5 comments about First Meetings: In the Enderverse (Ender Wiggin Saga).

1. It's a bit too short, but I'm a huge fan of Ender's Game, so I liked this book.



2. This was my 1st exposure to anything Ender. It is as brilliant as the good reviews suggest. Two comments. It is not "dated" in any way but feels fresh and relevant in 2010. Secondly it appeals to youth on one level and to our adult intellect on another. The reader will enjoy this regardless of age.



3. I enjoyed reading this group of short stories about the original meetings of various characters in the Enderverse. Some of the stories give a bit of insight into characters that weren't previously revealed. My only gripe, and it's a small one,is that if you already have read the other books in the series some of these stories are either a retelling or are verbatim the same. Of course, if you're a fan, rereading those is like visiting an old friend.



4. Greater elaboration of the characters and situations that play in the series of Ender books.



5. A collection of short stories set around characters in Ender's universe. Card couldn't think of enough new material, so he "Reader's Digested" the original novel to have enough pages to print. Some of the other stories are interesting, but nothing really above average. It's an ok addition to round out a bit more of a picture of that universe, but nothing special.

5 comments about Shadow of the Giant (Ender's Shadow).

1. As always, Amazon delivers. The books were in excellent condition and received in a timely manner.



2. Once again, Orson Scott Card created an epic, which is worth every penny and every second spent reading it. Got me hooked till the last page, much like every other book in this series. Not like the original Ender series, however, where only the first book was worth it, and then it got progressively worse. I know that the writer tried something different, more deep and philosophic in those books. In my opinion of a highly experienced Sci-Fi reader, it didn't work. I'm glad that the Shadow series did not repeat the same mistake.



3. It ties up many loose ends, but it leaves thinking also. I believe I am better for reading it.



4. Not that this has anything, whatsoever, to do with Ender Wiggin of the Ender's Game novel.. Oh sure, there are some character names borrowed from the original story for marketing purposes, but from an objective point of view, there's not much of the old Ender story (or of Ender's Shadow) here, it's just more implausible future Earth political intrigue with implausible "Ender" characters doing implausible things. I won't go into the plot, since there are plenty of hardcore fans doing that; instead, I just want to share my opinion. As a huge fan of Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, a lesser fan of the Speaker for the Dead follow-up series (which also had absolutely nothing to do with Ender's Game--just more marketing of the name), I was disappointed with all of the follow-up novels, and this one is no better.
   
   It is a good story, given the popularity of the characters from prior novels in the series, but it absolutely does not stand on it's own as a good story. It's almost 100% derivative, almost 100% implausible as a story, and somewhat irritating in it's portrayal of the Battle School characters. I felt for many scores of pages, "Oh good grief, would you get on with this plodding thing already!" Most of the characters are utterly forgettable 10 minutes after finishing the book, except for Peter Wiggin, Graf, Bean, and Petra, who had satisfying sort-of-conclusions in this story.
   
   If you are a fan of Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, and want to eke every ounce of oil out of this bag of peanuts, then go ahead, but if you're expecting something along the lines of Battle School or something (ANYTHING!) to do with Ender, then skip it. Then again, one might say the same for the last 5 books in these spin-offs.



5. Title: Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
   
   Pages: 367.
   
   Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 0 Days.
   
   Days spent reading it: 3 days.
   
   Why I read it: Shadow of the Giant is the fourth book in the Ender's Shadow series by Orson Scott Card, I figured I would finish up this series before I left to go to Thailand. I'm glad I did.
   
   Brief review: Shadow of the Giant is the final (as of right now, and probably ever) installment of the Ender's Shadow series. I have enjoyed this particular series quite a bit. It recounts the events on Earth after the events in Ender's Game. We follow Bean and Petra, but the real star of this show (and perhaps the real "Shadow" of Ender) is Peter Wiggin. We follow as Peter continues in his quest to become the Hegemon (the world leader) and to have actual authority over the whole world. The political and military maneuvers and manipulation that make this a reality for Peter are fun to watch unfold.
   
   This series has been easy to read, but still full of great ideas by Card. Shadow of the Giant makes us think about contemporary events, even though it discusses them in playful science fiction. Card brings up issues about Muslim, Chinese, and United States politics from current headlines and stretches them to their logical conclusion. What if the Muslim world united under one head? Or if the massive Chinese population began an offensive against an almost equally massive Indian nation? In this book Card examines these possible political situations, but he does so within a very entertaining novel.
   
   Shadow of the Giant is clever and thought provoking. If you have not read any of the rest of the series, this would not be a good place to start. But I would highly recommend picking up Ender's Game and then Ender's Shadow, because these books (and especially Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow) have been worth it.
   
   Favorite quote: "Life is full of grief, to exactly the degree we allow ourselves to love other people."
   
   Stars: 4 out of 5.
   
   Final Word: Huge.

