Rating: 
Summary: Not your dad's Bible
Review: "Sarah" sets out to take the light sketch of Abraham's wife in the Bible and extend it into a full novel telling much of her life's story from her point of view. If "Sarah" is any clue, OS Card set out with the "Women of Genesis" series to loft a feminist retake on the biblical story of the patriarchs: What were the wives of these great prophets up to? Why do they, despite sparing reference in the Bible, get a lot more attention than almost any other women in the male-dominated scriptures? Could it be because they were as intelligent, brave, righteous, and powerful in their service to the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," just as much as their famous, credit-hogging husbands? Sarah turns out to qualify, not just as a co-equal with the revered Abraham, but his indispensable support without whom he could not have lived up to greatness. In keeping with this 20th-century revision of 4,000-year-old nomadic culture, Sarah is also outspoken and liberated, with Abraham not batting an eye, as both of them talk like modern Americans. Those easily offended at irreverent takes on revered religious figures will not appreciate Abraham teasing the aging Sarah about her saggy breasts, though those offended by religious stuffiness will have a ball with the refreshingly human portrayals. Nor will purists of the historical novel appreciate the dialog, though the author has made a genuine effort to depict an accurate milieu of nomadic life. Actually, since depicting ancient culture really accurately is ultimately an intractable challenge, substituting the audience's culture into the unknowns makes as much sense for the story as anything. Purists of whatever flavor of orthodox Biblical interpretation are also bound to get riled, not least by the substitution of less miraculous replacements for the brimstone from heaven and the punishment by transformation into a pillar of salt. Card also sneaks in a few Mormon conceits hinting at the Book of Enoch, and the Pharaoh's sacred rituals as an apostate form of the real temple ceremonies.Although "Sarah" functions admirably as a distant prequel to Card's fantastic "Stone Tables" (the story of Moses), I started losing patience with Sarah and Abraham at the same time Pharaoh was losing patience with them in the story. Although it starts out in characteristic Card form with appealing character development as Sarah learns of Abraham and they launch off on their adventure together, my credibility was stretched by the summary execution with which their romance together was dispensed. As the story continues, it started to dawn on me that Sarah and Abraham are both a little too confident in their righteousness for much doubt to remain as to where the story is going. After all, we have read this story before; the devil has got to be in the details; but the details are filled only with God. This ideal faith leaves little to be resolved. Although Hagar is introduced as interestingly tragic, and her talent for frank analogies to bedchambers endears her, the following setup explaining the biblical story of Abraham fathering a child with her is too pat, and the pain it inflicts on Sarah too tidy. Worse, Hagar's character is disingenuously contorted to fit the artificial demands of the new plot, going from sympathetic up until the impregnation to repulsive, redemptionless witch afterward. This uncomfortable pattern is repeated with Sarah's sister, who marries Lot and is also tagged with a "rejected-by-God" sign on her back that apparently requires the story to turn her into a shrill, putrid scab of a human being to get us to understand that it was really for the best for God to wipe her out. I can understand giving more background to show a God who reserved punishment for more than just a minor infraction like looking back homeward after he said not to, but a dumpster-full of justification was served where a single pie would have done nicely. The same goes for the general population of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose depiction was ripped out of the Clockwork Orange complemented by a genuinely hostile commentary on homosexuality, coming from a writer with a stable-full of sympathetic gay characters in earlier novels. That combined with the heavily slanted depiction of the Isaac Versus Ishmael story as backdrop for the next four thousand years and counting of Jew Versus Arab conflict, will potentially put off a significant slice of potential readers who do not share with the author his professed admiration for the Fox News Channel worldview. Despite its flaws, "Sarah" remains at least serviceable and often compelling, as an exercise in historical and religious revisionism. The dependable Card trademarks of compelling character-driven storytelling and insightful moral and psychological exploration are still here to merit a four-star rating. But don't go away - the series takes a huge leap forward in Part Deux with "Rebekah." I've noticed the Amazon sales rank is lower for "Rebekah" than for "Sarah," suggesting there are lots of you out there doing what I almost did and foregoing the second installment due to less-than-expected delicious Card storytelling in the first. But if you at all enjoyed this one, the best is yet to come.
Rating:
Summary: Biblical fiction, not science fiction
Review: "Sarah" is a novelization of the life of Sarah from the book of Genesis. Orson Scott Card (a Mormon) creatively fills in the details of the sketchy biblical account and does an impressive job of making some sense of the stranger biblical scenes. I found this book a bit disappointing after Card's "Stone Tables" (about Moses) and "Saints" (about one of Joseph Smith's wives). Some of the characters in "Sarah" never quite came alive for me, and I thought it was an odd and unnecessary choice to make Sarah and Lot's wife sisters. But I liked Card's exploration of the relationship between servant and "master" and how this relationship can never be a true friendship. And I liked Card's interpretation of the sin of Sodom, which seemed not necessarily to be the act named after the city but the forcible, deliberate, and organized use of people as objects for sexual pleasure. I also liked the exploration of the difference between a faith based on hearing God directly (Abraham's) and a more "blind" faith (Sarah's).
