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315th out of 1,859 books
—
5,019 voters
Lost Boys
In Lost Boys, an acknowledged master storyteller weaves a powerful, uplifting tale of loss and redemption around an ordinary American family's bittersweet triumph over a welter of dark forces, both natural and supernatural.
Step Fletcher, his wife, DeAnne, and their three children move to Steuben, North Carolina, thinking-hoping-it might be just the right place for them. i...more
Step Fletcher, his wife, DeAnne, and their three children move to Steuben, North Carolina, thinking-hoping-it might be just the right place for them. i...more
Hardcover, 448 pages
Published
July 10th 1994
by Random House Value Publishing
(first published January 1st 1992)
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Apr 09, 2008
Dave Williams
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone
Recommended to Dave by:
Who knows anymore?
Shelves:
fun-books
This is an odd book...It doesn't really seem to be about anything in particular until you get to the very end, but it's also somehow a very gripping page-turner. For most of the book, it's just about a bunch of random, disconnected stuff that happens to this family, but Card makes the family so real and lovable (partly because a lot of it is very autobiographical), that you just have to keep reading.
And then the ending comes along and stomps you right in the gut with steel-toed boots.
And then the ending comes along and stomps you right in the gut with steel-toed boots.
17 likes · like · see review
As far as Mormon authors go, Orson Scott Card is by far the best. That in itself doesn't say a whole lot, since he is the only one I can stand. This one is pretty different from his other books - not much of a sci fi aspect to it, and not a religious book either, though the family the book is about is Mormon. It's a very compelling read though, and be prepared to not be able to put it down. Also be prepared to cry your guts out. I finished this book during the middle of a workday because I just...more
7 likes · like · see review
Nov 22, 2007
Sabrina
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people without children or who like horror
For my wonderful LDS friends out there:
Orson Scott Card may be a member of the LDS church, and I understand that he has written some very compelling apologetics for the same; however, this does not, in any way, mean his fiction is something that you would enjoy. Let me begin by saying that I felt the book was very well-written, and that Card is able to create some very realistic characters throughout the story. In the end, though, it was just too creepy, and if you have children or have any str...more
Orson Scott Card may be a member of the LDS church, and I understand that he has written some very compelling apologetics for the same; however, this does not, in any way, mean his fiction is something that you would enjoy. Let me begin by saying that I felt the book was very well-written, and that Card is able to create some very realistic characters throughout the story. In the end, though, it was just too creepy, and if you have children or have any str...more
I have strong mixed emotions about this book. On the one hand, I enjoyed Card's writing style, his character development, and the twists in the plot. I also enjoyed seeing regular, everyday Mormons and their day-to-day lifestyle being portrayed favorably in a mainstream novel. On the other hand, the very subject of the book, child abduction and murder, plus the gut-wrenching, parents'-worst-nightmare ending, gave me nightmares. I also thought the end was cheesy in addition to being tragic. The n...more
I bought this book second-hand in hardback, *without* a book jacket. I read it blind, completely ignorant of what it would be about. After seeing the title, I just sort of crossed my fingers and hoped it wasn't about vampires. It wasn't.
I must say, I was absolutely captivated by the story of this family. I loved it. Orson Scott Card has a way of - well, saying 'a way of humanizing 10 year old kids' would sound all kinds of wrong - but I what I mean to say is that he has a way of elevating his ch...more
I must say, I was absolutely captivated by the story of this family. I loved it. Orson Scott Card has a way of - well, saying 'a way of humanizing 10 year old kids' would sound all kinds of wrong - but I what I mean to say is that he has a way of elevating his ch...more
6 likes · like · see review
"Lost Boys" has just enough surrealism in it to make it slightly creepy, but at the same time it is completely believable. The depiction of family life is warm and real and sometimes quite funny, as in the first chapter when the two-year-old throws up all over the car. This is definitely something every parent can relate to. The story's believability serves to make the end even more shocking, and terribly poignant. I learned a lot about the Mormon faith from reading it as well. Peopled with vari...more
I had some friends who raved about Card's science fiction, which I've never yet picked up, but instead, I read this book. I have never had a book hit me with such completely contradictory feelings. On the one hand, I found the main character's description of everyday life in the Mormon church, how it worked, and the movement of the plot, all to be interesting, much more so than I would have imagined. On the other hand, the delving into child molesting and murder was so upsetting that I had to fo...more
3 likes · like · see review
I really enjoyed seeing the portrayal of a Mormon family dealing with real life. I picked up pointers on parenting and work among other things. I cried so hard at the end. I was disappointed with the swearing by the father and of course the subject of missing/molested/murdered children is pretty disturbing to anyone but especially so to parents; I definitely don't think I could have explored this subject any other way. That's the kind of world we live in though. This and worse happens on a daily...more
I've read quite a few books by this author, and I've had to give this book a lower rating than the rest. However, that doesn't mean it isn't worth a read nor does it mean the book doesn't have many strong points. I actually found the story compelling. I was also fascinated by the insight ths book gives into the lives of a devout Mormon family, but there were some things I found irritating as well. Chief among them was the way this family makes decisions regarding their children. While they clear...more
I've started reading Card's books more lately. I'd read Ender's Game years ago, but not much else of his, until recently. I've started really enjoying his writing style; even what might be "mundane" descriptions somehow grips me - I want to know more about these characters, their lives, etc.