5 comments about Children of the Mind (Ender Quartet).

1. First off, to say that this fourth installment & finale of Ender's journey should have been a climax instead of a denouement? Do people reading your reviews actually pay any attention to your words and what they actually mean, or do they only see what I see on the surface of your quasi attempts at dabbling with intelligent writing? I suspect the later. The be the end cannot also be the climax. Your point is moot.
   
   A few additional examples of what I am referring to is your unintelligible use of a dichotomy:
   
   "...the final installment, on its own, is as unsatisfying as it is pleasing."
   
   and your ill stated refference to the psychological condition of schizophrenia in your pun on the phrase "split mind":
   
   "...I am of split mind about the finale (and how appropriate, given the schizophrenic existence of its lead characters Ender-Peter and Val-Jane)."
   
   Your ignorance in this condition and attempted use of it to be witty only proves my point. "Ender-Peter" & "Val-Jane" have nothing at all to do with schizophrenia. If anything, it would be referred to in the clinical sense as you have used it, as Dissociative Identity Disorder.
   
   In reading your entire review of this particular book, your rather cavalier use of superficial wit is pathetic. If you are going to give a passive-aggressive analysis (i.e. saying that this book should not have been written versus "don't miss it") you should at least not over extend your ego as much as you have here. I can certainly respect your opinion of anything you may wish to have an opinion on; it is the facade that you put on while writing that irks me to no foreseeable end.
   
   All in all, to turn this around into a REAL review, I can agree that this book was considerably more difficult to read than the other installments in Ender's series. As is the case with all of the other books of Ender's universe, including The Shadow Series, I found it to be challenging and enjoyable at the same time. This book certainly dabbles much more into philosophy and certainly does take a more sophisticated train of thought to grasp some of the concepts of the "dizzying dialogue" as D. Cloyce Smith so stated. Perhaps then his/her superficiality is further illustrated by the fact that this book was "unsatisfying" by said person. This installment is certainly no less worthy to be enjoyed and read as any other in the series. If you wish to be challenged intellectually, then you will certainly enjoy this book as deeply as I did.



2. I just finished Children of the Mind, the last of the 4-part series on Ender et al. The first book, Ender's Game, is really self contained, requiring no further reading. The next three books are a series, basically covering a colony on the planet Lusitania 3000 years in the future from when Ender's Game concluded. Ender and his sister have been star hopping, traveling so close to the speed of light when relocating that they essentially haven't aged much during that time. They now feel it's time to settle down and take root.
   
   I have mixed feelings on this book and the others. I will just summarize below.
   
   The good:
   
   Card has created a very interesting world! The story revolves around the planet of Lusitania and the (ultra) Catholic colony of Milagre. The planet was already populated by the pequeninos and their "sacred trees", pequeninos who have proved their worthiness to be sacrificed and reborn as a tree for breeding pequeninos, before the humans arrived. Ender adds the last remaining Hive Queen to the mix. Jane, a good-hearted computer program that sprang to life over the instantaneous ansible network, is there to help whenever needed.
   
   I also loved the other worlds in the story, like "Path", a Chinese colony world, and "Divine Wind", based on Japan. (These specialized worlds remind me of satellite radio stations ...) All the characters and philosophical teachings on Path were easy to digest, but with a strange lack of technology (which I mention later). It isn't explicitly stated, but it seems that some try returning to the simpler life, which seems much like the Amish.
   
   Ender's brother, Peter, is blunt, arrogant and ambitious, but in a good way.
   
   Metaphysics: there's plenty of it here. Card seems a little obsessed with the subject, essentially using the story as a vehicle to discuss some interesting ideas he's undoubtedly formulated over the years. Most of it is interesting... whether you will like it in the doses he feeds us is to be determined. I also found many of his philological and psychological observations and statements, voiced via the books' characters, fun. Hats off to Card's observation and analysis skills :)
   
   The ending has decent, though not complete, closure, Some may not like the way it ends, but I found it refreshing for whatever reason.
   
   
   The bad:
   
   Well, my biggest complaint is that all three books - Speaker, Xenocide and Children - are really longwinded. He could easily have his characters get their point across with far fewer words. I know editing is one of the hardest things for an author to do, but 10-20% of these books (easy) could go without anyone noticing. More than likely he edited a lot out already, but there's still way too much repetition. A writer needs to have friends (or publishers) who will tell them the truth here.
   
   As noted, many of the characters are interesting; Sadly, many are extremely boring and whinny, really testing the reader's patience. Ender's entire adopted family for instance, which sort of reminded me of the crazy drunk family down the street but with PhDs, whined and argued the entire three books... Of course, Card could have intended these characters to be just that (it probably takes just as much literary talent to create annoying characters as pleasing ones. But since I'm not a writer, I really wouldn't know). Ender's sister is also quite yawning.
   
