Cruel Miracles: Tales of Death, Hope, and Holiness

This fourth volume in Orson Scott Card's five-book anthology of short stories features tales with religious themes, exploring the mysteries of ritual, sacrifice, faith, and death. Mortal Gods In our mortality lies our greatness. Saving Grace A story of TV faith healers and those who follow them. Eye for Eye An abused child has the gift of creating illness and death in those he is angry with. Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1988. St. Amy's Tale A family destroys all technology. Kingsmeat When flesh-eating aliens take over a human colony world, one human forestalls total doom by feeding them non-essential bits of his fellow colonists. Holy A seemingly pointless mission to bring an offering to another culture's shrine takes on unexpected meaning. "I believe that speculative fiction—science fiction in particular—is the last American refuge of religious literature. Real religious literature, I think, explores the nature of the universe and discovers the purpose behind it."—Orson Scott Card, from his introduction