Rating: 
Summary: You'll fall in love with Sarah
Review: After reading Stone Tables, I was looking forward to Sarah's story as told by Orson Scott Card. I was not disappointed. From the very beginning of the book, Sarah is a deep and complex girl who believes in the God of Israel. The rest of the book serves to develop her character even more and settle her deeper and deeper into our hearts. She marries Abraham, and subsequently they travel into Egypt, as recorded in the Bible. I loved OSC's interpretation of the scriptural account and was grateful that he took the risk to add some details. The dialogue, especially between Sarah and Abraham, is brilliant and true to life. OSC is adept in his understanding of human nature and this is very evident in this work. As in Stone Tables, I was pleased with the outcome, the overall presentation of the characters, and the resolution of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Card always brings
Review: Card always bring people of biblical proportions down to earth in a way that makes them seem very real, even if their lives are foreign to us. In this case he does this literally, choosing the story of Abraham and Sara as his tale. I remember the story fairly well, even if it is broken into several pieces in my mind. Reading Card's interpretation brought it all together for me. It is very moving to see such faithful and devoted followers of a faith to express concerns as to whether or not they are right. One has to take the details with a grain of salt, however, as Card identifies himself as both a Mormon and a storyteller. So, as long as you understand what slant his religious views may give to a story that is shared by many denominations, and keep in mind that he did need to fill in many blanks to maintain continuity, then this story should entertain and educate you. I think he did an incredible job, and this should be read by anyone that won't be offended by the minor liberties that had to be taken in order to make the story work.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Card - Excellent
Review: Card doesn't usually have to try very hard to win my praise. Aside from "Lost Boys" which was awful, I think I have enjoyed every book Orson Scott Card has written. I was a bit hesitant to read some of these more recent books, "Stone Tables" for instance, because I'm not particularly religious minded, however these books are extremely enjoyable as simpe fiction. Card has always been good at blending history and fiction ("Pastwatch" was a triumph) and he does just as well with the biblical stories. I am very much looking forward to the other books in the series, and - truthfully - for any further books from an author who excells with historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Sarah
Review: Card is a master storyteller as usual, but I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had known where he was coming from.
I knew Card was a Mormon and I knew Mormons believed in the Bible, so I had assumed that he would write a novel which, while it may include Mormon perspectives, would not contradict the Genesis account. Hence, I was unpleasantly surprised when the novel contradicted the Genesis account many times.
Consistently, his contradiction of the Genesis account was to make his heros, Abram/Abraham, Sarai/Sarah, and Lot appear completely virtuous. Where the Biblical account showed them as fallible human beings who generally tried to follow God, the Abram, Sarai and Lot of Card's story were 100% virtuous! The only almost-sin that seemed to be permitted was occasional doubt and jumping to conclusions.
One of the compelling things about the Bible is that it doesn't hide the sins of the saints. We see that the saints were normal, fallible human beings who make mistakes, yet God still uses them and blesses them. This is in fact realistic, so I am surprised Card made them more "perfect" than the Bible made them out to be.
Card's appendix where he explains where his coming from helped me appreciate the novel a lot more. I wish that he had extracted parts of it and put it into a forward, so that I would have been prepared for those jarring contradictions. I could have accepted an intellectual position to say that the Genesis account is "basically historical" but "somewhat embellished by its transmitters along the way" and simply enjoy the novel for what it is: a novel.
If this novel were to be republished, I strongly suggest that this information be put in a note that would be read before the reader hits the story itself.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorites!
Review: Excellent combination of historical fact and fiction. Card has a vivid imagination that allows readers to go back in time and feel as if they were a part of Biblical history. Just be careful to remember that truth and fiction are craftfully interwined here and not to lose sight of the important messages behind the story. As one of my all time favorite books, I had to read Rebekah and Stone Tablets immediately thereafter. I'm still waiting for the 3rd installment of the Women of Genesis trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: One of my all time favorites!
Review: Excellent combination of historical fact and fiction. Card has a vivid imagination that allows readers to go back in time and feel as if they were a part of Biblical history. Just be careful to remember that truth and fiction are craftfully interwined here and not to lose sight of the important messages behind the story. As one of my all time favorite books, I had to read Rebekah and Stone Tablets immediately thereafter. I'm still waiting for the 3rd installment of the Women of Genesis trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I absolutely loved this book. It really made this Biblical character become real to me. The novel was very well written and inspiring. I'm buying some copies to give as Mother's Day gifts.
Rating:
Summary: Just about my favorite book
Review: I am a very spiritual person and really wanted to find a book that told the story of a woman that finds her faith and plays a huge part in the Bible. Thats what I found with this book. I guess she is someone to look up to cause for starters she was a woman who wasn't perfect. She made mistakes like everyone else but she found forgiveness. This book can make you think and can inpsire hope to those who might not always be hopeful. There are many lessons to learn from this book. But with putting the whole religion thing aside, this book tells such a beautiful and pure love story that you can be so deeply moved by. I highly recommend it.
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