from the present, to prepare the massive undertaking of setting up clean computers across the interplanetary network, after which the transition to a new system will kill Jane and allow Congress full control again. Allowing the message to be sent, Jane restores communication with the Fleet, and Congress re-issues the order for the Fleet to obliterate Lusitania.

Han Fei-tzu recovers from the incapacitation of his OCD, despairing over his daughter's actions, and his unwitting aid in deeply brainwashing her to serve Congress. He and Si Wang-mu assist Jane and those on Lusitania in finding solutions to their impending catastrophes. Planter, a Pequenino on Lusitania, offers his life for an experiment to determine whether the Descolada gives Pequeninos sentience, or if they have the ability innately. Eventually, Elanora Ribeira is able to come up with a possible model for a "recolada:" a refit of the Descolada that allows the native life to survive and retain self-awareness, but doesn't seek to kill all other life forms. With the available equipment, however, the recolada is impossible to make, and they are running out of time against the soon-to-arrive Fleet.

Outside[link]

While this research takes place, tragedies occur on Lusitania. Father Estevão Ribeira, the priest attempting to sway a distant warmongering sect of the Pequeninos from their goal of attacking humanity, is killed. Grego Ribeira spurs a riot of humans to burn down the warmonger's forest, but the violent mob gets out of his control, and rampages through the neighboring Pequenino forest instead, massacring many of its inhabitants – the original friends and allies of humanity. Under the terms of the treaty with Pequeninos, the Hive Queen is brought in to hold the peace, setting a perimeter guard of hive drones around the human colony and preventing further escalation of violence between the two groups. Grego is locked in jail, despite eventually stepping between the surviving Pequeninos and his own riot. The town realizes their horrific rage, and constructs a chapel surrounding the fallen priest's grave, trying to find penance for their actions.

Finally - a breakthrough is made. Knowing the Ansible communication network allows instantaneous transfer of information, and through knowledge of how the Hive Queen gives sentience to child queens, Jane, Grego, and Olhado discover the "Outside." The Outside is a spacetime plane where aiúas initially exist. (Aiúa is the term given to the pattern defining any specific structure of the universe, whether a particular atom, a star, or a sentient consciousness.) Formic hive queens are called from Outside after birth, giving awareness to the new body. Jane is able to contain within her vast computing power the pattern defining the billions of atoms and overall structure comprising a simple "starship" (little more than a room), with passengers included, and take them Outside. By bringing them Outside, where relative location is nonexistent, then back "Inside" at a different spot in the physical universe, instantaneous travel has been achieved, finally matching the instantaneous communication of the Ansibles and Formics. They quickly arrange to take Ender, Ela, and Miro to Outside. While Ela is Outside, she is able to create the recolada virus, which is a safe replacement of the descolada, and a cure to the godspoken genetic defect. Miro envisions his body as it was before he was crippled by paralysis, and upon arrival in the Outside, his consciousness is contained within a new, restored body. Ender discovers, however, the surreal unwitting creation of a new "Valentine" and new "Peter Wiggin" from his subconscious, who embody idealized forms of his altruistic and power-hungry sides.

The recolada begins its spread across Lusitania, converting the formerly lethal virus into a harmless aid to native life. The cure to the people of Path's genetic-controlling defect is distributed, yet Han Fei-tzu is tragically unable to convince his daughter Qing-jao this was the true course of action. Confronted with the possibility of being lied to all her life and dooming many sentient species to destruction, or an alternative of believing all she ever loved and trusted has betrayed her – Demosthenes, her father, her friend, her world – she falls to the ground. The young Qing-jao, Gloriously Bright, is lost to insanity, tracing lines in wood until her death, whispering to a long-gone father and mother if she has finally found forgiveness. Her former maid and friend Si Wang-mu sets off with Peter to take control over Starways Congress and stop the Fleet closing in on Lusitania, while the new Valentine-persona journeys to find a planet for the population of Lusitania to evacuate. The stage is set for the final book of the four-part series, Children of the Mind.

