The Homecoming series should have stopped after Earth Fall. This book takes place many many years after the end of Earth Fall. None of the original characters have anything to do with this book. The characters that are in, are poorly developed. The plot is very hard to follow and what I could follow, was uninteresting. I admit, that I did not finish this book. It was just to bad to keep reading. However, it may have had an excellent ending but I doubt it. The first four books of this series were some of the best that I have ever been blessed enough to read. However this book is not included in that list. I am typically a huge Orson Card fan, but he disappointed me with this book. I do think that if you were a die hard fan of the Home Coming series, you should at least attempt this book. It may be good to you. However, do not be shocked when it turns out to be horrible.

So you've read books one through four. You were impressed by Card's fascinating premise in book one, started to get really turned on to his idea of "god as a machine" in book two, loved the fantastic revelations and conflict in book three, and were intrigued by the first-hand narratives of diggers and angels in book four. I guess I should see how it ends, you say to yourself.

Don't be a fool. This book is utter dreck.

In retrospect, I can see how the series suffered a gradual, inexorable decline as Card kept writing, how the wonderful premises with which he began (far-future human evolution, god as a machine) were slowly subsumed by his frankly simplistic mysticism and allegorical Mormon proselytizing. But I only recognized this trend about halfway through book five, the one you're thinking about buying. Like you, after reading book four, although I wasn't that impressed with the strength of that volume I wanted to see how it all turned out.

Let me save you the trouble: angels and humans and diggers get along after all, and God loves you.

All the careful characterization of books one through four is thrown away, and we start fresh with all new characters and a "fun" new naming scheme we have to stumble around. Not only that, but the oversoul is practically a no-show, being completely replaced by the keeper of earth. I won't insert a "spoiler" by telling you about the keeper's true nature, but believe me you'll be disappointed with the explanation when it's revealed around 50 pages from the end. Oh, and he never explains the faster-than-light dream-sending mechanism. He never even mentions it.

Leading up to that tiny piece of plot resolution three volumes in the making, we're treated to a protracted morality / religion play where our protagonists learn to put their lives in God's hands and respect the literal truth of a set of golden plates written by their ancestors. For 400 christ-thumping pages. It's not all that well written, it's not very interesting, and most importantly, it's not what you signed on for after the first four books.

I can't for the life of me understand why Card didn't end the series with book four. This is a boring, barely-related addendum to an otherwise decent series. I was literally gnashing my teeth and straining to get through the last 80 pages.

Don't make my mistake. Pretend book four was a reasonable resolution and pretend this one was never written.

I was worried going in to this fifth and final book of the Homecoming series that Card was going to run out of gas - and I turn out to be partly right. While not quite as strong as the first four books, Earthborn is still worth getting through. In particular, Card's discussion of the issues of faith and race are extremely sophisticated. Race is explored through the interaction of the three sentient beings that now inhabit the earth, and this book provides the complex closure to the theme of faith that ties this series together. Earthborn could have used a little stronger editing, and it was also a little disappointing that faith was ultimately proven to the non-believers through a show of brute force. That being said, Card is a very smart guy and a very talented writer - it's worth the price of admission just to hear him expand on what it means to have faith and how faith coexists with logic and free will.

It's the final book in the Earthbound series by Orson Scott Card. Shedemei is the sole living character from the earlier story of the journey from Harmony. Her life is being extended by her status as the Starmaster of the Basilica and by help of being in stasis for long periods of time. She awakens occasionally to check in on civilization and to tend her gardens. Meanwhile, on Earth below, the peoples descending from Nafai and Elemak are warring. Some cling to their belief in the Keeper of Earth and some do not.

The story begins with slavery...the slavery of Akma and his family and his people. As a result of their miraculous escape, Akma has developed a deep disrespect for his father, who essentially converts their captives and leads them out of slavery. As the story progresses, racial hatred crescendos and the angels and diggers are discriminated against by some of the humans. It is the Keepers wish that all species be able to live together in peace, but those who deny the existence of the Keeper take a very modern "politically correct" stance against those who are not human.

In this book, the author tackles quite a few modern issues in his development of his Earth. The attempt to prove God's existence. Rationalizing church/state issues. Racial tensions. Much time is spent in Earthborn on religious themes like baptism, faith, prayer, visions and even some theology. (The author is a Mormon and has an interest in Biblical history.)

One disjointing issue that I can't quite understand is that the previous four books have focused on one set of characters, Nafai and the band of travelers. In Earthborn, the final book in the series, all but one of the original characters is already dead. The setting is several hundred years after Earthfall. I found it hard to get into this book at first due to the fact that the author made us start over right at the end of the story with new characters, naming conventions and cultures. I suppose there wasn't any other way to do it, but it was quite a jump.

"Earthborn" is the fifth and final volume in Orson Scott Card's Homecoming Saga, and readers who have followed the conflict between Nafai and Elemak to this point will be surprised to find that the story now jumps ahead hundreds of years to their descendants. As such the volume strikes most readers as more of an epilogue or postscript rather than as a conclusion to the tale. Then again, knowing Uncle Orson, there is always reason to believe that what we are reading is some sort of a morality play for our edification. I do not read too many authors who write allegories as often as Card, at least not without going back several centuries (and back across the Atlantic Ocean).

In "Earthborn" there is one member of the Children of Wetchik from the earlier novels who made it from Harmony to Earth and is still around, namely Shedemi, who now wears the cloak of the Starmaster. The descendants of Nafai and Elemak have built their own cities and towns, but the animosity between the brothers remains potent between the two peoples. The quest to find the Keeper of the Earth, the computer-like intelligence that can repair the Oversoul back on Harmony, still continues. Now there is evidence that the people on Earth have been influenced by the Keeper and Shedemei has decided to leave the starship Basilica and feel the earth under her feet once again.

In the other books there were more immediate and practical concerns, plus the Oversoul was helping move things along. But with the Starmaster and the Oversoul in the background, more philosophical (read religious) issues have come into play. With humans as the Middle People between the Angels (Sky People) and Diggers (Earth People), many of Card's fans will be reminded of the later volumes in the Ender series. Obviously others will see strong parallels between the story and parts of the Book of Mormon, but I cannot speak to that and am content with the ample evidence that "Earthborn" can be read either way.

Ultimately it is the great leap forward in the narrative that becomes more of a concern and while reading the first four books consecutively makes perfect sense, with each picking up where the previous one left off, I really think you want to go off and read another book or two (or more) before you proceed to this one. That is because if you are not open to the shift from Nafai and Elemak to the Angels and Diggers you are not going to either enjoy or understand the novel, and you may well be better off just ending with "Earthborn." However, I find it hard to believe that those who like the writing of Orson Scott Card would just ignore one of his books, even if they did have to work to figure out what it really meant.

Like Orson Scott Card, I am a Mormon, and my favorite story from the Book of Mormon has always been the story of Alma the Younger (Akma). In literature my favorite characters are always the ones who go through a profound change of heart or repentence process (Edmund and Eustace in Narnia, Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Paul in the Bible). I was already familiar with Alma's later life and achievements as a great teacher, leader, and prophet, so it was great to be able to see Card's extrapolations about Akma's early life in captivity, the development of his hatred and anti-religious philosophies, his friendship with the four sons of king Motiak (Mosiah), romance with their sister, and finally his conversion. I cried as I read his conversion experience (directly derived from Alma 36) during his three days of unconsciousness.

My biggest regret is that there's no sequel planned! I would love to read about Motiak's decision to establish Darakemba as a democracy, Akma as chief judge and high priest (and his experiences with war and dealing with apostate break-off groups), and about Mon and his brothers teaching the Elemaki!