The Terminal
Last night my wife and I saw the latest Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal. Although I hadn't heard much about the movie, I figured a Spielberg movie with Hanks in it couldn't be that bad. Right...?

Unfortunately, I was wrong. The concept of an international visitor the the US, stranded in an airport terminal indeffinitely, has some merit. Hank's character is from a small, nonexistent country called Khrakovia. Nothing really happens in the movie, and all the characters (including Hanks) are dull. Not since Undercover Brother have I so regretted losing 2 hours and $13.

Homecoming Series
I spent just over a week reading Orson Scott Card's five-book Homecoming Series (includes Memory of Earth, Call to Earth, Ships of Earth, Earthfall, and Earthborn). OSC has been a favorite author of mine for several years, but I always hesitated to read this particular series. A good friend of mine, Brent, warned me about these books, although I can't recall exactly what he warned me about. Most OSC fans know about his LDS (Mormon) background, and I had the impression that the Homecoming saga was a trite retelling of the story of Nephi and his family in the Book of Mormon. In spite of my doubts, I read them, and these are my thoughts:

In Memory of Earth, OSC quickly reminded me why I always enjoy his stories: his characters come alive in a way few other authors' (especially sci-fi) ever do. The main character, Nafai, is a young teen living on the planet Harmony. According to legend, humans came to Harmony from Earth after nearly destroying humanity over forty million years ago.

This book explores Nafai's journey to understand the Oversoul, a god worshipped by the people of Harmony, but whose real nature is hidden. Nafai's elder brother, Elemak, is by far the most fascinating character introduced in this book. Throughout the next three books, Elemak's inner struggles with pride and honor lead him to become the primary antagonist in the Oversoul's plan to lead Nafai's family back to Earth.

In all honesty, as a Mormon, my experience reading this series makes my opinions about the series different than most Homecoming readers (unless most readers are LDS, which I doubt). The world and characters Card created are different enough that the series is not a plagiarism of the Book of Mormon. It did help me appreciate the people in the BoM better, but the Homecoming Series can stand on its own as a good read.

One warning; the last two novels, Earthfall and Earthborn, are not as good as the first three. I was shocked to start reading Earthborn and to discover that it of all the original characters, only Shedemei was still alive. Her story, however, proved to be meaningful enough that I never lost interest. I'd be really interested in hearing how other readers reacted to this series!