songmaster (1980) is a science fiction novel by orson scott card. the story of the "songmaster" occurs in a future human empire, and follows ansset, a beautiful young boy whose perfect singing voice has the power of amplifying people's emotions, making him both a potential healer and destroyer. he is trained in the art of singing so beautifully that his songs can express ideas and emotions more truthfully than words. this novel was based on card's short stories "mikal's songbird" and "songhouse."