The City of Basilica has fallen. Now Wetchik, Nafai, and all their family must brave the desert wastes, and cross the wide continents to where Har...
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Sep 04, 2010
Dan
rated it: 
By far the worst book by Mr. Card I've ever read. In the previous books, Mr. Card did a great job weaving political schemes and plots and creating characters who would realistically react to the new and changing situations in which they found themselves. With a cast of only 16 (excluding children) I guess Mr. Card had a hard time figuring out things to talk about as they traveled through the wilderness. He resorted to an unnecessary and shameful (for an LDS author) sex scene. I skipped the t
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May 07, 2010
Mark
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 08, 2009
Roger
rated it:
This series gets better as it moves along. In this volume, Volemak leads his family into the desert under the direction of the Oversoul, a satellite computer which was created to prevent mankind from recreating the destruction of earth society on their new home of Harmony. The Oversoul's systems continue to fail allowing the extremes of violence to return to Harmony and he/she has chosen to rescue a select family to return to Earth. The dichotomies between those who choose the right and th
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Oct 20, 2010
Mukta
rated it: 
Book 3 moves many years forward as the Basilican exiles form a new life in the desert. They will found a town, have many children and discover the location of the Oversoul.
Through the years, Elemak, Vas and Mebbekew have not learned to accept the Oversoul and respect Nafai. Their human jealousy and pettiness cause a lot of strife.
The large picture of rebuilding Earth is lost to them. I felt that getting bogged down in the day to day life shouldn't make us forget a higher purpose. More...
Through the years, Elemak, Vas and Mebbekew have not learned to accept the Oversoul and respect Nafai. Their human jealousy and pettiness cause a lot of strife.
The large picture of rebuilding Earth is lost to them. I felt that getting bogged down in the day to day life shouldn't make us forget a higher purpose. More...
Nov 04, 2007
Omly
rated it: 
The Oversoul, a computer built by humans escaping the destruction of Earth's ability to support life, has been guiding human evolution over the last 40 billion years to better be able to communicate with it and calm their destructive tendencies. Now the Keeper of Earth is calling that it is time to recolonize Earth. A group of 16 colonists has been selected by the Oversoul for being the top of its selective evolutionary process, but that does not mean that they are inclined to work together or e
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Nov 09, 2010
Peter
rated it:
I've been on kind of an Orson Scott Card kick here, starting with Ender's Game and when I finished that series I led straight into this one. This particular volume was an interesting shift from the politics of city life into the politics of living in a self-contained group and the strife of journeying through the wilderness. It's a definite change for the series, but not an unexpected one. The character development of the first two books definitely is necessary for this book to make sense. H
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Jan 06, 2010
James
rated it:
Bried summary: the 16 exiles are now travelling through the desert to the spaceport and starting families. The conflict deepens, not only between Nafai and Elemak, but other lines as well. The depth and complexity of the characters is fleshed out, so I liked this book much more that the previous two. The complexity of interpersonal relationships and motivations overwoven on an interesting scifi plot is what makes Card so fun to read. This one reminded me of Speaker for the Dead, in how he d
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Jun 03, 2011
Jadie
rated it:
This really felt like a filler book in the series. The series isn't that great to begin with, but it is a fun read. This book, however, was all about the 8-9 year journey to find, you guessed it, the ships of Earth. Though it was a fairly fast read, the book seemed kind of drawn out. It was mostly written to elaborate on the relatioships within the group chosen by the Oversoul, but to dedicate a whole book to doing so seems rather unnecessary in my opinion. Ontop of that, this book (along with t
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Jul 09, 2010
Ann
rated it:
It was OK. A little too neat, in my opinion. All the good guys were very good; all the bad guys were very bad; and no matter how precarious the situation, it always worked out well in the end. And the hero (male, despite all the talk of gender equality) winds up being who you expect it to be, and he gets all sorts of amazing powers and near-perfect insight and the apparent inability to be conquered. What fun is that?
It's the same problem I had with "Ender's Game," which was More...
It's the same problem I had with "Ender's Game," which was More...