This book was no exception. While the premise is somewhat more disturbing than most, I think he treated the subject in a way that wasn't overly gratuitous. Whenever I had to stop reading, I couldn't wait unti...more
This book was no exception. While the premise is somewhat more disturbing than most, I think he treated the subject in a way that wasn't overly gratuitous. Whenever I had to stop reading, I couldn't wait unti...more
At the writing workshop I attended, Orson Scott Card said that Lost Boys was his most autobiographical novel. He also mentioned that he deeply regretted putting a prologue in this book, and recommended skipping it. I skipped it and then read it afterwards and I agree. His regret and description made me curious enough to buy the book and then read it.
It's been a long time since I read a book that I really wanted to get back to a finish reading quickly. The relationship between the husband and wif...more
It's been a long time since I read a book that I really wanted to get back to a finish reading quickly. The relationship between the husband and wif...more
2 likes · like · see review
I'm not sure how I feel about this book or why I wanted to read it in the first place. I've read and loved many of Orson Scott Card's novels, especially everything related to the Ender universe and my personal favorite Enchantment. When I started reading this one I immediately knew it was really different. This book is just a story about a Mormon family. It is very intimate in telling all about the family's life and especially the relationship between the father, Step, and the mother, DeAnne. I...more
This book is the first of only two horror novels I've ever read (I don't count the audiobook presentation of Stephen King's "The Mist" I heard in jr. high), and it is definitely the best (that's not a knock at the other one at all, though.)
Card throws a very unique and interesting twist into the mix by creating a Mormon (a.k.a "LDS") family for use as main characters. He manages to treat Mormon doctrine pretty fairly without getting the slightest bit preachy, but "Lost Boys" is hardly a novel ab...more
Card throws a very unique and interesting twist into the mix by creating a Mormon (a.k.a "LDS") family for use as main characters. He manages to treat Mormon doctrine pretty fairly without getting the slightest bit preachy, but "Lost Boys" is hardly a novel ab...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Wow. This book was amazing, and nothing like I expected. It made me
cry and disturbed me, but I also found it beautiful and touching.
The book is about a young Mormon family that moves from Indiana to a
town in North Carolina. Step, the father, is a software developer. His
wife, DeAnne, is a stay-at-home mom. They have three children, Stevie
(age 7), Robbie (age 4), and Elizabeth (age 2), with another baby on
the way. Stevie has trouble adjusting, and has a teacher that is quite
cruel to him. Soon, he...more
cry and disturbed me, but I also found it beautiful and touching.
The book is about a young Mormon family that moves from Indiana to a
town in North Carolina. Step, the father, is a software developer. His
wife, DeAnne, is a stay-at-home mom. They have three children, Stevie
(age 7), Robbie (age 4), and Elizabeth (age 2), with another baby on
the way. Stevie has trouble adjusting, and has a teacher that is quite
cruel to him. Soon, he...more
Orson Scott Card’s Lost Boys follows a Mormon family after they move to Streuben, NC, and things fall apart endlessly as one of the children develops imaginary friends and stops functioning outside of himself.
Throughout the book, the family suffers from some typical conflicts: the mortgage needs to be paid; The father has a job under people he dislikes, and is away from home too often; one child has difficulties adjusting to a new school .Problem, solution. Sunrise, sunset.
I was surprised to f...more
Throughout the book, the family suffers from some typical conflicts: the mortgage needs to be paid; The father has a job under people he dislikes, and is away from home too often; one child has difficulties adjusting to a new school .Problem, solution. Sunrise, sunset.
I was surprised to f...more
Ok, I will have to agree with the reviews on here that say that nothing really happens in this book for the first 400 pages or so. There is a lot of character development in this book. However, as someone who recently read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which is the very definition of slow-moving), I had enough faith in Card's abilities as a writer to trust that he was going somewhere with this story. This book is the very definition of a slow burn. The payoff, however, was so worth it. The en...more
This is an odd one. On the one hand, I was completely engrossed in the story and found it difficult to put down. On the other hand, when I came to the end, I found myself wondering what in the world all the different events had to do with each other. One of the first so-called rules in writing is that everything should somehow advance the story. And yet, none of the dots really connect at the end. I did not like the ending at all. Not because of what it inherently was, but because I thought it w...more
This is going to be a complete as possible without giving too much away. A family moves to a town in N. Carolina trying to pick up the pieces of their life after job and financial set-backs. Dad starts a new job, at a company full of liars and backstabbers. Mom tries to make this new place home. Oldest son suffers extremely difficult times at school and his behavior changes. In the background there is the knowledge that boys in the town have disappeared. Most of the story is the family working t...more
An interesting story and a quick read, this book is worthwhile if you're lacking for something else to read.
The thing I really found interesting about this book is that Card spends a lot of time focusing on characters that, in the end, don't have a whole lot to do with the actual story. In the afterword, I learned that this is the only story that Card has written that has elements from his own life.
