Saints
by Orson Scott Card

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Book Reviews of Saints

Book Review: "Saints" doesn't do what it sets out to do
Summary: 3 Stars

Most of the questions this book attempts to address have to do with the Mormon practice of plural marriage. Even though there are echoes of his other works (dysfunctional families a la the Ribeiro family; a nearly word-for-word recitation of his short story "The Best Day"), the chief question that Card asks is "What *was* the practice of plural marriage?" Card seems to be partially at war with himself as he attempts to answer that question. In Prentice Alvin he comes out firmly on the side of Ockham's Razor: plural marriage is a way for a man to have sex with a lot of women, as Cavil Planter does with his slaves. But in "Saints" Card grapples with the issue and ultimately concludes that the determination of whether the practice was a product of lust or divine will can only be decided by those who lived it, in other words, those who lived it received revelations telling them to do it. Well, that may be the case, but it's an unsatisfactory answer for third parties such as ourselves, I think you'd agree. We're smart enough to look around at charismatic religious figures who want to screw with our reproduction, from Heaven's Gate's John Doe, to David Koresh to Jim Jones. Was Joseph Smith one of them? Card would have you believe that No, he wasn't. But he doesn't succeed in explaining why not. I don't know, maybe it's an impossible task.

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