I went into this one blind (audiobook from library) and it was quite the journey. A character study of a Mormon family moving to the bible belt south and what happens to their family in the midst of a series of missing children. The characters are well developed, and it turns out to be a bit more paranormal/supernatural than I originally suspected, with a twist. ( )

The Lost Boys is a triumph in setting. The most frequent complaint I found about this book before reading it myself was how long it takes to get to the plot (the plot, per se, occurs on page 374 and runs for about 15 pages before the book ends.) People who say such things are missing Card's point. The Lost Boys is not about plot -- it is about how the most mundane things can conspire to drive us down -- how teachers can be too cynical to love children, how churchgoers can be so self-absorbed that they wrap God around themselves and how businesses can be so obsessed with the bottom line that they are torturing their employees. It is about how witty Step and kind DeAnne get disillusioned and how hard they have to work to pull themselves back up. And ultimately, Lost Boys is Card's testament to Mormonism -- how faith in the unseen can be the most important thing of all. ( )

I don't really know how to rate this. It's extremely slow, to the point that the back of the book tells you plot points that aren't revealed until 4/5 of the way in. There's too much family life description and narrative. But the last forty pages or so are so brilliantly written that it ends on a five star note. I'm not sure I could read this again, though, knowing the end. It's just way too disturbing once you know the clues ( )

Can't remember much now, but it was not a bad story. ( )

My second listen through "Lost Boys" had me crying as much as the first. The dynamics between the parents were witty and warm, and the kids were realistic. I have enjoyed Mr. Card's portrayal of church-life as well. Read carefully to see where the end leads, and you still will be surprised! ( )

I quite liked this book by Card. I read it last when I was a religiously active Mormon, and I found it profoundly moving. I do think Card is a good story-teller, but I'm not sure he's a writer after my taste. This is one of those read-it-in-two days books that you can't put down. I find that the sort of book I want to read and re-read requires a bit more of me.

This story jumps right in and uses the language of Mormonism in such a way, without calling attention to itself, that it makes me wonder how much the average reader will get. There's an interesting picture of LDS life portrayed behind the gruesome details of the missing boys. ( )

This is a tough read due to the subject matter, but an outstanding book.

For Step Fletcher, his pregnant wife DeAnne, and their three children, the move to tiny Steuben, North Carolina, offers new hope and a new beginning. But from the first, eight-year-old Stevie's life there is an unending parade of misery and disaster.

Cruelly ostracized at his school, Stevie retreats further and further into himself -- and into a strange computer game and a group of imaginary friends.

But there is something eerie about his loyal, invisible new playmates: each shares the name of a child who has recently vanished from the sleepy Southern town. And terror grows for Step and DeAnne as the truth slowly unfolds. For their son has found something savagely evil ... and it's coming for Stevie next.

I'm a tremendous fan of Mr. Card and several years ago I got to spend some time talking to him. When I told him how much Lost Boys had reached me, he said that it was one of his favorites.

I recently purchased the audio version from CHIRP! ( )

The more I read of Orson Scott Card the more I think he just figured out how to game the system. In the Lost Boys, his story is pretty simple - boys disappearing, job struggles, family move. But the boys disappearing barely pops up in the story for the first 3/4 of the novel. Instead, it's a weird cast of characters introduced to get the reader wondering who did it. Except from very early on, it was too obvious who did it. And then the ending was just there to manipulate reader emotions to save the wreck of the rest of the book. Only reason I gave it a three star is because I cared enough to be upset. But then, if I wasn't a parent and didn't get the understanding of the attachment, maybe it would have been more like a 2 star. ( )

This book left me with mixed feelings. The story seemed to slow moving, lots of random things happen in the life of the main family of characters, emotional toward the end but left so many loose ends. ( )

A little more than halfway through, I looked this book up on Wikipedia to get a better idea of the plot and where the storyline was going. I really needed it to understand what was happening.

The story is very heavily based on the Mormon faith. As someone without faith, I felt like a lot of the family's problems came from their reliance on their faith. Like, Step (oh my god, don't even get me started on the stupid nicknames in this book!) wouldn't do certain things because it would make him "unclean" ... complete BS as far as I was concerned.