   The books 'jump the shark' in many spots, esp when it comes to space travel. I won't spoil it, but things get a little unbelievable even for a sci-fi story. Networks that exist in the mind using instantaneous thought transmissions and so on .. it's all in there, a smorgasbord of wild ideas (!)
   
   Concerning future technology, you can really see how Card tries to sidestep the entire 'What will they be able to do in the future?' question. He willfully avoids reference to future vehicles, dwellings, medical advancements, and so on, glossing over any details.
   
   But in the process, this interferes with the story. For instance, Ender's angry young adapted son Miro is seriously injured trying to climb an electrified fence. He suffers sever spinal and nerve damage, making it difficult for him to walk and talk normally (he supposedly brain damaged too, but I saw no evidence in the story). Are we really supposed to believe that some 3000 years in the future, humanity has made no medical advancements to cure nerve damage?? This is but one small example of Card copping out on this area, but maybe he felt he wanted to tell a story and not spend time guessing of future gadgets (you're bound to be mostly wrong anyway, I would think).
   
   Card did seem fascinated - even obsessed - with people (especially women) 'telling off' someone. (Imagine that you're stuck in an RV with a really annoying angry partner, nagging the entire time.) I must have read this 10-15 times in the three books.. basically the same sequence; attack, catch air, attack, catch some more air, and destroy. Since writers often use real world experiences in their work, I can only pity the author :)
   
   
   The bottom line:
   
   Card's world of Lusitania and many characters are fun, and I feel like a spent a few years of my life on the planet, in a modest house watching the pequeninos and Hive Queen workers moving about. A simple life, indeed. The books were frustrating at times, taking a lot of patience to read them (I skimmed a little here and there, especially when a character decided to tell another one off ..yet again). If you have the time, take up the challenge. I'm glad I did, though they may not be for everyone.



3. There were times, reading the first three books in the Ender series, where I wanted to skip page after page of Battle School talk. Sure, I like strategy and I like the occasional shoot-em-up, but what attracted me to Card's series was the undertones - the explorations of humanity. Ender embodied both the perfect weapon - able to destroy an entire species without a second thought. But Ender also embodied immense compassion. This book really highlights the significance of who Ender is outside of the Battle School.
   
   Maybe Card could have combined Xenocide (the last of the first three books) with Children of the Mind - but I really didn't mind the extra reading - and I suspect his publishers also didn't mind the additional sales!



4. This Book is insightful as well as entertaining and takes the reader on an adventure into the possibilities of other worlds and creation. It engages the reader such that one feel invested and involved in the destination of 'good' ultimately triumphing.
   I loved it, as did my children.



5. This is an awful book and (luckily) the last in the Ender Quartet.
   
   Ender Wiggin plays almost no part in it at all, and instead his `children' are central. Ender is dying and because of a quantum-physics crap-fest nightmare with a super-computer named Jane (who has taken him `In' and `Out' of space time, allowing for faster than light travel), his personality is split between three people.
   
   The story follows a plethora of characters, none of whom the reader has any reason to care about. They are all two dimensional and completely unbelievable. In the midst of interstellar warfare and dramatic tension, they leap constantly into long diatribes and dialogues whereby they psycho-analyze themselves, their traveling companions, Ender Wiggin, and the moral complications of the situations they have found themselves in. There is no subtlety. There is no action. There are only malformed characters and a convoluted plot that leaves you wishing all three species would be annihilated.
   
   Not recommended. Read 'Enders Game' and stop there.

5 comments about Shadow of the Hegemon (Ender's Shadow).

1. This is the continuation of a series... if you have not read the previous books leading up to this one you will find yourself completely lost. This is the story of Bean from what is left off in Ender's Shadow. The book tells the story of Peter Wiggin and Bean as they struggle against Achilles for the ultimate goal of world peace. Anything else that I could say would be a spoof. If you like the books previous in the series, you will like this one.



2. Most reviews I've read on this page address the book itself, not the audiobook. Not a mention of recording quality, production, or any aspects of the recording. Card mentions repeatedly at the end that audiobook is his preferred way to present his works, but if this is the best they come up with I disagree. FIND THE TIME TO READ THE BOOK. To me these little things in the recordings progressively became more annoying: the recording sounds very tinny, and for some reason "the hegemon" is recorded out of context?; continued mispronunciation of the antagonist throughout the book; and cheesy, poorly thought out musical "interludes" that become more invasive and jarring. Buy the used book and enjoy this great book for a fraction of the cost of this audiobook.



3. This is a good continuations of Ender's Shadow, but not quite at the same level as Ender's Shadow. A major annoyance throughout is every time one of the voice actors says the word "Hegemon" it is dubbed over with some other person's voice saying the word, which kills the flow of the story. The dubbed voice is not even close to whichever voice actor is speaking. At first I believed that it was momentary glitch in the media. until it repeated again, and again throughout the story. Also, someone should really have rethought the music to this as well.
   
