Magic Street (Audible Audio Edition) Orson Scott Card Mirron E Willis Inc Blackstone Audio Books
Download As PDF : Magic Street (Audible Audio Edition) Orson Scott Card Mirron E Willis Inc Blackstone Audio Books
Living in a peaceful, prosperous African-American neighborhood in Los Angeles, Mack Street is a mystery child who has somehow found a home. Discovered abandoned in an overgrown park, raised by a blunt-speaking single woman, Mack comes and goes from family to family, a boy who is surrounded by boisterous characters and yet deeply alone. But while Mack senses that he is different from most and knows that he has strange powers, he cannot understand how unusual he is until the day he sees, in a thin slice of space, a narrow house. Beyond it is a backyard, and an entryway into an extraordinary world stretching off into an exotic distance of geography, history, and magic.
Passing through the skinny house that no one else can see, Mack is plunged into a realm in which time and reality are skewed, a place where what Mack does seems to have strange effects on the "real world" of concrete, cars, commerce, and conflict. Growing into a tall, powerful young man, pursuing a forbidden relationship, and using Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as a guide into the vast, timeless fantasy world, Mack becomes a player in an epic drama. Understanding this drama is Mack's challenge. His reward, if he can survive the trip, is discovering not only who he really is but why he exists.
Both a novel of constantly surprising entertainment and a tale of breathtaking literary power, Magic Street is a masterwork from a supremely gifted, utterly original American writer, a novel that uses realism and fantasy to delight, challenge, and satisfy on the most profound levels.
Magic Street (Audible Audio Edition) Orson Scott Card Mirron E Willis Inc Blackstone Audio Books
I read this quite some time ago, but apparently failed to actually do the review.This is an OSC fantasy. There aren't a lot of those, but the ones I have read have all been excellent.
And this is no exception.
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Magic Street (Audible Audio Edition) Orson Scott Card Mirron E Willis Inc Blackstone Audio Books Reviews
If you're looking for a great book by Orson Scott Card, but don't want to delve into a series such as the phenomenal Ender series, the Homecoming series, or the Alvin Maker series, please start with Magic Street. If you're a long time reader of Card, but haven't picked this one up yet, do yourself a favor and get it!
In my opinion, Orson Scott Card can write just about any genre. With Magic Street, he tackles contemporary fantasy, and he does it perfectly. This is the story of Mack Street, a young boy who soon finds that the world he lives in is not as simple as it seems. He meets Puck from A Midsummers Night Dream and soon finds himself in the beautiful world created by Shakespeare. This story is much more involved than this, but I don't want to give much away. But basically, it's a wonderful story of the fantasy of what might await us on the other side of this concrete, urban life.
If you like this book, you may also enjoy Card's Enchantment, which is his somewhat retelling of Sleeping Beauty...only not that simple. If you've read Enchantment and enjoyed it, you will definitely enjoy this one too.
I picked up this book after reading the author's notes to his recent book "The Lost Gate." In those notes, Card states that he considered "Magic Street" his best book (or words to similar effect). Having had the opportunity to learn from Card during his brilliant Writing Workshop and Literary Bootcamp, and having read about two dozen of his books, I was very eager to read this book since, when he's on, he's way on. This being his best, I assumed he'd be way on and that this would be a real treat to read.
Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case, for a number of reasons.
First, the dialogue seems unauthentic he is writing about the denizens of an upscale African American community in Los Angeles. This was probably a poor choice, since, presumably, these would be educated individuals who would have, for the most part, dropped most stereotypical afro-isms. This probably made sense to Card since it would probably be easier to fake dialect... neither heavily afro-slang infused, nor exactly mainstream suburbanite. He kind of pulled that off, but it seemed strained, with the afro-isms seeming too light.
Next, the story was implausible. When the writing is really good, and the characters pop, this isn't really an issue, but here, Card just doesn't have the framework to support the fantastical story. Also, it rips off A Midsummer Night's Dream in silly ways (some reviewers seem to think this was interesting; I found it unimaginative).
Next, Card, a master of characterization and POV, doesn't create a single character who I found myself rooting for or caring about. The main protagonist, Mack Street, is at best vanilla (despite his being a black man), and at worse a prudish bore.
Card never misses a chance to slip a moral tidbit from his Mormon faith into the mix, and this book is no exception...
<<< SPIOLER ALERT >>>
When Mack Street refuses to sleep with Yo-Yo, alias Mab, alias Tatania, because he's not married to her, it is so far from unbelievable as to be laughable. First, he's allegedly trying to represent African American youth culture, where promiscuity is the norm, not the exception. If Mack had been raised LDS, or had demonstrated intentions of "waiting" elsewhere in the book, this might not have been such an unbelievable device. However, that wasn't the case up to the point that Yo-Yo offered herself up to him, there had been pretty much zero attention paid to Mack's sexual desires, other than a very light treatment of his crush on a neighbor. So, I have to figure that this whole episode was nothing more than Card's interjection of one aspect of his personal moral code. That's all fine; authors do this all the time, but here it played absolutely no plot-driving purpose and just seemed completely out of place.
<<< END SPOILER ALERT >>>
Anyway, even the great authors (and make no mistake, I consider Orson Scott Card to be a GREAT author) write mediocre books from time to time, and, sadly, that seems to be the case with "Magic Street."
But it is still Orson Scott Card which is pretty darn good. If you are new to this author I'd try Ender's game for SF or Seventh Son for fantasy/alternative history.
Great urban spin on some classic literary figures. I'll never think of that one Shakespeare play the same way again,
Another unique and entertaining story. I am hooked on Orson Scott Card. Now I just have to decide which book to read next!?!
As usual, Card delivers an unbelievable story in a believable way. I love the way he gets in the heads of the characters bringing them to life. I also admire the way he handles sensitive topics.
I own and have read all of Orson Scott Card's books with the exception of his recent poetry book. I've also purchased and given away approximately 8 copies of Ender's Game because it's my favorite book and I love to share it.
I bought this book because I buy ALL of Card's books, but for the first time I was a bit disappointed. The story left me feeling like "what the crap is going on?!" several times, but it never really got me involved in the characters.
The main character, Mack Street, doesn't evoke empathy or sympathy because he is somewhat of a supernatural/otherworldly figure, so it's hard to get in his head. The other main story characters, Puck and Mab, are so impish and full of mischief that you can never believe what they are saying. Are they really who they say they are? Are they trying to help Mack, or trick him? I wasn't sure of their motives, so I felt 'uneasy' throughout the book, but not in a good way.
Anyway, I finished Magic Street and it was interesting and worth reading, but I suggest reading Ender's Game or Pastwatch or Enchantment if you want an introduction to Card's work. They are much more 'normal' books.
I read this quite some time ago, but apparently failed to actually do the review.
This is an OSC fantasy. There aren't a lot of those, but the ones I have read have all been excellent.
And this is no exception.
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