See also[link]

Novels portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Xenocide

• List of characters in the Ender's Game series
• Concepts in the Ender's Game series
• List of works by Orson Scott Card

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up xenocide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• About the novel Xenocide from Card's website
• Xenocide Summary page for publications of this title at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

v t e Works by Orson Scott Card The Ender saga characters · concepts planets · aliens Ender's Game (1985) · Speaker for the Dead (1986) · Xenocide (1991) · Children of the Mind (1996) · A War of Gifts (2007) · Ender in Exile (2008) · Earth Unaware (2012) · Ender's Game (film adaptation co-credit; c. 2013) The Shadow series Ender's Shadow (1999) · Shadow of the Hegemon (2001) · Shadow Puppets (2002) · Shadow of the Giant (2005) · Shadows in Flight (2012) · Shadows Alive (TBA) The Tales of Alvin Maker Seventh Son (1987) · Red Prophet (1988) · Prentice Alvin (1989) · Alvin Journeyman (1995) · Heartfire (1998) · The Crystal City (2003) · Master Alvin (TBA) 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 Sarah (2000) · Rebekah (2001) · Rachel and Leah (2004) · The Wives of Israel (TBA) The Worthing series Capitol (1979) · Hot Sleep (1979) · The Worthing Chronicle (1983) · The Worthing Saga (1990) The Mayflower Trilogy Lovelock (1994) · Rasputin (TBA) The Pastwatch series Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) · Pastwatch: The Flood (TBA) · Pastwatch: The Garden of Eden (TBA) The Empire duet Empire (2006) · Hidden Empire (2009) The Pathfinder series Pathfinder (2010) · Ruins (2012) The Mithermages Trilogy The Lost Gate (2011) Story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980) · Cardography (1987) · The Folk of the Fringe (1989) · Maps in a Mirror (1990) · First Meetings (2002) · Keeper of Dreams (2008)

v t e Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series Ender's Game series Books Ender's Game (1985) • Speaker for the Dead (1986) • Xenocide (1991) • Children of the Mind (1996) • Ender's Shadow (1999) • Shadow of the Hegemon (2001) • Shadow Puppets (2002) • First Meetings (2002) • Shadow of the Giant (2005) • A War of Gifts: An Ender Story (2007) • Ender in Exile (2008) • Shadows in Flight (2012) • Earth Unaware (2012) • Shadows Alive (TBA) Short stories Original short story "Ender's Game" (1977) First Meetings (2002) "The Polish Boy" • "Teacher's Pest" • "Ender's Game" • "Investment Counselor" InterGalactic Medicine Show "Mazer in Prison" • "Pretty Boy" • "Cheater" • "A Young Man with Prospects" • "The Gold Bug" • "Ender's Stocking" • "Ender's Homecoming" • "Ender in Flight" Comics Gold Bug • Ender's Game: Battle School • Ender's Shadow: Battle School • Recruiting Valentine • Ender's Game: Command School • Ender's Shadow: Command School • War of Gifts • Mazer in Prison • The League War • Ender in Exile • Speaker for the Dead • Formic Wars: Burning Earth • Formic Wars: Silent Strike Film Ender's Game Video game Ender's Game: Battle Room Characters Ender's family Ender Wiggin • John Paul Wiggin • Peter Wiggin • Theresa Wiggin • Valentine Wiggin Battle School Alai • Petra Arkanian • Bean • Ender's jeesh • Achilles de Flandres • Han Tzu • Other students Other Anton • Sister Carlotta • Descoladores • Fleet personnel • Formics • Hive Queen • Jane • Pequeninos • Poke • Han Qing-jao • Stilson • Volescu • Si Wang-mu Concepts Ansible • Anton's Key • Descolada • Fantasy Game • Hierarchy of Foreignness • Hegemon of Earth • Molecular Disruption Device • Organizations • Outside • Park Shift Theory • Philote/Philotic Web • Planets • Starways Common

