Book 13: Wyrms by Orson Scott Card

Title: Wyrms by Orson Scott Card

Pages: 246

How it was obtained: From the library for 50 cents. How awesome is that?

Time spent on the "to read" shelf: About a year.

Days spent reading it: 3 days (give or take a day).

Why I read it: I have enjoyed some Orson Scott Card, most notably Ender's Game (which I HIGHLY recommend) so I figured I'd give this one a chance. Even though the cover of this book looked really cheesy (see cover above), I thought I might give it a try because it was cheap and I enjoy Card enough to give him a chance. I sometimes do judge a book by its cover. Its hard not to when its so hideous.

Brief review:
Wyrms is a strange novel. It is about the quest of Princess Patience to find her destiny in the layer of her enemy/lover Unwyrm. She is drawn to him by his constant calling. Patience wants to destroy Unwyrm, but is also attracted to the monster. On her quest she picks up a number of followers who help her prepare for this ultimate showdown. Its a standard quest story. Good guy has ultimate goal, sidekicks help out, bad guy wants to destroy world, etc, etc.

This book is a little quirky. Its not terrible, but its not great either. For some reason this book was not as compelling to read as some of Card's other works. Card does have an interesting plot about how the different sentient beings came to exist on this planet through genetic alteration. He plays with some of the same idea a little in some of his Ender novels. He obviously is fascinated with genetics and the practical implications of mutation and adaptation.

I would not recommend this book to just anyone, but a bored sci-fi reader might enjoy it for its story line and strange characters. Susan, my wife, read it and liked it up until the end, which is admittedly a little strange. Not a book for the casual reader (sorry Susan), but maybe for a fan.

Favorite quote: "We used to pity you humans for your solitude. Well, I pitied you, and he despised you. But now, well, he keeps telling me that solitude is the foundation of true wisdom, that all the brilliant thoughts in this house come as the desperate cry of one human being to another, saying, Know me, live with me in the world of my mind."

Stars: 2.5 out of 5.

Final Word: Unreal.