A Moral Voice in Fiction

kw: book reviews, fantasy

Many consider Orson Scott Card a writer of Science Fiction. Most of his early writing, up to the mid 1990s, is in SF settings. Yet the stories he tells could be retold in any period of history, on Earth as well as any imaginary planet. Many would lend themselves as well to a purely fantasy setting.

No matter what setting Card uses, his theme is ethics. He explores the limits of goodness, by itself and in conflict with evil. Prior to reading Magic Street, his latest book of contemporary fantasy, I'd read all the Ender series and Homecoming series books. The former series I consider a saga of atonement, the latter one of sacrifice, particularly the limits of altruism in the face of genuine evil. And, in Homecoming's denouement I was quite relieved when the pathologically altruistic protagonist yielded leadership to someone more pragmatic.

Magic Street is, to me, about redemption through transformation. Strip away the magic and mystery, and we find a protagonist who must risk his very self, having no guarantee of success. If I go into more detail, I'll spoil it, so read for yourself.

This theme is the core story of the Christian life portrayed in Paul's epistles. Though a believer's eternal salvation is assured through repentance (metanoia in Greek, the change of our thinking), the salvation of the soul proceeds in time through transformation (metamorphosis in Greek, the change of our psychic constitution). This determines the level of reward a saved person will gain upon being brought into glory through redemption of the body (metasoma in Greek, bodily transfiguration). As Paul warns, "star differs from star in glory."

The author is well read in both Christian and Mormon scriptures, and is an active Mormon. More than any other writer, I find him most skilled at presenting moral progress as his overt theme, without excessive preachiness nor the over-sentimentality that characterizes "religious fiction." For Mr. Card, religion is not mechanical, and his writing shows the fallacy of mechanicalism (AKA fundamentalism). Faith must be living, and like the book of Esther, though his writings don't mention God, God is present everywhere. I like that.