   In the above I have hit all of the bad points of the audio book that I notice. It is still well worth the money, a good story, and I don't regret buying it.



4. This sequel to Ender's Shadow was a lot of fun. It serves better at any rate as a sequel to Shadow than it does as a sequel to Ender's Game. Orson Scott Card does a great job in developing Bean further and he's very consistent with previous development. The novel is, of course, centered on Bean as he exploits his training and background from the International Fleet battle school as war breaks out on Earth.
   
   
   Peter Wiggin, on the other hand, feels like a different person from the one described in Ender's Game. I think Card missed the greater opportunity here. The main character of the novel is already well-developed and we get to see him act in a dramatically different and exciting setting. Peter, on the other hand, is more thinly sketched. I wish he had been more fully and consistently developed. When he speaks or acts, it seems incredibly weak compared to his previous performance. His accomplishments are amazing, as we would expect from the character's prior setup, but he always accomplishes them offstage. It is simply stated that he has moved world governments in the background. I would have liked to see more of Peter, and particularly more of the Peter I know and fear. :-)
   
   In addition to Bean, Achilles is also wonderfully developed. By contrast to Peter, he is developing into such a larger than life character that it stretches plausibility. That's easy to forgive though -- our heroes need a villain to fight. I can't wait for the next installment to watch the battle continue.



5. Continuation of the Ender saga, occurs just after the events of Ender's Shadow.
   
   Novel is somewhat worthwhile for three reasons.
   
   Mainly, Ender's Shadow was such a good book that it's inherently interesting to find out what happened to Bean, not to mention Achilles. There is a lot of action involving these two, so it should satisfy curiousity as to their fates.
   
   Second, the Ender universe is probably the last refuge of the meritocratic vision at one time popularized by Asimov, Heinlein, and other authors from the last century. The notions that people on "the net" as Card terms it are going to be swayed by reasoned arguments or that nations will fight over gaining access to bright kids with high test scores, is laughable but endearing. (Parodied in xkcd #635). Meritocratic ideals have long fled the real world, but it's still pleasantly nostalgic to read about this alternate reality where they matter, since they're virtually extinct from modern fiction as well.
   
   Finally, the byzantine political machinations are somewhat interesting, and in particular Achilles' plans are notable.
   
   The novel is nowhere near as strong as Game or Shadow, however. The writing is overly simplistic; the style of the prose is insipid and boring. There is much, much too much dialogue, most of it monotonous. Sometimes characters launch into ridiculous, lengthy and dull speeches for no clear reason, indeed even when there's obviously not time for that. There's one particularly cloying speech by Sister Carlotta where she suddenly describes her whole philosophy of life for pages and pages. The characters, except for Achilles, are drawn on the sappy and uninteresting side as well. Some of the plot developments - the attempts at Bean - are either cliched or not realistic. Bean himself doesn't really do much that clever here.
   
   Overall, there is just a lot of "filler" in the novel, long pointless conversations, and I found myself skimming or speed-reading near the end. Nevertheless, despite its flaws, fans of the Ender saga may find it worth reading.

5 comments about Ender in Exile.

1. Orson Scott Card first wrote about the Battle School in a novelette in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine. It was later expanded to "Ender's Game" and then the Xenocide-Children of the Mind series was written as the true sequel to Ender's Game. But after quite some time, Card came back and revisited Ender with the Ender's Shadow series that fill in the time after Battle School and cover the fate of the other battle school graduates, in particular, Petra Arkanian and Bean (Julian Delphiki.)
   
   The Shadow series was absolutely one of the best "mid-quel" series and I enjoyed every book (most of all Ender's Shadow) and I was nervous that Card would have a tough time to fill in the novel before Shadow began. (This book takes place sometime around Chapter 15 of Ender's Game.)
   
   But Card asked for help unabashedly from friends and fans to make sure incongruities, anachronisms and conflicting stories were minimized, and the result is a very good finish to this extraordinary series of science fiction. I confess I did not like Xenocide at first, but once I saw how it fits into the entire scheme, I came to admire the writing and the story as much as the other Ender books.
   
   This story has to do with the struggle to keep Ender from returning to Earth and fills in his first forays as a colonist on the conquered Bugger worlds. The only flaw is that Valentine (the beautiful, intelligent, loving sister) comes out as a sort of shallow, annoying and frankly irritating person who, other than being able to write histories well, has little to recommend herself as a character. Yes, she has an acerbic wit, but it's transmuted into pure bitchiness here. Sad character development, and it is a flaw in the book. Her role, so large in the other books, is necessarily diminished here (this is Ender's story, mostly) but it really is sad to have Valentine tagging along, being a wet blanket and not a lot else.
   
