Magic Street

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Mirron E. Willis

Living in a peaceful, prosperous African-American neighborhood in Los Angeles, Mack Street is a mystery child who has somehow found a home. Discovered abandoned in an overgrown park, raised by a blunt-speaking single woman, Mack comes and goes from family to family, a boy who is surrounded by boisterous characters and yet deeply alone. But while Mack senses that he is different from most and knows that he has strange powers, he cannot understand how unusual he is until the day he sees, in a thin slice of space, a narrow house. Beyond it is a backyard, and an entryway into an extraordinary world stretching off into an exotic distance of geography, history, and magic.

Passing through the skinny house that no one else can see, Mack is plunged into a realm in which time and reality are skewed, a place where what Mack does seems to have strange effects on the "real world" of concrete, cars, commerce, and conflict. Growing into a tall, powerful young man, pursuing a forbidden relationship, and using Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as a guide into the vast, timeless fantasy world, Mack becomes a player in an epic drama. Understanding this drama is Mack's challenge. His reward, if he can survive the trip, is discovering not only who he really is but why he exists.

Both a novel of constantly surprising entertainment and a tale of breathtaking literary power, Magic Street is a masterwork from a supremely gifted, utterly original American writer, a novel that uses realism and fantasy to delight, challenge, and satisfy on the most profound levels.

©2005 Orson Scott Card (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"[Card's] prose is a model of narrative clarity; the author never says more than is needed or arbitrarily withholds information; yet even a simple declarative sentence carries a delicious hint of further revelation." (The New York Times)

Only okay

I've read numerous Card novels. As one might expect, some are better than others. This would be one of the "others." It's okay, but I wish I would've saved my book credit for something else.

Fun

It was a fun listen and a welcome addition to the SF/Fantasy genre - a genre that sorely lacks African American characters. That said, for me, there really weren't any surprising twists in the story. It was a fairly predictable fairy tale. But, as I said - it was fun.

Not compelling

I have read a number of Orson scott Card and this one simply missed the mark with me. Not to say it was a bad read, I certainly finished it. But it was different by far from his other books. The authors narrative explained some of the awkwardness I felt while reading the book.

I did realize how much I would enjoy this story.

I didn't realize how much I would enjoy this story. I love reading books by Orson Scott Card. This book surprised me because I didn't expect this type of story from the author. I appreciate the efforts to have a story with POC as the main characters. OSC gave depth to these characters. I didn't want the story to end.

Different.

This is the first book I have read by Card. I really enjoyed that it was different from other books that I have read; it was refreshing. I think most readers would enjoy this book. However, like I said, I have not read any of his other books and have no room for comparison where that is concerned.