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Orson Scott Card
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Keeper of Dreams: Short Fiction Hardcover – 15 April 2008

by Orson Scott Card (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

This huge collection of short stories by one of science fiction's most beloved and popular writers is sure to please his millions of fans. Keeper of Dreams contains 22 stories written since 1990.

From the opening science fiction tale, "The Elephants of Poznan," we see the hand of a master at work making a familiar idea new, strange, and wonderful. "Angles" takes a sideways look at alternate universes. "Geriatric Ward" is published here for the first time; it was originally written for the legendary Last Dangerous Visions.

Keeper of Dreams contains science fiction, fantasy, and several of Card's mainstream fiction works. Included are two tales from the Alvin Maker universe, "Grinning Man" and "The Yazoo Queen."

In addition to the stories, this book features new introductions by Orson Scott Card for each story, with commentary on his life and work. With the earlier Maps in a Mirror, this collection is a definitive retrospective of the short fiction career of the writer that the Houston Post called "the best writer science fiction has to offer."

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  1. Print length
    656 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Tor Books
  4. Publication date
    15 April 2008
  5. Dimensions
    15.24 x 3.96 x 22.86 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    076530497X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0765304971
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Product description

Review

"This hefty, definitive collection contains all of Card's short fiction... A series of introductions and afterwords offering Card's thoughts on his life and his writing are as absorbing as the stories." --Publishers Weekly on Maps In A Mirror

"The award-winning author of Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and the "Alvin Maker" series demonstrates his talent for shorter fiction in this collection of 46 stories that range from fantasy and sf to horror and theological speculation...Detailed introductions and afterwords reveal insights into the thought processes of one of the genre's most convincing storytellers. An important volume." --Library Journal on Maps In A Mirror

About the Author

Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Saga, which chronicles the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, which follows on the novel Ender's Shadow and is set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, which tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien "Buggers." Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977--the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelette version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog. The novel-length version of Ender's Game, published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin.

Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers' workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.

He is the author many science fiction and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series "The Tales of Alvin Maker" (beginning with Seventh Son), and stand-alone novels like Pastwatch and Hart's Hope. He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah. Card's work also includes the Mithermages books (Lost Gate, Gate Thief), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old.

Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 15 April 2008
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 076530497X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0765304971
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 930 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.96 x 22.86 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

About the author

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Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

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Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools. His most recent series, the young adult Pathfinder series (Pathfinder, Ruins, Visitors) and the fantasy Mithermages series (Lost Gate, Gate Thief, Gatefather) are taking readers in new directions.

Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts, including his "freshened" Shakespeare scripts for Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice.

Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.

Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, where his primary activities are writing a review column for the local Rhinoceros Times and feeding birds, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, and raccoons on the patio.

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  • D. Allen
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not Pastwatch 2
    Reviewed in the United States on 11 March 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This one was a tough one for me.

    See, about 16 years ago I was at a book signing for Ender's Shadow and as part of the talk OSC announced that there would be a follow-up novel to Pastwatch. Now, Pastwatch is one of my favorite OSC novels so I was thrilled. Judging by the crowd response I wasn't alone.

    So after that point I kept my eyes open for a new Pastwatch novel. Years passed and I never saw anything. Last week I was in the mood to read Pastwatch again but didn't want to dig for my old paperback. On to Amazon.com I go to buy the Kindle version. "What's this? Pastwatch 2 was released and is available on Kindle?". Click to buy without reading any reviews.

    Ok, why this is a tough one for me. This collection of short stories is in no way, shape, or form a continuation of Pastwatch. The only short story that touches on Pastwatch is an extended version of the search for Noah tale from Pastwatch itself. Shame, shame, shame on the author and publisher for selling this as Pastwatch 2.

    As for the stories themselves, the collection opens with "The Elephants of Poznan". While reading this I was thinking to myself, "jeeze, not only is this not Pastwatch 2 but it's absolutely horrible as well". Yes, "The Elephants of Poznan" is about the worst short story, by any author, that I've ever read. At this point I'm starting to feel that this will be a one star review.

    I then move on to Atlantis. Like I mentioned before, this is simply an extended version of material from Pastwatch. Not bad, not great. In fact OSC had a short story on his website that I downloaded several years ago that already covered this ground but by leaving out the Pastwatch background and adding a lot more to it I think he did it better. Meh, maybe it may move the review up to a 1.5 star. About ready to give up on the whole thing.

    So far I'm not really happy, right?

    Then something happens. The next several stories are actually good. More at the level I'd expect from OSC. A story where wormholes are portrayed as an actual worm? Classic.

    Towards the end there's a couple of stories from the Alvin Maker universe. I own a couple of the Alvin Maker novels but never seemed to finish them (fantasy really isn't my thing). These I liked though. Maybe I just need my fantasy in small doses.

    So what to say, what to say?

    I don't want to give this a four star review because the whole idea of selling this as Pastwatch 2 just erks me and there is the god-awful "The Elephants of Poznan" short story so I don't want to give a false impression. Three stars seems a little harsh because there is some good material here. Let's split the difference and call it 3.5.
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars NOT PASTWATCH BOOK 2
    Reviewed in the United States on 5 November 2015
    Verified Purchase
    This is a lovely collection of short stories, but I am compelled to write a review because it is subtitled "Pastwatch Book 2", when in fact the stories in this book do not seem to be related necessarily to the book Pastwatch. There is a wonderful expansion of one of the stories from that previous book, which I vey much enjoyed, but the title is deceptive - this is a COLLECTION, not one story.
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  • Juanita Fletcher
    5.0 out of 5 stars How did I miss this guy?
    Reviewed in the United States on 6 February 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I've been a syfi reader since I was a kid in the 50. Clarke is at the top of my list forever and of course Asimov and Zimmer Bradley. Then I took my grandson to the movie Ender's Game a few years back and got curious about the author. The first Pastwatch was fun and fascinating. This collection, while lacking the focus of the first volume and Clarke's eloquence which makes some of the longer stories tend to drag in spots, more than makes up with the unpredictable and logical twists of the stories. It is an easy work to follow if you have to put it down for a few days.
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  • ReaderWriter
    2.0 out of 5 stars This is not "Pastwatch book 2" -- BUYER BEWARE
    Reviewed in the United States on 15 December 2015
    Verified Purchase
    If this wasn't represented as the continuation of the Pastwatch storyline, I'd probably rate this collection higher. The subtitle Pastwatch Book 2 is at best deceptive marketing. There is exactly one story that mentions the pastwatch universe, and it is simply a retelling on Kemal's introduction, with much of it a direct cut and paste.

    The short stories are okay -- not Card's best, but also not his worst, which makes one wonder if the subtitle was added to make more sales...

    Both the author and publisher should be ashamed of this.
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  • R. Kent Sheranian
    3.0 out of 5 stars An OK Anthology
    Reviewed in the United States on 28 December 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Not the best Orson Scott Card book ever... but I suppose that's the point. These are a lot of early works, which make for interesting reading in the context of the greater novels, but perhaps would not stand alone without that context.
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