   Card's writing is as usual, however, at its best when he is telling a basic, almost archetypical tale. The story of Alessandra and Dorabella Toscano is absolutely diverting writing. It seems something of a nonsequitur, but as usual, Card has cards up his sleeve and weaves these new characters into the story with skill. They are actually a sideshow, however and ultimately, they disappear, which is rather strange. Sort of a MacGuffin, in a way, but such good writing one has to forgive it. You can clearly see in the action in many of the scenes that Card thinks like a playwright, especially in the very dramatic showdown between Randall Firth and Ender.
   
   I thought I wouldn't like the book but I couldn't put it down for a second. No, I had to read it all in one gulp and it's sad, but there will be no more Ender stories. This is it, a worthy Ender indeed.



2. Ender's Game is my favorite novel, so read this review with that understanding. Ender's Game is not the best novel ever written, but the one I enjoyed the most because I could relate viscerally to Ender. This book doesn't reach anything close to that standard, but I found myself reading it in one day until 1 a.m., unable to sleep without finishing it. But then again, I'm an Ender lifer.
   For starters, don't bother reading this if you haven't read Ender's Game and at least Ender's Shadow and Speaker for the Dead. Those are the three essential books in the Ender's Game pantheon, with the rest tending to get progressively lame. (Children of the Mind ending up in bigtime lame-o territory, sadly. Card talks in the afterward of this book about how he didn't bother to reread his old books, and I can see why! PLEASE, rewrite Xenocide and Children of the MInd! Or pay another writer to redo them.)
   
   Back to the review: For Ender fans, Ender in Exile is a must read -- there are simply too many expository tidbits and loose ends getting tied. But the plotline is very thin. The new characters are garden variety Card staples -- young girl dealing with overbearing mother, adult who underestimates Ender (ENDER!) even after he's saved humanity, yada yada yada. Ender himself is always interesting, and keeps you reading for more. But Valentine is relegated to a bit part after a promising start. Graff makes several appearances as a sort of Father of Humanity Demigod which proves a convenient way for Card to chew through pages and adds some convenient act of god/act of Graff plot twists. But all of the characters seem like chess pieces in a puzzle of the Enderverse rather than having much in the way of depth or resonance. A lot of the book is simply Card remembering to check plot boxes -- "oh, right, I have to have Ender write The Hegemon, find The Hive Queen, yada yada yada." Perhaps the biggest problem is that very little is actually happening in Ender in Exile, although Card invents a couple of hurdles for Ender to deal with to give the book narrative momentum. But mainly we are reading to see what is going on with Ender -- how he transitions from war hero to humane Speaker for the Dead. Mostly he just seems to mope. I was hoping for a more interesting conversation between Ender and The Hive Queen, but Card is very sparing with Ender's internal thoughts, doling them out slowly to keep you wanting more.
   
   Without giving away what actually happens in the book, it left me with a sense of deepening melancholy, and perhaps that is what Card intends? You do get the sense of intense loneliness that Ender must feel, even moreso as everything he knows save Valentine will fade into dust as he hops from world to world on his journey. Makes you want to embrace everyone you know, hard. And shed a tear for Ender.
   
   One other thing - Card keeps fancying that he is improving as a writer with more experience, etc., and says so in his afterward as a reason not to reread his old books. I disagree. Let's face it, he has NOT improved as a writer since 1984. If anything he's gotten lazier and more arrogant in his religious/political viewpoints and stereotyping. Maybe it's time for a new editor, one who will challenge him more?



3. Thought this was one of the best books in the Enderverse. Everyone that has read any of those books should read this one.



4. Don't expect the second coming. It's merely the second coming of Ender, which is a good thing. It's definitely worth it for Ender fans in my opinion. I was left wanting more, which is a good thing.



5. Orson Scott Card's first four Ender books have a revered place on my SF bookshelf. However, whatever he had going for him at the time he wrote them has seemed to have faded completely through the Bean series and now there is very little left of Card's mastery. What's replaced it is an irritating and overwhelming preachiness--Card makes every opportunity to clumsily try to ram his LDS-inspired 'morality' down everyone's throat. You'll see not-at-all subtle slams on homosexuality and a lot of calls for man-woman monogamy. Of course you should only have sex to reproduce too.
   
   It's a pity, because the story itself isn't bad. But a novel isn't a soapbox for its author to preach his views to a captive audience. Stick with the first four novels, before the LDS church lobotomized him and turned him into Mormon Zombie Card.

5 comments about Speaker for the Dead (Ender Wiggins Saga).

1. If like me you really enjoyed Ender's game beware: this book is quite different. I did not enjoy reading it, the attitude of the characters is infuriating and the author makes it seems as if the whole human race is made of idiots, except of course for Ender. A couple of intriguing concepts are introduced, but overall I was very disappointed.



