Earth Unaware discussion

I'm kind of surprised at the really bad space physics in this book. Why do you have to "slow down" a space ship to launch another ship from it? Why is it dangerous for two space ships to dock at "high speed"? What does high speed even mean in deep space? The only speed that matters is that relative to the two ships trying to dock.

Maybe I'm missing something, but this demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of how things work in space, and is a huge mistake that taints an otherwise excellent book. I'm still shocked that something like this would be in a book with Card's name on it.

I prefer to utilize temporary suspension of disbelief. As soon as I see 'fiction' in the description, I automatically assume that not all of it is going to be historically, scientifically, or any other type of accurate. If I started down that road, I would surely find numerous other things to pick at as well.

As long as I enjoy the storyline, I can ignore inaccuracies.

Don't get me wrong, I still love the book, and highly recommend it. But, he got gravity, or rather a lack thereof, so right in Ender's game. How could he mess up something as basic as this?

After reading some of the other reviews, it sounds the consensus is the co-author. Maybe it is just because Ender's Game was so specific, i.e. the training. Gravity was a major factor in Ender's Game because of the nature of the training and strategy. In this book it is not.

I read a couple of the other books but don't remember them. Are there similar issues in subsequent books or are all those pretty reasonable? If so, then it probably is the co-author. Maybe the co-author wrote most of it with Card's approval and Card just lended his name for credibility... or marketing.

That sounds like a reasonable theory. I'll go with that :)

I hated this book. Does it seem like it ended 150 pages too soon???

I was also disturbed by this, I still like the the book, but I had a ruff time rationalizing those parts.

@Christina: One of the qualities of a good book is supporting suspension of disbelief, you are not suppose to suspend disbelief despite the book, the book is suppose to help you with that. A "bad" book might have a character with an inconsistent/irrational behaviour, this breaks suspension of disbelief, the character is not believable. Just the same, scientific inaccuracies strain suspension of disbelief.

@James: The book is the first in an upcoming trilogy, yes, it's annoying when books are artificially split (usually for marketing/financial reasons), but it's common practice, what is one to do...

@James: The book is the first in an upcoming trilogy, yes, it's annoying when books are artificially split (usually for marketing/financial reasons), but it's common practice, what is one to do...


Skip it.

A good story but atrociously edited. Things like spaceships "needing to come to a full stop" before a spacewalk should have been caught way before publication; somebody seemed to think that spaceships are like seagoing ships. Suspension of disbelief is part of the deal, granted, but an author needs to treat that suspension with respect. Stuff like that bottoms it out and shakes you out of the story.

There were also little annoyances like "taught" being used in place of "taut" and similar boo-boos that a copy editor should have fixed. I expect better from both Tor (the publisher) and Card.

On the up side, you have to love Card's characters. Even his villains are three-dimensional human beings.

I hope they're more careful with the rest of the series. Ender deserves better, and Card usually does better.

The book explains why it is dangerous to dock two ships at high speed and why you have to stop to do a space walk. It's because all the other particles in space are moving slowly, so hitting even a small one at such high speeds is extremely dangerous for it is the equivalent of hitting a large rock at slow speed.

Ella wrote: "The book explains why it is dangerous to dock two ships at high speed and why you have to stop to do a space walk. It's because all the other particles in space are moving slowly, so hitting even a..."

But the book is wrong. You can be "stopped" relative to something else (i.e. another ship), but there are still going to be particles moving at very fast speeds, enough to kill you. If you move at that particle's speed it will be "slow" relative to you, but some other particle will kill you because it's now moving fast relative to you. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you're moving - and fast or slow ONLY has meaning when you're relating it to something else - there will always be particles moving fast relative to you.