Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Hart's Hope
Book Review: A Strong Modern Yet Classic Fairy Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was a complete surprise. I have been reading Orson Scott Card for about the last 15 years, but this amazing little book is quite a wonderful departure.
"Hart's Hope" reminds me of a classic, non-politically correct fairy tale with violence, magic and allegory. Underlying the story are the questions of what is good and evil as well as the power of words and the wonder of making and unmaking. These are classic themes but expressed in such a strong inventive voice.
Since this book is a pretty quick read, I am actually considering going back and re-reading this because I was really intrigued with the way Card plays with the different religions and Gods who are so real in the world of this novel that they have their own faults.
This is a fantasic fantasy read, unlike anything I have read in quite some time and very different from anything from OSC. Highly suggest this one.
Book Review: A strange fantasy novel, very well written
Summary: 5 Stars
Full of cruelty, brutality, pain, and anguish.The strange way of telling little stories within the larger one threw me at first. I was expecting this to be a device only in the prologue. After reading for a while, I got into the flow of the story telling. I easily became enraptured of this tale and read it vigorously throughout the day and night. The style of the book seems biblical, with the names and the little titles throughout each chapter remincent of biblical names/titles. His new ideas were sharp and refreshing, in other words not a fantasy novel I had read before.
The basic fantasy constructs are there: Nobles, witches, wizards, and magic. The plot has epic proportions, but has Card's brevity and simplicity of description.
The worst and best part of the novel is the ending. The reader is left hanging at the end, but if you are able to come to the (almost) inevitable conclusion, then you will be satisfied. (Otherwise it leaves you pulling your hair.)
The villianess of the story is evil yet abused in such a way that she should be pitied for her situation, but still justly delt with in the end. Great and powerful, abused and flawed. The debate over her abuse makes this book less black and white, and more shades of gray.
Book Review: Card's Classic Fantasy...Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
In typical Orson Scott Card fashion, Hart's Hope does not disappoint. One of the things I love about Card is that each one of his books are entirely different, yet they are instantly identifiable as a book that he authored. What's even better is that he always exceeds my expectations. I could build up a book of his in my head for five years, and it would still be better than I could ever imagine. The man is magical with a pen (or a computer) and with Hart's Hope, he has written a truly magical tale.
Orson Scott Card has describe Hart's Hope as the most classic fantasy novel he has written, meaning that the book holds all the elements of a traditional fantasy. It takes place during an unstated time, yet seems medieval in fashion. It involves magic, sorcerers, kingdoms lost, kingdoms fought for, kingdoms saved, vengeance, and kings and queens. It's quite the epic novel wrapped up into a little under 300 pages.
Hart's Hope is the story of Orem, the unknown son of the king, Palicroval. Palicroval has killed the current king and taken the king's daughter as his wife. The king's daughter then decides to take vengeance and becomes Queen Beauty through a truly horrifying ritual of blood and sorcery. Queen Beauty in turn has put the king, Palicroval under a horrible spell and sees his every move. The Hart is a stag of 100 horns, a god of power. The Hart leads Palicroval to a woman who fathers Palicroval's son, though Palicroval is unaware of it. The child is named Orem and has powers that are unknown to anyone, even to himself. All of these storylines interweave into a very complex but surprisingly easy to understand plot that takes us on a truly magical, wondrous, and at times horrifyingly graphic, yet beautiful story.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I've never been disappointed with Card. I've read nearly his whole library and find it very hard to rank books of his in order of which I like best, though I must admit that my favorite book of his is still Speaker For The Dead, the sequel to Ender's Game. The great thing about Card's novels is the love we feel for his characters. He has a gift of bringing a touch of humanity to all of his characters. I care about his characters like no other author's. Hart's Hope was no exception.
I enjoyed this one very much and would recommend it to any fans of fantasy. And for those that aren't crazy about that genre, you may still like this book. The writing and the story itself stand alone without being classified into a genre. Beautiful book!
Book Review: Card's Hart Fantasy almost Fantastic
Summary: 4 Stars
I guess all pales compared to the Ender's series. Card is my favorite sci-fi/fantasy writter because he creates amazing visions of new worlds. I found this one a bit less than tremendous, but still a fantastic endeavor. There were a number of fairly slow spots, but he was able to weave these back into the story. But I still feel that he spent too much time on the initial visit into the city, though purposeful in the end. In any case, I enjoyed the story but still could not give it a full 5 stars.Book Review: Dark and powerful fantasy that you won't easily forget
Summary: 5 Stars
Hart's Hope is a tragic tale about a land of magic and misery, where common people live in a desperate struggle to cling to life, and rulers rule with iron fists. The bulk of the story revolves around the life of Orem, the son of an ousted king and result of the meddling of powerful forces, who is meant to righten the natural order of the world that has been corrupted by the justifiable anger and hate of Queen Beauty.
The book is in the form of a narrative letter from one character to King Palicrovol, chronicling events in a fashion that draws you in and keeps you captivated from the beginning to the end. Difficult questions are raised about the necessity of evil and the justification of vengeance. The writing style is magical and mysterious, almost flowery at some points, and very graphic, maybe making this story a bit too much for the faint-of-heart (and certainly too much for young children). Explicit sexual scenes are not glossed over in the least and the commonplace brutality found in this story makes the whole thing more life-like, powerful, and sometimes disturbing.
The setting reminds me a lot of Card's Alvin Maker series, especially as far as the characters and the types of magic involved.
It takes real talent to tell such a powerful and epic story in 300 pages. Orson Scott Card is without a doubt one of the best Fantasy/Sci-Fi writers of all time.