2. Ok here goes. As so many people have written I loved Ender's Game and was looking forward to picking the story up where it left off. I have battled my way through this book and now am reading the last 100 pages or so and I can say that the story has finally begun to pick up a little, but it has been a slog trying to get to the end as opposed to a pleasure.
   
   The only parts of Ender's Game that I didn't like were the sections focusing on Demosthenes and Locke. Ender's siblings' development into globally respected political pundits seemed very implausible to me. Also, I felt like that part of the story was unnecessary to the main story about Ender. SFTD was, for me, an entire book with the "Demosthenes and Locke" flavor to it as opposed to the excitement and interest of the Ender story. This book gives me the same feeling as watching Phantom Menace: here is the same world with some of the same characters and yet, its not the same at all. They've set up the cameras and started filming again (OSC in this book and George Lucas in Phantom Menace), but this time they're filming all the boring parts.
   
   For one thing, I really disliked OSC's choice of putting the story in this future-catholic Portuguese setting. I've read some Gabriel Garcia Marquez and enjoyed it, but if I'm going to read about humanity 3000 years in the future on another planet, dear god please don't make it feel like I wandered onto the set of a cheesy Mexican soap opera. To think that this is the book OSC had in mind and Ender's Game is only the intro? Wow. Hard to believe. All the time and effort that OSC spends on describing the politics of the priests and saints and local government just feels like total fluff and filler while you keep turning pages hoping that he'll get around to revealing some of the mystery that he sets up with the piggies. And his superfluous use of Portuguese just seems so silly.
   
   In summary, try to imagine the most boring and disconnected sequel possible to the awesomeness that was Ender's Game. Speaker for the Dead is it.



3. Hard to believe but I may like Speaker for the Dead even more than his brilliant first novel Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1). Despite the slow start, this book has more depth of emotion and character development than Enders Game. I really liked his follow up the Buggers war and it appears that he had this book in mind when he wrote Enders Game. That explains much. And maybe solidifies why I liked this even more.
   
   There are many more books in the series (Xenocide (Ender, Book 3) (Ender Quartet) is next I think), I think I have stumbled on something wonderful. There will be more chances to learn of Ender Wiggin and Jane a computer entity that is like the Buggers/Piggies only without feel or touch through appendages. I do not want to give away too much. I will say this....Speaker for the Dead is a job that could be used in today's world as well. Someone who speaks about the dead and tells not what others want to hear but instead the truth no matter how painful or honest it is?
   
   Sam Hendricks, author of Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Guidebook



4. The second book in the Ender series, Speaker for the Dead is, quite simply, incredible. It's different from Ender's Game in a number of ways, both in characterization and writing style. The changes feel natural, though, as Ender is now an adult. As such, his perspective has changed, his voice has matured, and this is reflected well in the narration.
   
   I don't want to give even the slightest hint of a spoiler here. Suffice it to say that this is not a carbon copy of Ender's Game. It's a fully realized story that packs a punch all its own, with great characters and fascinating twists. For science-fiction fans, this novel is an absolute must-read. I'd rank it with the Dune novels, the Red Mars trilogy, and the works of Harlan Ellison as the best I've ever read.
   
   (Note: For the best price, go with the 4-book box set that includes Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind.)



5. Speaker for the Dead is an indirect sequel to Cards landmark novel Ender's Game. Although Speaker for the Dead is dramatically different than Ender's Game it is still a great read that shouldn't be missed.
   
   In Speaker for the Dead the now middle-age Ender Wiggins goes off to a planet called Lusitania to speak for the deaths of a few people. This means telling the truth of a person's life, not just the good. Right from the beginning this creates drama because his sister Valentine, who he is very close to, doesn't want to travel yet Ender feels obligated to go. Because of time-dilation his sister will age over 20 years during his travel. He must go because not only does he need to speak for the dead, he also has to find a home for the queen bugger and Lusitania looks to be a promising home. Lusitania is home to the only other known alien species called the pequeninos (piggies). Humans inhabit Lusitania only to study the piggies but the humans are not allowed to share any information because that would interrupt their natural progression.
   
   Speaker for the Dead is certainly a good read but it didn't captivate me quite like Ender's Game did. This book is a bit more complex, which is good. Here we have religious and political issues and less action than we had in Ender's Game. This isn't a bad thing though; the issues Card explores are actually pretty interesting.
   
   Don't miss this book!

5 comments about Shadow Puppets (Ender's Shadow).

1. As usual, the storyline continues to compel me to delve deeper into the series. I am a recorded books person and I like how the reading is handled by several narrators of both sexes. However, after having discussed the recorded version with several other people, we agree that the female narrator's contribution borders on grating. Her portion is read in an overly-exaggerated, lilting, feigning style that, frankly, seems to be an effort to over-dramatize every single scene read rather than present the story for the listener to interpret him or herself. This irritating style detracts from an otherwise nicely presented story with multiple voices which lends to keeping a recorded book from becoming monotonous. One other curious narration, while not annoying, is the choice of the voice for Bean. Bean, supposedly a teenager, has the voice of a 70 year old man. How nice it would have been to have his voice match his character as well as that of the voices of other male characters in the story. If you can get past the irritating, lilty female parts, the story is well worth your time. I can only hope that as I progress into the next books, the female narrator either changes her style or is replaced by a better voice actress.



