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Title: Great writer, so-so book.
Review: Orson Scott Card is certainly a great writer, but he falls way short here. The book starts off well enough letting us get to know a group of future historians who spend there time watching history on special machines that show them the actual events of the past. These historians believe that it is impossible for them to effect the past, but they learn that they are wrong. What follows is extremely contrived as Card suddenly decides that his ideal future is actually on the verge of a collapse so complete that society will never rise up again, and the people of the world VOTE to erase their very existance in hopes of creating a better world! Yikes! In spite of good writing and an excelent treatment of Columbus as a driven but basically good man, Card never manages to overcome his ridiculus set up. The scenes near the end are also very contrived as the characters transform to world of Columbus's day into a nearly perfect world with very little effort.
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