Orson Scott Card
Card at Life, the Universe, & Everything at Brigham Young University in 2008.
Born	(1951-08-24) August 24, 1951 (age 60) Richland, Washington
Residence	Greensboro, North Carolina
Alma mater	Brigham Young University, University of Utah, University of Notre Dame
Occupation	Author, professor, public speaker, critic, essayist, columnist, playwright, poet, political activist, apologist
Notable work(s)	Ender's Game series, The Tales of Alvin Maker
Style	Science fiction, fantasy, thriller, horror, historical fiction, LDS fiction
Board member of	National Organization for Marriage
Religion	Latter-day Saint (Mormon)[1]
Website
www.hatrack.com www.nauvoo.com

Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951)^[2] is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986) both won Hugo^[3][4] and Nebula Awards,^[3][5] making Card the only author to win both science fiction's top U.S. prizes in consecutive years. He is also known as an advocate for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which he has been a lifelong practicing member, and as a political commentator on many issues, including opposition to homosexual behavior and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

A film adaptation of Ender's Game is currently in development, and is set for release on March 15, 2013. Card is co-producing the film.^{[citation needed]}

Early life[link]

Card is the son of Willard and Peggy Card, third of six children and the older brother of composer and arranger Arlen Card.^[6][7] Card was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Santa Clara, California as well as Mesa, Arizona and Orem, Utah. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Brazil and graduated from Brigham Young University and the University of Utah; he also spent a year in a Ph.D. program at the University of Notre Dame. Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina,^[6] an environment that has played a significant role in Ender's Game and many of his other works.

Career[link]

Card began his writing career primarily as a poet, studying with Clinton F. Larson at Brigham Young University. During his studies as a theater major, he began "doctoring" scripts, adapting fiction for readers theater production, and finally writing his own one-act and full-length plays, several of which were produced by faculty directors at BYU. He also explored fiction writing, beginning with stories that eventually evolved into The Worthing Saga.

After returning to Provo, Utah from his LDS mission in Brazil, Card started the Utah Valley Repertory Theatre Company, which for two summers produced plays at "the Castle," a Depression-era outdoor amphitheater behind the state mental hospital in Provo; his company's were the first plays ever produced there. Meanwhile, he took part-time employment as a proofreader at BYU Press, then made the jump to full time employment as a copy editor. In 1976, in the midst of a paid acting gig in the Church's musical celebrating America's Bicentennial, he secured employment as an assistant editor at the Church's official magazine, Ensign, and moved to Salt Lake City. It was while working at Ensign that Card published his first piece of fiction. His short story "Gert Fram" appeared in the July 1977 fine arts issue of that magazine under the pseudonym Byron Walley.

Science fiction[link]

He first wrote the short story "Ender's Game" while working at the BYU press, and submitted it to several publications. The idea for the later novel of the same title came from the short story about a school where boys can fight in space. It was eventually purchased by Ben Bova at Analog Science Fiction and Fact and published in the August 1977 issue. Meanwhile, he started writing half-hour audioplays on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the New Testament, and other subjects for Living Scriptures in Ogden, Utah; on the basis of that continuing contract, some freelance editing work, and a novel contract for Hot Sleep and A Planet Called Treason, he left Ensign and began supporting his family as a freelancer.

He completed his master's degree in English at the University of Utah in 1981 and began a doctoral program at the University of Notre Dame, but the recession of the early 1980s caused the flow of new book contracts to temporarily dry up. He returned to full-time employment as the book editor for Compute! magazine in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1983. In October of that year, a new contract for the Alvin Maker "trilogy" (now up to 6 books) allowed him to return to freelancing.

Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead were both awarded the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, making Card the only author (as of 2011) to win both of science fiction's top prizes in consecutive years. Card continued the series with Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, "First Meetings in the Enderverse", Shadow of the Giant, the 2007 release of A War of Gifts, and the 2008 release of Ender in Exile, a book that takes place after Ender's Game and before Speaker for the Dead. Card has also announced his plan to write Shadows Alive, a book that connects the "Shadow" series and "Speaker" series together. In 2008 Card announced that Ender's Game would be made into a movie, but that he did not have a director lined up. (Wolfgang Petersen had previously been scheduled to direct the movie but has since moved on to other projects.) It was to be produced by Chartoff Productions, and Card was writing the screenplay himself.^[8] Other works include the alternate histories The Tales of Alvin Maker, Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, The Homecoming Saga, and Hidden Empire, a story about a near-future civil war in the United States, based on the Xbox Live Arcade video game Shadow Complex. He collaborated with Star Wars artist Doug Chiang on Robota and with Kathryn H. Kidd on Lovelock.

Other genres[link]

He has since branched out into other areas of fiction with novels such as Lost Boys, Treasure Box and Enchantment. Other works include the novelization of the James Cameron film The Abyss and the comic book Ultimate Iron Man for Marvel Comics' Ultimate Marvel Universe series. Outside the published fiction world, Card contributed dialog to at least three video games: Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island and The Dig in the early 1990s.^[9]

In 2000, Card published the first novel in The Women of Genesis series. This series explores the lives of the principal women mentioned in the first book of the Bible and includes Sarah (2000), Rebekah (2002), and Rachel and Leah (2004).

In the fall of 2005, Card also launched Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show.^[10] He edited the first two issues, but found that the demands of teaching, writing, and directing plays for his local church theater group made it impossible to respond to writers' submissions in a timely manner; former Card student and experienced freelance writer and editor Edmund R. Schubert took over as editor on June 1, 2006.

The dialog and screenplay (but not the story) for the Xbox video game Advent Rising was written by Card and Cameron Dayton.^[11]

In 2008, Card's novella Hamlet's Father, a retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet, was published in the anthology The Ghost Quartet (Tor Books). The work re-interpreted all of the characters' personalities and motivations. After Subterranean Press^[12] reprinted the work as a stand-alone novella in 2011, there was an outcry because the work portrayed old King Hamlet (Hamlet's father) as a pedophile. Some critics suggested that Card is equating homosexuality and pedophilia.^[13]. Card has responded to such criticism saying, "Hamlet's father, in the book, is a pedophile, period. I don't show him being even slightly attracted to adults of either sex. It is the reviewer, not me, who has asserted this link, which I would not and did not make." ^[14]

Reviews and critiques[link]

Card authors "Uncle Orson Reviews Everything," a weekly editorial for the Greensboro Rhinoceros Times, which features personal reviews of movies, books, restaurants in the greater Greensboro area, and a variety of other topics.^[15] The column also later appears on his website, Hatrack River.

Pseudonyms[link]

Over the years Orson Scott Card has used at least seven pseudonyms.

The names Frederick Bliss and P.Q. Gump were used by Card when he was asked to write an overview of Mormon playwrights "Mormon Shakespears: A Study of Contemporary Mormon Theatre" for Spring 1976 issue of Sunstone magazine. According to Card he used these pseudonyms because the article included a brief reference to himself and his play "Stone Tables".^[16]

The name Byron Walley was used by Card on his first published piece of fiction "Gert Fram" which appeared in the July 1977 fine arts issue of Ensign magazine. According to Card he used this name because he had a non-fiction article, "Family Art", a poem, "Looking West", and a short play, "The Rag Mission", appearing in the same issue.^[16] Card also used the name Byron Walley in stories he published in Friend magazine, New Era magazine and in the anthology Dragons of Darkness. Stories by Byron Walley include: "Gert Fram", Ensign magazine, July 1977; "Bicicleta", Friend magazine, October 1977; "The Best Family Home Evening Ever", Friend magazine, January 1978; "Billy's Box", Friend magazine, February 1978; "I Think Mom and Dad Are Going Crazy, Jerry", New Era magazine, May 1979; and "Middle Woman", Dragons of Darkness, Ace Books, 1982.

