The Eurocon’s highlight was supposed to be Orson Scott Card’s conference, although the convention hall wasn’t exactly packed with people to match the occasion. To be perfectly honest, I consider the Polcon to have been the genuine highlight of the Eurocon. Only the quality of the translations made the two lectures (Friday and Saturday) different: the young lady from the Czech Republic was completely overwhelmed by the situation; as a result, the young lady from Poland received enough praises to fill a couple of pages on her resume.

In the opening, Card announces that he has found the right director for Ender’s Game, a director who knows how to work with actors, to teach them how to play. The sole problem remains the part of Ender: according to Card, children have no talent, they act poorly by default and, naturally, the blame should fall on all those around them, from director to make-up artist. “Everyone jumped at little Jack Lloyd’s throat after The Phantom Menace, though all the actors had the worst performance of their careers”. It’s only Lucas’ fault. In the old series, the actors played well despite Lucas, not thanks to him.

We find out that in Hollywood there are no more than three directors capable of actually working with actors, and don’t just “move the camera around”. To avoid offending by means of exclusion, Card decided not to mention their names. A notable detail is that the actor interpreting Ender won’t be more than eleven years old.

Often enough, the actions of the little genius are being questioned by various readers. “If you say «Ender won’t do that», I’d say: «How would you know? I made him up». Ultimately, writing fiction means to know your own characters motivations. This is where God enters into play. Nobody knows the motivation behind other people’s actions. Most times, we don’t know our own motivations. Only God knows what we think, and so, only He can judge us.

Back to children: Card confessed that he never avoided – like so many others – writing about kids. “When I started writing in my twenties, still an adolescent with no responsibilities, I didn’t understand adolescence and had no idea what it meant to be an adult, but I knew about childhood. At that point, I couldn’t write about someone else. In time, I found out my real calling. Reading the bio’s of famous people, it’s all about their adult life, even though they are the same people as in (their) childhood. Fiction writers can go where biographers can’t. That’s why I’m still writing about children. I remember my characters better than I remember my friends. I just have a real bad memory for real people, but I’m only responsible for my children, and I’m fully responsible for my characters.

We find out that the Homecoming saga is over, not because Orson has run out of ideas, but because of the contract. From the Seventh Son saga only one more title will see the print. The “Enderverse” shall expand in a comic book named Formic Wars, published by Marvel Comics, which in turn will become a novel. Also in the making is the sequel to Children of the Mind, named Shadows in Flight. With a certain degree of delightful sadism, Orson Scott Card announced that the “protagonist”, Bean, dies in the first chapter and, to make matters worse, reminded that Children of the Mind is his least appreciated novel. He made it quite clear that it’ll be a long time before he starts writing this novel

“Which of your works do you like best?” someone asked.

Card replied in the same playful manner. “Most of my best work is done in standalone novels, Magic Street and Lost Boys.” The latter is an autobiographical novel – about his wives – set somewhere in North Carolina, and was an answer to Stephen King’s Pet Cemetery. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book, albeit from the moment that the little boy gets hit by a truck… It’s a great book, but so highly predictable”, whereas in Lost Boys, the main character remains the same nice child, that haunts his parents after his unfortunate demise. It was difficult to write and to read, and for that specific reason, all those who will dare venture into its pages will automatically become Card’s friends.

Asked what his favourite fantasy and Sci-Fi books are, Orson Scott Card answerd: The Lord of the Rings and Dune, finishing in the same note of slightly sharp humour: “The Lord of the Rings is the best novel of the Twentieth Century. Ulysses is just an intricate intellectual game”.

Great round of applause, everybody is highly spirited and waiting for a tedious session of book-signing!

Alexandru Maniu