This is the third book in the Homecoming series. Forty million years ago the human race sent colonists to Harmony. They stripped themselves of all means of global warfare and built a super computer to guide men away from the things that could lead to nuclear war. But this computer, the Oversoul, is beginning to have less control. Some of the forbidden items are beginning to be made.

I could have sworn when I read the first ones they were I of II and II of II. Although this one picked up almost immediately after the previous book left off it was definitely the first two logically went together. The first two books focus on events in Basilica, and at the end our main characters leave the city to be the group that helps the computer repair itself.

The Ships of Earth starts with our group of 16 hand chosen, by the Oversoul, men and women in the desert south of Basilica. The book follows the journey of the eight couples, their struggles, which are mostly with the group dynamics. Several members want to return to Basilica or to a city, the tension between Nafai and Elemak. These are Card's characters and he can have them act however he wants them to act, but they are a little bit on the soap opera side with their behavior. Then again how interesting would it be if there was no murderous rage between some of the characters.

If you can accept the extremeness of the characters' emotions, there is a fairly good underlying plot, and the interactions of the characters is compelling just like a soap opera. If you enjoyed the first two in the homecoming series this is one you will also like. I am deciding whether I should continue on with Earthfall immediately or pick out something for a change of pace. It will be sooner rather than later.