2. First, on the book itself, I think the Shadow series really pales in comparison to the Ender books (I know I should judge it sorely on its own merits but frankly, I would have stopped at Ender's Shadow if it weren't for the promise of Card's earlier books) because the human element, faced with innocence by Ender et al, feels missing in this series or at least feels very artificial/manufactured.
   
   The scifi political aspect as well seems lacking in scope -- I know, he's talking about global impact so how's that lacking? I'm not sure but to say that it seems like those under the sway of new regimes are mostly unaffected (basically, I felt that things like the 'Wall of India' seemed like a throw in) and there is very little buy in for the reader to empathize with the struggle. That the technology in use feels very simple and dated (and very gimmicky) -- things like the ansible are never used -- are there no direct peer to peer communications like IMs... I mean I get random anonymous IM/texts spam now so wouldn't that make more sense than emails for timeliness? The technology available when Card wrote this book (2002) was already moving past simple email and it now seems almost anachronistic to use it heavily especially when he's already established an instant method of communications in earlier books.
   
   Power brokers that were and are still in place before Ender's victory are largely not integral to the plot. There is really a lack of the power struggle of the major powers beyond those of the three main characters (and a slight spoiler... the 'new leader' of a re-unified nation who seems to be done as an after thought at the last quarter of the book)... it's definitely a bit thin when I make a comparison to the Foundation politics, (I made this invariable comparison because in his forward to Ender's Game, Card points to Asimov's series as an inspiration and knew he didn't want to do a something similar, yet here is this series) because everything happens just in the nick of time or really without any margins for error but it doesn't have Asimov's reason why everything happens in a predicted manner.
   
   Specifically to the audio edition, I personally dislike the choices for two of the readers. The woman voice sounds too smug most of the time, but that's bearable compared to the person doing Peter's parts who sounds very old and constantly whiny... basically, it sounds like they got a Woody Allen impersonator reading these parts. While there is conflicted inner turmoil, to me, Scott wrote a lot of conviction into Peter's thoughts which does not come through with this particular voice actor.
   
   Anyway, I would only recommend this book as a continuation of the Ender universe but I feel that, as a stand alone series and a book, it isn't particularly engaging.



3. I liked Ender's Game, and was ho-hum on the rest of the Ender series.
   I loved Ender's Shadow, and thought Shadow of the Hegemon was good.
   
   I did not care for Shadow Puppets much at all. The entire Peter Wiggin part of the story is awful! Is this the same character as in the previous books? The character who's clear thinking, logic, ability to appeal to the emotions of the people captivated the population with essays and arguments using the pseudonyms Locke and Demosthenes? No! This Peter Wiggin is extraordinarily self doubting, highly immature, and emotional. Strangely, after masterminding Locke and Demosthenes and always being a few steps ahead of everyone, he now can almost not make a move without help, consultation, an enormous amount of prodding, and a great deal of whining.
   
   For me, it was mostly a waste of time and money. I will be buying the next in the series shortly and hoping it is much better.



4. This book is excruicatingly bad. All the characters speak with the same exact style of voice. A half-formal, half-scarcastic (but never genuinely funny) monotone. Card's earlier works in the Ender series were great, with characters you can care about. Here, it feels like we're at a dinner party with George Lucas and Orson Scott Card talking about their past triumphs, revisiting them, and in the end ruining them through boredom and pretentiousness. I can't believe how much yapping there is about stupid political situations. It could have worked if they didn't sound utterly made up, with a "And then the main characters were 100% right and guessed all the right answers" tacked on at the end.
   
   And the audiobook version: The characters speak as if everything they say is super-important and must be said in a whiny whisper. Chapters are separated by the cheesiest music I have every heard this side of an elevator.



5. While I'm still enjoying following the future of the characters of Ender's Shadow and Ender's Game, I'm not really enjoying the setting. Contemporary-feeling world politics and war just aren't working for me. It's like a juvenile version of Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum. I'm such a fan of the characters, I'm afraid that I'm in for the long haul, but sequels should be good enough that you'd want to read them on their own for their stories, and Shadow Puppets falls short of that for me.

5 comments about Xenocide: Volume Three of the Ender Quartet.

1. Ethical dilemmas with world-shattering consequences that threaten each person's faith and place in their society. Mr. Card uses this theme not only to tell a engrossing story, but to allow his readers to thoughtfuly reflect on the story as an allegory for ethical dilemmas faced by each reader in his or her life.
   
