"If there were readers of the Worthing Saga other than those on this thread, a sequel might be commercially viable ..." Orson Scott Card He said that when people asked if there would ever be a sequel.
I took all your advice and i am about three quarters of the way through saga. This book has been amazing, totally different from Enders Game but has the same power to pull you in that EG does.
As for the quote above i was searching through some threads and found that comment from OSC. Unless i didnt go deep enough into the threads i dont think OSC has any idea that The WOrthing Saga is probably at the top of every OSC fan who has read it. So i ask why not a sequel?
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Again I say: It is virtually unknown.
Also, it is finished. I honestly can't think of a single additional thing to say AFTER the contents of Worthing Chronicle. Done. Finito.
But I am thrilled that there is one more person who has actually read it and liked it. I'm not sure, but that may have brought us into triple digits.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
I can't find a copy of it anywhere. I'm sure I'd love it, but I haven't read it because the bookstores I frequent are stupid.
Posted by R. Ann Dryden (Member # 8186) on :
I have to say, Scott, that reading Worthing Saga was a life-changing experience for me. It was shortly after the birth of my daughter, after having had a miscarriage previously. The section where they are all going through the desert and the children were dying . . . the futility of it all and the almost emotionless reaction of the parents because they were so drained . . . I literally wept off and on for three days. Talk about resonance!
So, add me very emphatically to the list of WS lovers.
Posted by Enderwillsaveusall (Member # 6227) on :
Mr. Card that was the first time you ever commented me back. You have made my night. Thank you.
As for a sequel im sure you could pull it off, but i understand that it would take to much time to do it, connecting the stories and what not. But i will always be looking for it. A kid can dream cant he. lol
-EWSUA-
Posted by Oobie Binoobie (Member # 8059) on :
I read it. Then I bought it. Every now and then I read it again.
There are a couple of times in my life when I chose a harder path than I could have, wading against the stream of peer pressure or parental pressure to forge my own way. It's the reason so much of that book resonates with me.
Before my wedding I identified with Lared; the son who loved his father but had no desire to do his father's work in the world. But Lared's rite of passage rang *so* true.
And after my children were born Hoom's sacrifice rang like a two-ton bell in my soul.
And Justice's agony. Oh, man.
You're *good* at that sort of storytelling, Orson. I don't want more of Capitol or Worthing, but more of those kinds of stories, absolutely. One day I'll hand the dog-eared paperback to each of my kids, (close to their majority, of course), in turn, and tell them it's required reading.
I'm actually kind of surprised more people don't love that book.
Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :
It's a sleeper hit.
I've only read it once so far, and it's past time I changed that.
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
I liked Worthing Saga too. In fact, I even went back and read the extra stories in Capitol just to see what they added to the world!
I also bought Hot Sleep used just to see how it differs from Worthing Chronicle, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. (I plan to read both in parallel, switching back and forth each page or so, which I have done with Treason and A Planet Called Treason---I was pleasantly surprised at how many good parts from the later one were in the earlier one!)
Posted by Promethius (Member # 2468) on :
Better than Enders Game, Worthing Saga was incredible
Posted by Jeffers0n (Member # 7876) on :
Add one more to the count of people who enjoyed Worthing Saga. I've read it a couple of times and I think it's a great book. Personally I don't see any room for a sequel. It would be like taking a trip to McDonalds after Thanksgiving dinner.
Posted by EternalKnight (Member # 8264) on :
Worthing Saga (and the universe it is centered around) is one of my all-time-favorites. That said, I am not entirely surprised that it was not a wide-spread hit. It wasn't tied to a series and it was quite long.
Worthing Saga is probably my #2 all time favorite, coming in VERY close behind Ender's Game. Even then, Worthing Saga is my most re-read book of all time.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
Yup. Best book I've read by OSC after Speaker and EG. I really need to read it again. I remember it being powerful.
And I love the line about Abner Doon being the devil. For some reason that line has stuck with me and gives me a chuckle from time to time, especially when I feel like I'm causing all kinds of problems even though I mean well.
Posted by Ramdac99 (Member # 7264) on :
I read Worthing Saga and I loved it. I gotta side with Card on this one, there is nowhere for the story to go. Part of the charm of WS is in the fact that it's one book. In a sci-fi world of nothing but 4 - 10 book series it's nice to be able to have a great storyline encapsulated in a single novel.
I'm all in favor of a re-release or something to get more ppl exposed to it, but a sequal.....no thanks.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
This is very encouraging, of course; thank you for expressing such warm regard for the story cycle that began my career. I have fond memories of the Forest of Waters and of Capitol (which owes a bit to Asimov's Trantor, of course).
Maybe I'll reread it. No sequels, but there are a couple of stories I "know" that are set in that universe, and perhaps I should write them.
Much more likely, however, is that I'll write a novel set in the same world as Sandmagic. <grin>
OMEGA M.: You won't get much out of trying a parallel reading of Hot Sleep and Worthing Chronicle. Treason really was merely rewritten (at first) or edited (most of the book), and you can find a chapter-by-chapter, and then sentence-by-sentence correspondence.
Worthing Chronicle, however, was a page-one rewrite: Different POV, different timeflow, many new characters, etc. Page for page, chapter for chapter, they have NOTHING to do with each other <grin>. But have fun!