Apr 25, 2009
Rita
rated it:
This was a great addition to the Homecoming Saga--a story full of fascinating, well-developed characters. And I enjoyed the continuation of the epic story.
However, I got the feeling that he just wanted to get done and didn't give it all he had the last fourth of the book. He summed up a couple years in a few paragraphs, which was fine. The fast forward was necessary. But after that he did more telling than showing and then got back into it the last chapter or so.
It really More...
However, I got the feeling that he just wanted to get done and didn't give it all he had the last fourth of the book. He summed up a couple years in a few paragraphs, which was fine. The fast forward was necessary. But after that he did more telling than showing and then got back into it the last chapter or so.
It really More...
Mar 02, 2009
Charity
rated it:
I still enjoy the series, but once again there were moments in this book that felt weird to me because it is a scripture story that I grew up with. Most of the time I don't think about the correlation between the two, but there were moments where I felt it was being flung in my face.
I guess I should explain that I love the scripture story so I'm not sure that I am comfortable with the tweaks and changes that make it good science fiction. Does that make sense. For example, when I rea More...
I guess I should explain that I love the scripture story so I'm not sure that I am comfortable with the tweaks and changes that make it good science fiction. Does that make sense. For example, when I rea More...
Nov 11, 2011
"[T]he book rises to great power....Card [is] one of the genuinely towering talents working in science fiction today....this volume carries forward a superior story."-Booklist
Listen to The Ships of Earth on your smartphone.
Listen to The Ships of Earth on your smartphone.
Jan 20, 2012
Lisa
rated it:
Ok- the book picked up in the last few chapters but only then! I still leave it at 2 stars for making me trudge through that desert journey. To top it off, my book was missing 35 pages in the middle! Craziness. Obviously not the authors fault. Reading book 4 now.....
Nov 16, 2009
Sandy
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 04, 2011
Molly
rated it:
Reread 12-15-09. Remembered past favorite moments and loved them just as much this time around -- indeed couldn't wait to keep reading to get to them. The section that stands out as now meaning so much more to me now than it did then is the Shedemei/Zdorab proposal scene. I liked and was intrigued by it in the past, but didn't quite get it. To read it now, the sensitivity, truthfulness, honesty and complexity of it, the situation it delves and the future issues it sets up, now that I've lived (e
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Apr 13, 2011
Laura Karina
rated it:
Boring. It was slow slow slow slow slow, and then things got interesting only at the end; and it ended in what seemed to be a bit of an abrupt way, much like if the book had been meant to go together with the next one and not as a standalone.
To put it briefly, the first 7 chapters could have easily just been summed up into one, and save us the boring read to get to the actual interesting parts.
To put it briefly, the first 7 chapters could have easily just been summed up into one, and save us the boring read to get to the actual interesting parts.
Dec 25, 2009
Jeff
rated it: 
Not sure what happened with this volume of OSC's HOMECOMING saga. Somewhere along the line I completely lost interest in the story. I might end up skimming the last few chapters before picking up Volume Four.
Jan 03, 2012
Elisabeth
rated it:
Meh. This book read like a space filler. They had to hang out in the desert for a while until they could find the spaceship and in the meantime they all argued, hunted, farmed, and had babies. Kinda boring. I will read the next one though.
May 24, 2010
Kara
rated it:
This series is loosely based on the Book of Mormon. Interesting read, but more sexual in content than I expected. Not a book for children.
Nov 11, 2010
I am told this series is like reading the book of mormon.
It is a good read. The characters have depth and the story is interesting.
It is a good read. The characters have depth and the story is interesting.
Nov 19, 2011
Joshua
rated it:
This series is very interesting, mainly for the dynamics of the family structure. I am looking forward to finishing the series with the last two books!
May 29, 2009
Laura
rated it:
The Ships of Earth: Homecoming: Volume 3 (Homecoming Saga) by Orson Scott Card (1995)
Feb 20, 2011
Brendan
rated it:
Good read...I'm warming up to this series...now that more technology is involved. I'm looking forward to the next two books! It looks like it's going to get great!
