Cruel Miracles, Orson Scott Card
Cruel Miracles, Orson Scott Card
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Cruel Miracles
Tales of Death, Hope, and Holiness: Book 4 of Maps in a Mirror

Author: Orson Scott Card

Narrator: Grover Gardner, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki, and others

Unabridged: 6 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/31/2009

Categories: Fiction, Science Fiction


Synopsis

This fourth volume in Orson Scott Cards fivevolume anthology of short stories features six tales with religious and spiritual themes, exploring the mysteries of ritual, sacrifice, faith, and death. Discover why immortal beings seek mortal gods, witness the consequences of a vengeful spirit, enter behind the scenes of the lives of television faith healers, and more. Stories include: Mortal Gods, Saving Grace, Eye for Eye, St. Amys Tale, Kingsmeat, and Holy. In a series of introductions and afterwords, Card offers background commentaries for each story.

About Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Saga, which chronicles the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, which follows on the novel Ender's Shadow and is set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, which tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien "Buggers." Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977--the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelette version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog. The novel-length version of Ender's Game, published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin. Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers' workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.He is the author many science fiction and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series "The Tales of Alvin Maker" (beginning with Seventh Son), and stand-alone novels like Pastwatch and Hart's Hope. He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah. Card's work also includes the Mithermages books (Lost Gate, Gate Thief), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old. Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim

An excellent collection of longish short stories that explore religion, although not in the way I expected. Card's foreword & afterword were both great. He defines his beliefs on religion in SF in the former. I didn't fully agree with them, but I did by the time he was done. In no way does he push h......more

Goodreads review by Bestem

I seem to like dark and dismal short stories, and I found myself liking these. The first one, titled Mortal Gods, was, I believe, my favorite. It was about these aliens who come to earth and worship human beings, because humans die, and these aliens do not. I think that when I worry most about death......more

Goodreads review by David

Some fine stories adorn this collection, but the best part is probably the introductory essay, where Card argues that science fiction is actually a disguised form of religious literature. Thinking of the intensity of the SF fans I know, and some of the larger themes (cosmic wonder, ascension, free w......more

Goodreads review by Helen

This was an intriguing book of sci-fi plus spirituality. The stories, and the title, seemed to say that we can't experience good in the world without experiencing pain.......more