Keeper of Dreams
Authors: Orson Scott Card
K
EEPER
OF
D
REAMS
ALSO BY ORSON SCOTT CARD
FROM TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES
Empire
The Folk of the Fringe
Future on Fire
(editor)
Future on Ice
(editor)
Hidden Empire
Invasive Procedures
(with Aaron Johnston)
Lovelock
(with Kathryn Kidd)
Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
Saints
Songmaster
Treason
The Worthing Saga
Wyrms
THE TALES OF ALVIN MAKER
Seventh Son
Red Prophet
Prentice Alvin
Alvin Journeyman
Heartfire
The Crystal City
ENDER
Ender’s Game
Ender’s Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
First Meetings
A War of Gifts
Ender in Exile
The Authorized Ender Companion
HOMECOMING
The Memory of Earth
The Call of Earth
The Ships of Earth
Earthfall
Earthborn
WOMEN OF GENESIS
Sarah
Rebekah
Rachel & Leah
FROM OTHER PUBLISHERS
Enchantment
Homebody
Lost Boys
Magic Street
Stone Tables
Space Boy
Treasure Box
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
Characters and Viewpoint
Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show at
oscigms.com
EEPER
OF
D
REAMS
ORSON SCOTT CARD
The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied so that you can enjoy reading it on your personal devices. This e-book is for your personal use only. You may not print or post this e-book, or make this e-book publicly available in any way. You may not copy, reproduce or upload this e-book, other than to read it on one of your personal devices.
us.macmillanusa.com/piracy
.
This is a work of fiction and nonfiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these stories are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
KEEPER OF DREAMS
Copyright © 2008 by Orson Scott Card
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Card, Orson Scott.
Keeper of dreams / Orson Scott Card.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-0497-1
1. Science fiction, American. 2. Fantasy fiction, American. I. Title.
PS3553.A655K44 2008
813’.54—dc22
2007046720
ISBN 978-0-7653-2414-6
First Hardcover Edition: April 2008
First Trade Paperback Edition: April 2010
Printed in the United States of America
0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
IRST
P
UBLICATION
“The Elephants of Poznan”—
Fantastyka
(Poland)
“Atlantis”—
Grails: Quests, Visitations and Other Occurrences
, ed. Richard Gilliam, Martin H. Greenberg, and Edward E. Kramer
“Geriatric Ward”—Written for
Last Dangerous Visions
, ed. Harlan Ellison, but never published
“Heal Thyself”—
Amazing Stories
, Summer 1999
“Space Boy”—
Escape from Earth: New Adventures in Space
, ed. Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann
“Angles”—
Destination 3001
, ed. Robert Silverberg and Jacques Chambon (France)
“Vessel”—
BEM Magazine
(Spanish);
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
, December 1999 (English)
“Dust”—
Doorways
“Homeless in Hell”—
http://www.hatrack.com/osc/stories/homeless-in-hell.shtml
“In the Dragon’s House”—
The Dragon Quintet
, ed. Marvin Kaye
“Inventing Lovers on the Phone”—
Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian
, ed. Janis Ian and Mike Resnick
“Waterbaby”—
Galaxy Online
“Keeper of Lost Dreams”—
Flights: Visions of Extreme Fantasy
, ed. Al Sarrantonio
“Missed”—
Greensboro News & Record
“50 WPM”—
In the Shadow of the Wall: An Anthology of Vietnam Stories That Might Have Been
, ed. Byron R. Tetrick
“Feed the Baby of Love”—
The Bradbury Chronicles
, ed. William F. Nolan and Martin H. Greenberg
“Grinning Man”—
Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy
, ed. Robert Silverberg
“The
Yazoo Queen
”—
Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy
, ed. Robert Silverberg
“Christmas at Helaman’s House”—
Christmas for the World: A Gift to the Children
, ed. Curtis Taylor and Stan Zenk
“Neighbors”—
Vigor
“God Plays Fair Once Too Often”—
Hillcon II Souvenir Booklet
(Rotterdam)
“Worthy to Be One of Us”—
Turning Hearts: Short Stories on Family Life
, ed. Orson Scott Card and David Dollahite
To Andy and Debbie Lindsay.
The play’s the thing . . .
ONTENTS
REFACE
When I was just starting out as a writer, one of the reasons I chose to work in the science-fiction genre was because there was a viable short-story market—one that paid, but not enough to live on.
This was and remains vitally important to science fiction’s success as a genre of literature. Short stories give writers a place to try out their ideas and find their voices, with an audience to goad them on, through either their jeers or their applause. A new writer’s short story is published in the company of other people’s work, rubbing shoulders with fiction that appeals to different people and uses different techniques.
It’s like being invited to a crowded party, where you don’t know anybody but you’re pressed by the crowd right into the middle and rather forced to be part of the conversation whether you like it or not.
But because short stories don’t pay well, anyone trying to make a career in science fiction has to move to novels as quickly as possible. Novels are a different form from the short story and not everyone learns how to make the transition. However, most do.