The Memory of Earth

by Orson Scott Card
294 pgs  (Homecoming series #1)

Forty million years ago, humans left a dying earth and settled the planet they called Harmony. They created the Oversoul, an artificially e=intelligent computer, with the primary purpose ofensuring the same fate that befell earth could never befall Harmony. They gave the Oversoul the ability to communicate telepathically with people and to an extent, control their thoughts and behavior. For 40 million years, the Oversoul has fulfilled its purpose, preventing people from developing the technologies that led to the destruction of Earth But now, the Oversoul is finally breaking down, and it knows its only hope for survival is to send its core back to Earth, and to the Keeper of Lost Earth, in hopes that it can repair it.

To that end, the Oversoul selects a man named Wetchik and gives him a vision. In the vision, Wetchik sees the destruction of Harmony and realizes that the Oversoul, which was worshipped as  a god by many, but disregarded by most, was in fact real, and could still communicate with humans. Wetchik convinces his wife and four sons--the youngest of whom, Nafai also begins to receive messages from the Oversoul--that his vision was real and that they have been chosen for a very important purpose.

The Memory of Earth is the first of five books in Orson Scott Card's Homecoming series, written back in the 90s. By itself, it's not great, but it sets the stage for what I think could potentially be a pretty good series. For some, it will be obvious from where Card, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, took the inspiration for his story. Which for me, turned out to be a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it was interesting to see how closely Card mirrored his story, but on the other hand, most of the plot points were foregone conclusions.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