The Call of Earth

Lore & Background

The Call of Earth follows Nafai, Elemak, Issib, Mebbekew, Zdorab, and their father Volemak after they leave for the desert. Elemak has a dream from the Oversoul foretelling the sons returning to Basilica to get wives. They go to Rasa, Nafai's and Issib's mother, who is trying to keep order in the city. Hushidh, a raveler under Rasa's care, makes a disastrous mistake by severing ties between Rashgallivak and his wife, leading to widespread riots. General Moozh, leader of the Gorayni (called "Wetheads" by Basilica's citizens as a derogatory term), sees an opportunity and marches with 1,000 soldiers to conquer Basilica, helping quell the uprising and slowly taking control. The remainder of the book deals with the brothers' attempts to find wives, resulting in Elemak taking Eiadh, Mebbekew taking Dol, Nafai taking Luet, and Rasa (already Volemak's wife though separated) deciding to rejoin him. Hushidh is betrothed to Moozh, later revealed as her father. Shedemei, a geneticist, chooses to go with the group, bringing plants and animals to populate future Earth, and she marries Zdorab. Moozh decides to marry Hushidh to politically tie himself to the city, but Hushidh's mother arrives to stop the ceremony, revealing Hushidh is Moozh's daughter. Nafai's party is escorted out of Basilica, and Moozh survives the invasion, continuing as a major character in the next book.

Reader's Guide

The Call of Earth is significant as the second installment of Orson Scott Card's Homecoming Saga, which reimagines early Book of Mormon history in a science fiction setting. The novel expands the saga's themes of divine intervention, free will, and genetic destiny through the Oversoul's manipulations. It introduces key characters like General Moozh, whose reverse-psychology-driven actions advance the Oversoul's plan, and Hushidh, whose raveling abilities trigger the city's downfall. The book's legacy lies in its exploration of how a supercomputer-like entity guides human evolution and dispersal, setting up the series' overarching narrative. It also highlights Card's blending of religious allegory with speculative fiction, though it remains less known than his Ender series. The novel's focus on political conquest, family dynamics, and the Oversoul's long-term strategy contributes to the Homecoming Saga's reputation as a thoughtful, if controversial, work.

Did You Know?

• The novel is a fictionalization of the first few hundred years recorded in the Book of Mormon.
• Hushidh is a raveler who can see and manipulate ties between people.
• General Moozh is also known as Vozmuzhalnoy Vozmozhno.
• The Oversoul uses reverse psychology on Moozh to make him forget things it wants him to act on.

Awards & Prolific Output

Orson Scott Card occupies a singular position in science fiction history as the only writer to claim both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years. His novel Ender's Game earned the 1985 Hugo, while its sequel Speaker for the Dead took the 1986 Nebula. Beyond that landmark, Card's published output is staggering: more than fifty novels and forty-five short stories spanning science fiction, fantasy, nonfiction, and historical fiction. His early burst of productivity was extraordinary—twenty-seven short stories appeared between 1978 and 1979, and that same window saw him win the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1978. He also earned a Locus Fantasy Award for The Tales of Alvin Maker, a series that ran from 1987 through 2026. A recurring thematic signature across his fiction is the placement of gifted individuals in situations where their choices carry enormous moral weight, a pattern that runs through his most celebrated works and gives his catalog a unified emotional core.

Theatrical Roots & a Restless Childhood

Card's creative instincts were forged during a restless, frequently relocated childhood. Born in Richland, Washington in 1951, he was the third of six children in a family with deep Mormon pioneer heritage—Brigham Young is his great-great-grandfather. The family moved to San Mateo, then Salt Lake City, then Santa Clara, Mesa, and finally Orem, Utah, where his father held a position at Brigham Young University. At BYU's laboratory school, Card compressed his high school and early college coursework into a single year. Initially intending to study archaeology, he pivoted to theater, writing ten original plays—most drawing on Mormon history and scripture—and learning to gauge an audience's engagement by watching their body language. Before graduating in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in theater, he served as an LDS missionary in Brazil, where he wrote the play Stone Tables. After graduation he founded the Utah Valley Repertory Theatre Company, staging productions for two summers at a Depression-era outdoor amphitheater called "the Castle," before financial strain led him to a proofreading job at BYU Press.

Ender's Game: From a Child's Story to the Screen

The narrative that defined Card's public profile traces back to when he was ten years old. His first written tale concerned a bright child attacked by bullies who suffered lasting brain damage—a scenario that would later resurface as Ender's painful confrontation with Stilson in Ender's Game. That novel, published in 1985, became the centerpiece of his career and earned him the Hugo Award. In 2013, Card took a hands-on role well beyond the page: he served as a coproducer on the feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, bringing his vision directly to the screen. The novel's sequel, Speaker for the Dead, followed in 1986 and claimed the Nebula Award, cementing his unique back-to-back major-award achievement. Card's storytelling consistently places extraordinary, often young, characters in moments where their decisions carry devastating consequences—a pattern visible from that first childhood story through his most ambitious works and giving his fiction a persistent emotional gravity.

Personal Loss, Teaching & Public Controversy

Card's personal journey has deeply informed his writing. He married Kristine Allen in 1977; they met when she sang in the chorus of a roadshow he directed before his mission. Together they had five children, but two losses shaped his work profoundly: their son Charles, who had cerebral palsy and died at seventeen, and their daughter Erin, who died on the day of her birth. Card's short story Lost Boys is described as highly autobiographical, and he has spoken about how the story expressed his grief and struggle to accept Charles's disability. He rarely discusses either child, noting the pain has never faded. Professionally, Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University, has authored two books on creative writing, judges the Writers of the Future contest, and runs "literary boot camps" that have mentored numerous successful writers. He and Kristine reside in Greensboro, North Carolina. Card has also drawn significant public criticism for his vocal opposition to homosexuality in columns and other writing, making him a polarizing figure well beyond the literary world.