Hamlet's Father

Lore & Background

The story largely follows the plot of Hamlet, but with significant changes. Hamlet is disconnected from his indifferent father, does not envy Claudius as king, and grieves little after Ophelia's death. He is presented as moral and unwavering, a stark contrast to the original. At the end, it is revealed that King Hamlet was not killed by Claudius, but by Horatio in retaliation for the king having molested him as a young boy. It is also revealed that the king molested Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. Hamlet is sent to Hell because he killed Horatio and will be with his father for eternity.

Reader's Guide

Hamlet's Father gained notoriety primarily after its 2011 reprint by Subterranean Press, which prompted controversy for the book's allegedly homophobic themes. A review by William Alexander in Rain Taxi brought the book into the public eye, asserting that Horatio, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern were gay, and that it was King Hamlet's molestation of them that turned them all gay. Alexander cited a speech by Card on his views that homosexuals aren't born homosexual and that there is often an underlying history of sexual abuse. Card responded on his website, stating that none of the characters were gay, that Hamlet's father was a 'pedophile, period,' and that he would not make a link between pedophilia and homosexuality. He attributed accusations of homophobia to his stance against gay marriage and noted that he had written sympathetic gay characters in earlier works. The story's significance lies in the debate it sparked about the portrayal of homosexuality and abuse in fiction, and in Card's defense of his intentions.

Did You Know?

• The story was originally published in the anthology Ghost Quartet, edited by Marvin Kaye.
• Card wrote in his foreword that he could never identify with Hamlet, calling him a 'dithering hero.'
• The reprint by Subterranean Press was limited to 1,000 signed copies.
• Card's response to the controversy stated that none of the characters were gay and that the king was a 'pedophile, period.'

Awards, Output, and the Ender Legacy

Orson Scott Card, born August 24, 1951, occupies a unique place in speculative-fiction history. As of 2024, he remains the sole writer to capture both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in successive years, a distinction earned through Ender's Game (1985) and its follow-up Speaker for the Dead (1986). His early career exploded with productivity: twenty-seven short stories appeared between 1978 and 1979, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer recognized him in 1978. From 1979 onward he expanded into novels spanning science fiction, fantasy, nonfiction, and historical fiction, ultimately publishing more than fifty novels and forty-five short stories. The Locus Fantasy Award–honored series The Tales of Alvin Maker ran from 1987 through 2026. A 2013 feature-film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card coproduced, extended his reach to cinema. Across these works, a recurring pattern emerges: characters endowed with extraordinary abilities are forced into agonizing, high-stakes moral choices.

Theatrical Roots and a Faith-Shaped Youth

Card's creative instincts were forged in the intersection of stagecraft and religious tradition. Born in Richland, Washington, and raised shuttling between California and Utah, he carries Mormon pioneer lineage, being a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young. At Brigham Young University he initially aimed for an archeology major but gravitated toward theater, penning ten original plays—most steeped in LDS history and scripture—and rewriting fellow students' scripts. His playwriting professor Charles W. Whitman actively encouraged scripts with religious themes, and Card learned to gauge an audience's engagement by watching their body language. Before earning his bachelor's degree in theater in 1975, he served as an LDS missionary in Brazil from 1971 to 1973, during which time he wrote the play Stone Tables and directed a community theater for two summers. After graduation he founded the Utah Valley Repertory Theatre Company, staging productions at a Depression-era outdoor amphitheater nicknamed "the Castle." When the venture's costs pushed him into debt, he took proofreading and copy-editing work at BYU Press. In 1981 he completed a master's degree in English at the University of Utah.

Marriage, Loss, and Autobiographical Fiction

Card's private life has been defined by deep partnership and shattering grief. He married Kristine Allen in 1977; the two had met when she performed in the chorus of a roadshow he directed before his mission, and he was struck by her intellectual sharpness. Together they raised five children, yet two deaths left permanent wounds: their son Charles, who lived with cerebral palsy, died at seventeen, and their daughter Erin passed on the day she was born. Card poured that sorrow into the short story Lost Boys, a highly autobiographical piece. When workshop reader Karen Fowler suggested he was merely performing parental grief, the remark forced him to acknowledge that the story was in fact a raw expression of his difficulty accepting Charles's disability. He has noted that he seldom speaks of the children because the pain has never dulled. The couple lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, where their daughter Emily adapted three of his short stories into the stage production Posing as People. Card also endured a mild stroke on January 1, 2011, from which he fully recovered.

Mentoring Writers and Public Controversy

Beyond his own prolific output, Card has invested heavily in cultivating the next generation of storytellers. He teaches English at Southern Virginia University, has written two books on the craft of creative writing, and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He is also known for running intensive "literary boot camps" that have produced numerous successful authors. His teaching sensibility traces back to his BYU days, where he learned to shape scripts by reading an audience's physical reactions in real time. Outside the fiction world, Card has published columns and nonfiction engaging with political, religious, and social questions. His outspoken public opposition to homosexuality has drawn persistent controversy and criticism, making him a polarizing figure in literary circles. Yet his body of work, his mentorship, and his decades of cross-genre publishing continue to shape speculative fiction and the broader writing community.