After I read on Wikipedia what was going to happen in the future development of the storyline I was looking forward to eventually getting there but as I continued to listen, I lost interest in caring how things went down. (The "main event", if you will, happens on Christmas and I was on July 4th in the book, which meant I have a lot more crap to get through.)

I won't read anything more by this author.

Adrianne ( )

Seriously?! Orson Scott Card has always been a little perverse but I couldn't make it through the first 5 chapters. I think I'm finished with him, which is so sad because many of his older books are great. The more current books are full of this stuff. I couldn't finish the last one I read, The Gate Thief, either. ( )

A Morman computer programmer and his family move to a new town. They all have difficulty fitting in, but one of their sons has a particularly difficult time. He starts telling stories about imaginary friends. Creepy and depressing.

Even as a teenager, I could tell that the main character was a sort of authorial stand-in. The characterization is precise and believable, but the character's actions are just a little off. There are a few too many exchanges that read as wish-fullfillment, where the main character is oh-so-reasonable and erudite and godly and his opponents are so very prejudiced and unreasonable. It annoyed me when I read it, but I was caught up in the story (and additionally, wasn't aware of how closely Card's life mirrored the main character's). Looking back, it's both a serious weakness of the novel and one of the reasons the story works. Because Card identified so closely with the main character, the point-of-view is kept very narrow, and the mystery is able to build just out of conscious sight. ( )

I prefer Card when he stays out of the realms of spiritual (Lost Boys, Treasure Box) and sticks with Sci-Fi. The ending was well done and very touching, but I agree with the reviewer who said the book was too long. His author's note says it started out as a short story, and while the ending may not have been as powerful that way, you probably wouldn't have missed much. ( )

I love most of what Orson Scott Card writes, despite my repulsion towards several of his personal beliefs and quotations. However, this one really tested my waters more than his sci-fi works. It was interesting to learn more about how Mormons live day-to-day, but extremely frustrating how every part of the book was laced with religion and every choice every person made was motivated by religion.

Also, I became annoyed pretty quickly at the fights between the husband and wife. Maybe this is because I was listening to a male narrator portray both characters and, understandably, the fighting was a little bit whiny. Either way, I wanted more substance to the fights--it isn't realistic to me that every fight goes nowhere and that people forgive within five minutes and call back to apologize and tell you they love you...brb...okay, I'm back from answering a phone call where someone told me I am always right and they love me.

I'm sure I am not the only one to say this, but HELLO, Bappy is a creep show from the get-go. And in a "not so huge" town, 7 boys disappearing is HUGE news. OSC is trying to tell me that every person in town was not having at least one conversation about the missing kids EACH DAY? I think not. They should've made the connection to Stevie's friends' names about four months earlier. And the Bappy thing--well, don't get me started.

I liked listening to the book, as usual for OSC's work, but this one just didn't do it for me. 2.5 stars. ( )

Books Read in the Past:

I found this creepy, and if I remember correctly, it had an unsavory air of child sexual abuse around the edges. The world building was poor in that, as in much horror, there was no plausible explanation for the basis of the events. ( )

audiobook from the library - Not bad, but not really my cup of tea. But then at the end there was a short interview with OSC, in which he said it wasn't his cup of tea either. I think that made me like it more. It's a little heavy on computery stuff that I don't understand because it takes place before I was born, but I did catch a few of the jokes about everyone hating IBM but knowing that it was the future. It was also a bit heavy on the Mormonism, but I thought that was more interesting.

I liked the plot, though it was pretty slow at first. The characters who were supposed to evoke reactions in the reader did so. The twist was good, though it was partly spoiled for me by reading the tags on the work page. I won't spoil it here; I'll just say that OSC is great at blending reality and fantasy seamlessly.

All-in-all, I recommend it, but I wish it had been shorter. ( )

The Short of It:

A touching, moving, all-around great read. A perfect package.

