Rating: 
Summary: Tiresome
Review: I love this type of book, and Orson Scott Card does it so well! I read "Rebekah" after I read this one, and I plan on reading "Rachel and Leah" as soon as it is released in paperback.
Both "Sarah" and "Rachel" cover the lives of their respective biblical characters in such depth and understanding. For a man to penetrate so deeply into a woman's mind who lived so long ago is truly inspiring.
I really enjoy Card's interpretation of events. It seems to match my own fairly well. He sticks to what's in the Bible, but adds and interprets based upon his knowlege of human behavior.
Buy this book and read it over and over! Prepare to go on a journey into the characters, with the characters, and outside of the characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic - I finished it in 2 days!
Review: I loved this book. It was absolutely thrilling to read this modern midrash (interpretation) on Sarah's story. How wonderful it was to hear Sarah's voice emerge from the text. I thought the book was well researched and I found the author's deviations from the biblical text to be fascinating. I finished this 390 page book (hardcover) in 2 days and it was a pleasure! I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Different View
Review: I picked up SARAH after the terrorist attack on New York and the Pentagon. I honestly believe that because of all that I witnessed during the week I read this book that I actually drew comfort from this book. Sarah's struggle with her faith is one I experience, but what struck me were the passages in which she expressed feelings that I and so many others right now, a week and a half after the attacks, are feeling--and oh so much more eloquently. I enjoyed this book very much. My TBR stack is huge, mostly consisting of dark, mysterious, somewhat frightening subjects--including several books involving terrorism. With my present mindset I simply could not pick one of those books up and enjoy it, at least not right now. Card's SARAH was moving, fascinating (a time period I have read little about outside Sunday School), and also, as I said before, comforting. In case Mr. Card should stroll by Amazon.com to read reviews from his readers, I'd like to say thank you for SARAH.
Rating:
Summary: WDKM
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it not only fun to read but I enjoyed learning more about the people in the bible. At least how they "might" have been like. He made the characters come alive. I give it a strong recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I was familiar with the Abraham/Sarah story from long ago, but the depth that Mr. Card gives to these characters in this novel truly brings them to life in the mind's eye. Abraham is shown by his faith in God and how it never wavers. Sarah, with all the insecurity of being new to Abraham's faith, often wonders if she made the right decisions or if she is being punished for disobeying her father's wishes. Sarah's relationships with her sister and Hagar show how outward appearances often mask what is really going on. Hagar seemed to be Sarah's friend, but that masked the true feelings of hatred because of the master/slave relationship. I would recommend this book to anyone, and can't wait until I can get my hands on "Rebekah."
Rating: 
Summary: Fraught with small problems.
Review: I wish I could give this three and a half stars, because it's still Card, and Card is still brilliant. Two factors make it less than it could be, though, and one of them is troubling. First, he doesn't have a lot to work with and, trying to be too faithful perhaps, he doesn't stray very far from the story he's been handed in order to make it any better. The result is a plotline too thin to make an entire novel, and characters who are sometimes choppy and disconnected -- neither of these is an issue in the original Genesis, because the story as told is short and in disjointed pieces, but when you keep those factors and try to novelize the tale it just doesn't work completely. The more upsetting problem is exactly what story Card considers himself to have been handed. The book is being advertised as about the Sarah of Genesis, but it includes many events which are flat-out not told in Genesis, some contradictory to the conventional interpretation of Genesis, and only available in the Mormon tradition's private view of Sarah's story. This would not be a problem if it were marketed as a Mormon view of Sarah but it is not. It is marketed as a Biblical view of Sarah, which it most emphatically isn't, and Card gets sloppy in some really obvious ways -- for instance, making Sarah at one point go down on her knees to pray. Israelites, from Abraham's time on, NEVER prayed on their knees; that is a Christian and not a Hebrew custom. That a Mormon author raised within a Christian country might reflexively consider it the way to pray is understandable; that he was so serene in his own tradition's distortions of the Biblical story that he did not even bother to research the customs of the time is frankly offensive.
Rating:
Summary: a change of pace for one of Sci-Fi/Fantasy's best
Review: I'ma big fan of OSC's sci-fi books, with their strength being character development & ethical dilemmas as opposed to "gadgetry" or technological advances. So I was interested to see what he would do with the fictional account of a biblical matriarch from 3,000 years ago (give or take). I found this book profoundly moving. As a man reading a book by another man, about a woman from long ago & lacking in historical details of what her life was really like, you would think this book would lack authenticity. I can't say how women would react to it (although my wife found it excellent). But to me, the author's portrayal of Sarah's stigma of barrenness, her struggle to find a role for herself in Abraham's world, her deft handling of their visit to the Pharoah in Egypt, and her weary patience with her (fictional) spoiled sister Qira (in this book, the author has her married to Lot of Sodom & Gomorrah fame), all ring true. This is supposed to be the first of a series of three books on women from the Old Testament; based on this one, you can definitely sign me up for the next two.
Rating:
Summary: a change of pace for one of Sci-Fi/Fantasy's best
Review: I'ma big fan of OSC's sci-fi books, with their strength being character development & ethical dilemmas as opposed to "gadgetry" or technological advances. So I was interested to see what he would do with the fictional account of a biblical matriarch from 3,000 years ago (give or take). I found this book profoundly moving. As a man reading a book by another man, about a woman from long ago & lacking in historical details of what her life was really like, you would think this book would lack authenticity. I can't say how women would react to it (although my wife found it excellent). But to me, the author's portrayal of Sarah's stigma of barrenness, her struggle to find a role for herself in Abraham's world, her deft handling of their visit to the Pharoah in Egypt, and her weary patience with her (fictional) spoiled sister Qira (in this book, the author has her married to Lot of Sodom & Gomorrah fame), all ring true. This is supposed to be the first of a series of three books on women from the Old Testament; based on this one, you can definitely sign me up for the next two.
Rating:
Summary: If you think you know O. S. Card, you are in for a surprise!
Review: If you think that Card is just a science-fiction or fantasy writer, this book will set you straight. He takes the story of Sarah, wife of Abraham, and give it fictional, but balanced treatment; that is, all the heroes and heroines are still heroes and heroines, and miracles do happen. But, Card is no Biblical Literalist; he assumes that stories can be garbled or told twice (for example, it is only once, in this book, that Abraham claims that Sarah is his sister.)It is like reading Genesis with new eyes; as if an old dirty picture had been cleaned, and you see details you never saw before. Give it a try, and prepare to be delighted. This is Card's best, up to now.
Rating: 
Summary: Artful Storytelling
Review: No matter what genre he chooses, Orson Scott Card can't seem to write a bad novel. Biblical fiction isn't a "hot" topic, but after reading "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamont, I was curious as to how one of my favorite sci-fi authors would approach such a story. The story of Sarah and her husband Abraham is one I half-heard about in Sunday school as a child. Orson Scott Card brings it vividly to life so that the characters become more than just biblical figures, but real people with real lives, real doubts, and real faith. The book does start slow, but as I read on I found myself appreciating Card's ability to take time with the everyday aspects of Sarah and Abraham's lives rather than focusing entirely on the dramas and miracles of biblical proportion. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Card's basic religious assumptions or his interpretation of Sarah and Abraham's story, this book is still a great example of Card's artful storytelling at its best.
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