The name Brian Green was also used by Card in the July 1977 fine arts issue of Ensign magazine. He used this name for his short play "The Rag Mission" because he had three other pieces appearing in the same issue.^[16]

The name Dinah Kirkham was used to write the short story The Best Day, in 1983.^[17]

The name Noam D. Pellume was used by Card for his short story "Damn Fine Novel" which appeared in the October 1989 issue of The Green Pages.^[18]

Card wrote the novel "Zanna's Gift" (2004) under the pen name Scott Richards, saying, "I was trying to establish a separate identity in the marketplace, but for various reasons the marketing strategy didn't work as we'd hoped."^[19]

On writing[link]

Teaching[link]

In 2005, Card accepted a permanent appointment as "distinguished professor" at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Virginia, a small liberal arts college run based on the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Card has cited his frustration with dismal teaching methodology for creative writing in most universities as a reason for accepting this position, along with his desire to teach the techniques of effective fiction writing to writers whose values are more harmonious with his own.^[20] 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. After being affected by stories of his students' parents in some of their essays, he decided to stop teaching regularly at the university to spend time with his youngest child who still lives at home.^[21] However, Card returned to teaching for the spring semester of 2009.

Literary Boot Camp[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

Since 2001, Card has run an annual, one-week class that consists of an intensive critique workshop for aspiring writers called "Literary Boot Camp" and a two day workshop called the "Writer's Workshop." Participants for the Boot Camp are picked from applicants who submit a sample of their fiction writing. The workshop is open to all comers and makes up the first two days of the class. Boot Camp consists of the final four days. All Boot Campers are required to write a brand new short story based on story ideas generated during the workshop- the first day of boot camp is devoted to writing this new work. The remaining days are a peer critique session led by Orson Scott Card. Graduates have gone on to win major science fiction and fantasy contests (for instance, the now-defunct Phobos contest and the Writers of the Future contest), sell many stories to the SF and fantasy magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction and Realms of Fantasy, sell books to major publishers (Judson Roberts' Strongbow Saga trilogy is one of many examples), etc.^[22]

Books on writing[link]

Card has written two books on the subject of creative writing. The first of these books was Characters and Viewpoint published in 1988. The second was How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy published in 1990. Both of the books were published by Writer's Digest Books and remain in print. He was also a co-writer for How to Write a Million (though his contribution is actually a reprint of an earlier work).

Card also gives advice about writing in an interview in Leading Edge #23 in 1991.

Writers of the Future[link]

Card also serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.^[23] Writers of the Future is a science fiction and fantasy story contest for amateur writers originated by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s and continues to be funded and organized by the Church of Scientology.

Personal views[link]

Religion[link]

Card's immersion in the Mormon faith has been an important facet of his life from early on. His great-great-grandfather was Brigham Young, an important leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, and all of Card's ancestors from at least three generations have been members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). His ancestors include several other figures notable in the LDS Church, including the Cardston colony founder Charles Ora Card. As such, his faith has been a source of inspiration and influence for both his writing and his personal views.^[7]

Politics[link]

In 2008, one day before the 2008 presidential election in the United States, Card wrote an opinion piece in which he (while being a Democrat^[24][25]) encouraged voters to support the Republican John McCain, stating that he wished he could have supported Barack Obama.^[26] He says he is supporting Newt Gingrich in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, writing that "despite [Gingrich's] negatives, there is nobody smarter or more capable or with a better record of good government seeking the office of President right now."^[27]

Homosexuality[link]

Card has publicly declared his disapproval of homosexuality and of marriage rights for gay men and women. In 1990, Card called for laws that ban homosexual behavior to "remain on the books... to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society", although he no longer advocates this, and argues that the 1990 stance must be seen in the context of the times (such laws were still deemed constitutional at the time) and the conservative Mormon audience to whom his essay was addressed.^[28] In 2009, Card became a member of the board of directors of the National Organization for Marriage, a group that seeks to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage.^[29]

