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The Ships of Earth

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

The City of Basilica has fallen. With the continuing failure of the Oversoul, the artificially intelligent guardian computer of the planet Harmony, the human colonists have begun to repeat the devastations of war and conquest wrought on Earth. To repair itself and avert disaster, the Oversoul has called a group of sixteen refugees from the fallen city of Basilica to a hidden, abandoned spaceport where the ancient starships lie. Now Wetchik, Nafai, and all their family must brave the desert wastes and cross the wide continents, guided by the voice of the Oversoul, to await the command to prepare the great interstellar ships for flight again. But among this group, not all have chosen their exile, and the angry resentment of those who were forced to join will make the difficult journey harder.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 31, 1994
      The third volume of Card's Homecoming Saga continues the epic tale begun in The Memory of Earth . After 40 million years, the artificially intelligent guardian computer (the ``Oversoul'') of the planet Harmony--created to keep the human colonists at a relatively low technological level so they don't repeat the devastations wrought on Earth--has begun to fail. In order to repair itself and avert disaster, it has gathered a group from the city of Basilica, hoping to guide them through the desert to the place where the ancient starships wait, eventually to return to Earth. From the start, however, the band has been riven by internal conflicts. Some, such as Nafai and his wife Luet, can hear the Oversoul's voice in their minds clearly and follow its plans willingly, while others, such as Nafai's older brother Elemak and his followers Mebbekew and Obring, are not so cooperative and seek a way to return to the comforts of civilization. At times the conflicts even erupt into violence, but gradually each obstacle is overcome, though the participants are left with emotional scars. Throughout, Card weaves thoughts on such matters as religion, tradition and the needs of the community versus those of the individual, using Biblical allusions to drive home his points. Though the text is at times a bit preachy, Card posits no simplistic answers, and the series continues to be interesting and provocative.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Forty million years after humankind has left Earth, the master computer assigned the task of overseeing the colonies sends a group of "chosen" on a journey back home. Stefan Rudnicki tells the story of this journey with a deep, luxurious voice that lends the story a rich authority. Treachery abounds as this small, vulnerable group tries to adapt to hostile environments and negotiate their social hierarchies. Rudnicki's delivery of the different personalities is judicious. He's careful not to depict the characters as either good or bad, and this nuance reinforces a central idea in the book: that every member of the group is important for the salvation of the whole. Reconciling differences is imperative not only for their survival, but for the destiny of humankind. L.P. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Text Difficulty:9-12

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