Author:	Orson Scott Card
Copyright:	1990
Date Reviewed:	6/1/92
Rating:	8.0

"The Worthing Saga" tells the story of Jason Worthing and his progeny through a small boy. Lared lives in a small farming town. His story opens on the first day of pain. True pain has always been unknown in the world. But now people suffer and die when there are accidents or they are careless. Soon after the day of pain, two people arrive in town and speak to Lared telepathically. Jessica lets Lared live Jason in his dreams so when he wakes, he can write Jason's story.

Jason is the son of a starpilot who had blue eyes, a mark of one with the ability to read minds. He and his kind are all killed when they attempt a revolt against the Empire and its enemy (we are never told who the enemy is). Jason does not have the mark but he does have the ability. When his secret is discovered, he is protected by Abner Doon, a minor official who in reality controls the Empire, which is controlled from the planet Capitol. Capitol is very much like Trantor, one huge multi-level city where the Sun never shines.

In some of the Saga stories, we learn how Abner came to power. His test was destroying Italy in the 1914 International Games (modeled after "Empire" which I used to play). The elite of the empire live long lives by sleeping away part of it under Somec. In the most extreme case, Mother, the Empress, lives one week for every 10 years. At that rate she could live for 20,000 years. She won't, though. Abner will eventually destroy the Empire by corrupting the Sleephouse clergy. He does this so a new, greater empire can replace the existing stagnant one.

Eventually Jason becomes a starpilot and a lifeloop star. A revolution is set to be triggered by his assassination which is prevented. Abner sends him and the 300 conspirators to a remote star system to see what they can accomplish (like Kirk's role at the end of "Space Seed"). Before they land, a third of the passengers are killed and all but one memory module destroyed in an enemy attack. Jason must now build a new society with adult infants. Over many years he releases the "Ice People" and they grow and flourish. However, his real goal is to sire a race of superhumans with powers greater than his own. His family is contained within a 10 square km radius in the hopes they will interbreed enough to bring out these powers before they figure out how to leave the prison. In the mean time, Jason takes his Starship to the bottom of the ocean to wait until the day that his descendents have technologically progressed far enough to rescue him.

His descendents are nearly wiped out but eventually they too flourish. Their abilities far exceed Jason's. In addition to reading minds, they can also control the weather and hurt, kill or cure with a thought. After many generations they have become the caretakers of the universe. However, like the android threat in "I, Mudd", their care has stopped all progress. Jason, now a God legend, is finally rescued but is appalled at the state of the universe. When they see the error of their ways, his children send their planet into its Sun, thus beginning the Day of Pain. The only survivors are Jessica and Jason.

Orson Scott Card is an excellent writer and I have enjoyed his works many times. Although flawed, I found myself thinking often about the universe he created here which is a significant testament to any work of fiction. Card's universe is well thought out and progresses from age to age in a style reminiscent of Asimov's Foundation. The introduction of Laird is an interesting mechanism for tying together disparate short stories and works well. Laird's story is interesting in his own. However, the flashbacks are not strictly linear which sometimes makes this history difficult to follow. More significant, major events such as the destruction of the empire and the rise and fall of the caretakers are not given enough attention. A coherent story line that includes details on these and other significant events could have made this a 10. Another big detractor is the last two sections, 42% of the novel, which retells some stories of Capitol and Jason's heirs. Though told well, the climax is almost always known making us wonder why we need to read this again. Still, with all its faults, I enjoyed "The Worthing Saga" and its universe.