Card has voiced his opinion that paraphilia and homosexuality are sometimes linked. In a 2004 essay entitled "Homosexual 'Marriage' and Civilization", Card wrote:

The dark secret of homosexual society -- the one that dares not speak its name -- is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse, and how many of them yearn to get out of the homosexual community and live normally.^[30]

Additionally, in Card's novella Hamlet's Father, which re-imagines the backstory of Shakespeare's play Hamlet, some claim that Card depicts the main character's problems as being the result of his father's activities as a gay pedophile. The novella prompted public outcry and its publishers were inundated with complaints.^[13] The trade journal Publisher's Weekly criticized Card's "flimsy novella" and stated that the main purpose of it was to attempt to link homosexuality to pedophilia.^[31] Orson Scott Card has responded to the claims that Hamlet's Father links homosexuality with pedophilia, Card wrote:

...[T]here is no link whatsoever between homosexuality and pedophilia in this book. Hamlet's father, in the book, is a pedophile, period. I don't show him being even slightly attracted to adults of either sex. It is the reviewer, not me, who has asserted this link, which I would not and did not make.^[32]

Environment and science[link]

Although he supports government-funded research into alternative energy sources and the phasing out of fossil fuel use, Card has also frequently criticized precipitous action on global warming, and has voiced the suggestion that scientific evidence against global warming is suppressed because global warming has become an academic orthodoxy that discourages opposing evidence.^[33] His short story "Angles" also features scientists fearing to pursue research because it would run counter to scientific dogma. Similarly, he has voiced distrust of Darwinism as dogma in opposition to Intelligent Design (which he also distrusts, for entirely different reasons^{[citation needed]}). While criticizing scientists for claiming that Darwinism explains "completely how evolution works," Card also said that "real science does not—and never can—prove or even support" Intelligent Design.^[34]

Personal life[link]

Card and his wife Kristine have had five children, each named after one or more authors he and his wife admire. Their children's names are Michael Geoffrey (Geoffrey Chaucer), Emily Janice (Emily Brontë and Emily Dickinson), Charles Benjamin (Charles Dickens), Zina Margaret (Margaret Mitchell) and Erin Louisa (Louisa May Alcott). Charles, who had cerebral palsy, died shortly after his 17th birthday and their daughter, Erin, died the day she was born.^[6] Card and his wife live with their youngest living child, Zina, in Greensboro, North Carolina.^[6]

The life of their son Charles influenced some of Card's fiction, most notably the Homecoming series, Lost Boys and Folk of the Fringe. Their daughter, Emily, along with two other writers, adapted Card's short stories "Clap Hands and Sing", "Lifeloop" and "A Sepulchre of Songs" for the stage in Posing as People.^[35]

In 2008, he appeared in the short film The Delivery, which starred his daughter Emily. He plays an author reading an audiobook in this film, which won First Place in Fantasy at Dragon*Con Film Festival. He wrote an original story, "The Emperor of the Air," specifically for the short film by Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki.^[36]

Card is an avid fan of the science fiction television series Firefly and makes an appearance in the documentary Done the Impossible about Firefly fandom.

Card suffered a "mild stroke" on January 1, 2011, and was briefly hospitalized. He reports expecting to make a full recovery, although his use of his left hand was impaired, requiring "retraining his brain."^[37]

Awards[link]

