Card's Resonating Songmaster

Songmaster by Orson Scott Card

No one in fantasy writes the secrets in a child's mind as well as Orson Scott Card. Few outside fantasy manage. Whether its Ender and Bean from his five volume Ender's Game series or Alvin from the 'prentice Alvin alternative American history, Card's work is adept at capturing a boy's wonder. This ability is once again present in Songmaster.

That the boys involved are in the midst of great events or have supernatural powers should not diminish Card's own magical touch. In Songmaster, young Ansett has the most pure voice of all time. This is a universe in which music, specifically acapella vocals, allows a skilled singer to cause extreme empathy for a variety of emotions in his audience. Gifted children are sent to the Songhouse, a conservatory on another planet where the musical and empathic skills are taught side by side with rigor that mirrors the Battle School in which Card set part of Ender's Game.

Ansett is eventually assigned to Emperor Mikal and dubbed Mikal's Songbird. From this vantage point - a unique place all Card protagonists find themselves in - Ansett can change history. Without spoilers, I will not go much further except to say that the parallels between Ansett, Ender Wiggin, Alvin and all of Card's boys remain. That said, Card gleefully writes about the power of music and family, extended or otherwise.

The book is solid throughout. Card dispenses with the hard science that an Arthur Clarke or Isaac Asimov would insist be present, but Card has never been that sort of writer nor should we look for him to do so in this story. Characterization is where Card excels and while his lonely boy novels have now proliferated among the bookshelves of the world, the stories are fresh and the potential for plot is as wide as the world itself.

Card recently complained on his website of turning nearly fifty and of reducing his time on major book signing tours. He says that he will still do individual signings, but will not be going on multi city tours. I understand the desire to slow down, but I hope that his writing output will not lessen. There are only few authors still writing today whose work I will always purchase in hardcover and keep in my family's library. Card is one of them and his Songmaster, while not groundbreaking, doesn't disappoint.