Taken in this light, it's clear that Card is sharing these colorful stories about interesting char...more
The thing I really found interesting about this book is that Card spends a lot of time focusing on characters that, in the end, don't have a whole lot to do with the actual story. In the afterword, I learned that this is the only story that Card has written that has elements from his own life.
Taken in this light, it's clear that Card is sharing these colorful stories about interesting char...more
I wasn't a big fan of Lost Boys, even though I seem to love everything OSC writes.
The family unit in this story is strong. After I while, I just wanted to scream at the book "I get it! This is a strong family! Can we move on with the story, please?" I understood the family dynamic after the introductory car ride, but I had to sit through DOZENS of small and sometimes large arguments or conflicts, with the same result... a strong, reasonable family decision. It got to the point where I couldn't u...more
The family unit in this story is strong. After I while, I just wanted to scream at the book "I get it! This is a strong family! Can we move on with the story, please?" I understood the family dynamic after the introductory car ride, but I had to sit through DOZENS of small and sometimes large arguments or conflicts, with the same result... a strong, reasonable family decision. It got to the point where I couldn't u...more
3 likes · like · see review
No one can write about family, triumph, and goodness like OSC. Being a child of the 80's myself, I enjoyed reading about a time that would forever be forgotten if not for writers. The inconveniences and innocence of the time is glaringly accurate, from the point of view of a deeply religous family. How the author manages to write a book centered on religion without making the story overly religious is a testament to his skill. The book merely documents the life of a Mormon family rather than pre...more
Placed in the early 1980s at the beginning of home computer use, a gaming programmer and his family move to North Carolina for a badly-needed tech job. This is a creepy story that keeps pulling the reader forward searching for what that sinister underbelly is while immersing us in the lives of a young family adapting to a life far from friends and family.
As usual, Card writes beautifully and keeps my attention. I love how he portrays experiences of disability as it is; a regular and complicated...more
As usual, Card writes beautifully and keeps my attention. I love how he portrays experiences of disability as it is; a regular and complicated...more
I think I would have been able to enjoy this book more if I didn't know what it was about ahead of time. I hate it when a synopsis on the back cover of a book is enough to ruin the experience for you! I spent each paragraph waiting for the other shoe to drop, instead of getting to enjoy the story coming to life in its own time. Which makes it hard to be able to judge it subjectively as a whole, looking back on it. I almost want to re-read it so I don't have the suspense hanging over my head the...more
Orson Scott Card is quite a prolific author, and despite his position as a fixture in science fiction world, many of his novels transcend that genre. Lost Boys is an unusual little book well outside of the Sci-Fi genre. As it was put in another review I read, nothing really happens in Lost Boys until the end, but despite that, it's a thoroughly gripping read right from the very beginning.
It's difficult to discuss the plot of this book without giving away too much, but the story follows a young...more
It's difficult to discuss the plot of this book without giving away too much, but the story follows a young...more
The prologue of this book sets the entire landscape of the novel into a dreary, untrusting, terrifying light that had me anticipating the worst kind of terror around every corner. I kept imagining how I would have viewed the novel if I had simply skipped the prologue and sauntered into the novel oblivious of the sinister intentions of the unknown character. Mixed in with this are Cards own thoughts and his self acknowledged "autobiographical" stance towards the novel (anyone not getting the "las...more
I've actually read this book at least twice, maybe three times. About a boy who is learning to cope after moving to a new home by developing imaginary friends. Through the story you see the parents trying to help their son through his hard adjustments and then 8 year old boys start to go missing. The end is fantastic and absolutely not what you would expect. If you guess the ending of this book I will be shocked - it's good to the last page.
What a horribly written book! The back cover says, "As Stevie retreats into himself, focusing more and more on a mysterious computer game and a growing troop of imaginary friends, the Fletchers' concern turns to terror...And as evil strikes out from the most trusted corners, it's suddenly clear: Stevie's next on the list."
However, for 400 pages NOTHING HAPPENS. Oh sure, we get Card belabouring the reader with the point that Mormons are average Joes just trying to have a job and raise their kids...more
However, for 400 pages NOTHING HAPPENS. Oh sure, we get Card belabouring the reader with the point that Mormons are average Joes just trying to have a job and raise their kids...more
2 likes · like · see review
I have this bad habit when I'm reading a book that isn't enthralling me. I keep checking what page I'm on. It's like watching the clock while you're in a boring meeting. So the good news for Lost Boys is that I didn't keep checking what page I was on, but there are a fair number of things that bothered me or detracted from the experience despite the page-turning read. 1-Way too many crazy people. Crazy bosses, crazy co-worker, crazy school teacher, crazy fellow church member, and of course on to...more
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Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more
More about Orson Scott Card...
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more
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“Heck, everything we decide will be wrong," said Step, "because no matter what we do, something bad will happen later. So I refuse to regret any of it.”
—
1 person liked it
“I have never resisted the Lord in my life, Sister LeSueur, and I never will. But I'm not so hungry for dialogue with him that I have to make up his part as well as my own.”
—
1 person liked it
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Jan 18, 2013 09:41am