• 1978 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer from the World Science Fiction Convention
• 1981 Songmaster: Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award, 1981
• 1984 Saints: Book of the Year by the Association for Mormon Letters^[38]
• 1985 Ender's Game: Nebula Award, 1985;^[5] Hugo Award, 1986;^[3] Hamilton-Brackett Award, 1986; SF Chronicle Readers Poll, 1986
• 1986 Speaker for the Dead; Nebula Award, 1986,^[3] Hugo Award, 1987;^[4] Locus Award, 1987;^[3] SF Chronicle Readers Poll Award 87
• 1987 "Eye for Eye": Hugo Award, 1988; "Japanese Hugo". 1989
• 1987 "Hatrack River": Nebula nominee, 1986, Hugo nominee, 1987, World Fantasy Award winner, 1987
• 1988 Seventh Son: Hugo and WFA nominee, 1988;^[39] Mythopoeic Society Award 1988; Locus Award winner, 1988^[39]
• 1989 Red Prophet: Hugo nominee, 1988;^[39] Nebula Nominee, 1989;^[40] Locus winner, 1989^[40]
• 1991 How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (Writer's Digest Books, 90): Hugo Award
• 1995 Alvin Journeyman: Locus Award winner, 1996^[41]
• 2008 YALSA Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Contribution to Young Adult Literature; for Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow
• 2008 Whitney Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award^[42]

Bibliography[link]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Speculative fiction portal

• LDS fiction

References[link]

Sources[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2010)

• Dragons of Darkness, edited by Orson Scott Card, Ace Books, 1981.
• Maps in a Mirror, Orson Scott Card, Tor Books, 1990.

Further reading[link]

• Card Catalogue: The Science Fiction and Fantasy of Orson Scott Card, Michael R. Collings, Hypatia Press, 1987, ISBN 0-940841-01-0
• In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card, Michael R. Collings, Greenwood Press, 1990, ISBN 0-313-26404-X
• The Work of Orson Scott Card: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide, Michael R. Collings and Boden Clarke, 1997
• Storyteller: The Official Guide to the Works of Orson Scott Card, Michael R. Collings, Overlook Connection Press, 2001, ISBN 1-892950-26-X

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Orson Scott Card

• Official website
• Orson Scott Card at the Internet Book List
• Orson Scott Card at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Orson Scott Card at the Internet Movie Database
• Strong Verse, Online poetry magazine published by Card
• The Ornery American, Orson Scott Card's political site; includes his column

Interviews[link]

• 2011 interview on the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast
• An audio interview with Orson Scott Card (MP3 format) from Hour 25
• Audio interview with Orson Scott Card at National Review Online
• Interview at SFFWorld.com

v t e Works by Orson Scott Card The Ender saga characters · concepts planets · aliens Ender's Game (1985) · Speaker for the Dead (1986) · Xenocide (1991) · Children of the Mind (1996) · A War of Gifts (2007) · Ender in Exile (2008) · Earth Unaware (2012) · Ender's Game (film adaptation co-credit; c. 2013) The Shadow series Ender's Shadow (1999) · Shadow of the Hegemon (2001) · Shadow Puppets (2002) · Shadow of the Giant (2005) · Shadows in Flight (2012) · Shadows Alive (TBA) The Tales of Alvin Maker Seventh Son (1987) · Red Prophet (1988) · Prentice Alvin (1989) · Alvin Journeyman (1995) · Heartfire (1998) · The Crystal City (2003) · Master Alvin (TBA) 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 Sarah (2000) · Rebekah (2001) · Rachel and Leah (2004) · The Wives of Israel (TBA) The Worthing series Capitol (1979) · Hot Sleep (1979) · The Worthing Chronicle (1983) · The Worthing Saga (1990) The Mayflower Trilogy Lovelock (1994) · Rasputin (TBA) The Pastwatch series Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus (1996) · Pastwatch: The Flood (TBA) · Pastwatch: The Garden of Eden (TBA) The Empire duet Empire (2006) · Hidden Empire (2009) The Pathfinder series Pathfinder (2010) · Ruins (2012) The Mithermages Trilogy The Lost Gate (2011) Story collections Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories (1980) · Cardography (1987) · The Folk of the Fringe (1989) · Maps in a Mirror (1990) · First Meetings (2002) · Keeper of Dreams (2008)