I think I’d have a lot less problem with Card’s more recent stuff if his views on marriage, etc. had remained his personal views — I disagree with plenty of my favorite writers about plenty of things — but he’s insisted on becoming an active advocate. That’s the line, in my opinion.

greenpencil, Kale Kip: I don’t sleep.

In all seriousness: poverty. I grew up in a remote area and was so absolutely broke during college that I couldn’t really travel or go out much. I still read a lot, and plenty of sci-fi, but that and great luck in finding used bookstores with treasure troves of cheap (a dime to fifty cents) sci-fi books are the factors responsible for finding a lot of the works I feaure here.

Sam, Slinka: Card does love his characters, quite a bit, and he’s responsible for some of the most realistically-fleshed out ones I’ve read. To me that makes his recent descent all the more saddening: one would hope that someone who can understand the human mind and soul so well would be able to see the world around him with less dogma.

There’s an experience that stuck in my mind as I was writing this column: a number of years ago, I got to be on a panel of journalists grilling Jerry Falwell. What shocked me was that in person, Falwell came off as a jolly old uncle type, polite and humorous even as we were throwing barbed questions at him. He almost seemed… harmless; until you processed what he was saying, and its implications for millions of human lives if he ever got his way.

Now, I won’t say Card’s analogous to Falwell. For all his flaws, Card’s left the world with some very beautiful things, while Falwell left it with fear and hate. But it’s a reminder that the world doesn’t often grant us the mercy of having the enemies of a better world be the outright bastards we’d like them to be.

Jerem: The old “artist and their art” argument’s never going to go away and not all cases are as extreme as the discussions on Leni Riefenstahl that were going on here awhile back.

But in this case, I think it’s a change of person too. The old Card is not today’s Card, literary or otherwise. As he’s gotten older, Card’s become more stereotypical, less nuanced and more aggressive.

That’s sad, but as I said, it’s sometimes a good thing that stories outgrow their authors. Ender’s Game is still as stunning as it always was, and will remain so. Whatever Card does won’t kill my enjoyment and love for it.

Tequila: I… just thank you. Thank you a lot.

And please, send me your writing on the crime fiction books. Stat. :-)

It’s inspired me enough to write about the various crime fiction books I’ve enjoyed over the years…and about the men and women who’ve written them.

Damn you Mr. Forbes! Educating and inspiring people to read and write…what’s next? Some sort of Oprah inspired Coilhouse Book Club? (gotta admit I’d like to see the book jacket sticker Zo would design for that…)

I’m also looking forward to reading your discussion of the decline of short fiction, since I’m rather obsessed with short stories.

It’s really a shame about Card’s personal views though. As much as the reader in me wants to wholeheartedly be in love with his work, and him as an author by extension, there’s a huge chunk of me that just recoils.