The Rest of It:

Set in the early 80′s, Step Fletcher and his wife DeAnne move to Steuben, North Carolina to begin his new job as a technical writer. With them, are their three kids, Stevie (7), Robbie (4) and their toddler sister Elizabeth. DeAnne and Step are expecting baby number four and life looks promising. Except, that the job isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and Step’s real passion is designing video games. Having previously been self-employed, Step finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. You see, he’s been hired as a tech writer, yet his real job is to audit code behind his boss’ back which is really, an impossible situation to be in.

On the home front, DeAnne is trying to find her place in this new neighborhood, and since they are of the Mormon faith, they are immediately accepted into their new ward. However, that’s not as perfect as it sounds, as this particular ward has some colorful characters who set out to make things difficult for the Fletcher family. Stevie has an increasingly hard time in school and cannot seem to find his place. The house they live in is plagued by insects (no one knows why) and there is the quite a bit of debt hanging over them all, which forces Step to work in a place that he truly hates.

This novel is classified as a horror story, and I must say, it took quite a bit of time for the horror to sink in but when it did, it took my breath away. It’s not the type of horror that is obvious. It’s the slow realization that something is desperately wrong. While the Fletchers try to settle into their new life, little boys begin to disappear one by one and then it becomes obvious to both DeAnne and Step that Stevie is not quite right.

I loved this novel so much that I turned right around and listened to it on audio. The audio version is read by Stefan Rudnicki who is absolutely fabulous. I’ve never read anything by Orson Scott Card so I had no expectations while reading this book but I don’t think it could have been more perfect.

You must read or listen to this book and then tell me what you think of it. Since it was originally published in ’92, the references to computers and video games is quite dated, but since I work in technology, where everything becomes outdated in just three months’ time, I found this to be quite entertaining. Also, don’t let the religious undertones scare you away. The Mormon faith plays a big role in this novel, but it’s not preachy in any way. ( )

I found it a hard read. What was supposed to be the main thread of the story (ghosts, horror, evil) was for most of the book extremely well hidden behind a layer about the hardships of moving, balancing life and family - and most of all - an extra-strength dose of how great it is to be a Mormon.
The only reason I read all the way through is that I wanted to be able to justify writing a review here (my first) ( )

Good premise, but would have worked better as a short story. And if the world hadn't already seen The Sixth Sense. Alas, I now know WAY more about Mormons than I ever wanted to. ( )

I should love this book. Card is my favorite author. This is widely regarded as one of his greatest novels. Why couldn't I get into it? Even I'm not quite sure. The writing is suberb, as always. It just felt like the novel was building and building to something that was taking far too long to reach. I kept feeling like this was an interesting insight into the life of a family, but when was something amazing going to happen? By the time it did, I was no longer on board. ( )

Orson Scott Card steps away from his usual science fiction fare to give a normal but not so normal story of a family surrounded by dangers. Step and DeAnne Fletcher move with their three children to North Carolina to take advantage of a computer programming job for Step, but they unwittingly step into a world of horrors. A serial killer is taking young boys, and no bodies have been found. Meanwhile, Step's work situation is tenuous at best, with an incompetent supervisor, a conniving boss, and a co-worker who is a little too eager to babysit Step's children. By the time the family receives a threat in the mail, they have a laundry list of possible senders. However, the real action of the novel is not apparent until the final chapters, which would cause a rock to cry. Card creates a loving family that wins the reader's affections from the get-go. Recommended for ages 16 and up. ( )

Good book. Interesting, not what I expected.
Thought I had it figured out, but still surprised me. ( )

This is one of the few books granted a rating of five that I will never read again. Damn you, OSC, for being able to draw me in so completely.

This is a story that allows the reader to see a family's life, the small details that might seem unconsequential, the large issues that most would like to keep covered, the love and the frustration that comes from having so close a connection with other humans. It wraps you up in the relationships, and it ends up ripping out your heart.

Be forewarned, as I was, when my husband read it first, finished it, and came to me with tears in his eyes. Read it anyway, as I did. It is worth it. ( )

http://yoyogodreviews.blogspot.com/2005/09/not-up-to-cards-usual-standards.html ( )

This is the closest thing to horror that I've enjoyed reading.