   Mr. Card elects to tell his story through a series of linked scenes where characters talk about the issues/events facing them. Often, the issues themselves are referred to rather than shown since the characters might not have had direct experience with the events that would subsequently deeply impact their lives.
   
   Though I have little experience with the history of novel structure, it seems to me that Mr. Card has chosen to use a story-telling technique that was common in the 19th century when readers expected a story told through dialogue. This is very different than the modern concept of novel in which the story is told through character action or action that affects characters.
   
   Mr. Card does a wonderful job telling the story through this technique. The story is neither slow nor fast; it does not bog down in places. It is told exactly as Mr. Card intended with the technique he uses.
   
   The technique is very different that most other techniques used in the SF field in particular and in most mass-market books in general. And because it is uncommon, reades might find it jarring.
   
   So, if a person likes stories told with this dialogue-based technique, he/she will love this book. If a person does not like stories told with the technque, he/she will not like this book.



2. The first thing you have to understand about "Xenocide" is that half of it wasn't actually intended to be an "Ender" novel. Card fused his previously unsuccessful Novella about the crippled geniuses of "The World of Path" with the successful "Ender" series, hardly even bothering to create even the most basic of segues between the two stories. This is why much of the book doesn't appear to have anything at all to do with Ender, Lusitania, or indeed, anything else in the series.
   
   The next thing you need to know is that most of "Xenocide" is Card musing about his own arrival at Middle Age, and his personal obsession with the Portuguese culture. The adult Andrew Wiggin of "Xenocide" is nothing at all like the gifted young boy we met in Ender's Game. In Xenocide, Andrew is now a broken-down loser with a bad marriage, shattered dreams, and the secret conviction that he's the most boring character in his own story. The book has been out for a while, so certainly it's no Spoiler to mention that by the end of the book, Andrew has basically committed suicide, apparently out of a desire to avoid having to appear in any more sequels.
   
   It's fine that Card grew bored with the series. It's even understandable that he'd attempt to continue milking it as a Cash Cow, long after he actually wanted to continue writing them. But what I personally resent is the way that, with each new sequel, he ruined the legacy of the first novel. Eventually Card informs us that Ender, our hero from Ender's Game, was actually the least important person in the series. EVERYONE turns out to be cooler, smarter, and more important. But honestly, it's not Card that's to blame. He's just a guy trying to make a buck.
   
   So you know who IS to blame? You. The Fanboy. The psychotic dork that's busy looking for the "Not Helpful" button in a flurry of righteous indignation because I dared say anything critical about this series. You're the ones that always ruin EVERYTHING. You convinced George Lucas that Jar Jar Binks was a pretty cool idea. You convinced the Walchowski brothers that the Matrix needed two increasingly boring and idiotic sequels. You flocked to "Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End". You made Transformers 2 one of the biggest movies of all time. In short, by rewarding garbage, you encourage artists to keep producing ever-larger HEAPS of garbage.



3. Title: Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
   
   Pages: 592.
   
   Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 2 years.
   
   Days spent reading it: Over 1 ½ years. I started reading it just before a family vacation in June of 2008.
   
   Why I read it: It is the third book in the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is one of my favorite books of all time.
   
   Brief review: Xenocide is a strange book to categorize for me. On the one hand, Card has created a morally fascinating novel that started in Speaker for the Dead and continues here in Xenocide. At the heart of the book is the question--how do we determine who we will go to war with and kill? What if it is us or them, how do we respond? And he takes these very great questions and extends them to the extreme. So, what if it was the entire human race or an entire alien race? What would we do? What if it was three or four intelligent species? I love the questions that this book creates and begins to solve.
   
   Second, I like how Card makes me think about how we would interact with a culture that is entirely different from our own. Sure, Card is using aliens as his example of a new culture, but aliens are a clear metaphor for any culture different from our own. How will we interact with that culture, influence that culture, change that culture, even by simply observing? It is a question cultural anthropologists and missiologists have been dealing with for a long time now.
   
   This book struggles (and so does Speaker for the Dead) in explanations about science. Card gets bogged down explaining philosophy about human connections (philotes), DNA splicing, space/time travel, etc. It is clear that Card has done his background research, his explanations just seem forced. I feel like someone needs to tell him, "It is science fiction, it does not have to be based on REAL science."
   
   Reading Xenocide made me want to read Ender's Game again. And that is not a bad thing. I think people who are already committed to the Ender series will like this book, but it would not be a good place to start.
   
   Favorite quote: "Isn't it possible, he wondered, for one person to love another without trying to own each other? Or is that buried deep in our genes that we can never get it out? Territoriality. My wife. My friend. My lover. My outrageous and annoying computer personality who's about to be shut off at the behest of a half-crazy girl genius with OCD on a planet I never heard of and how will I live without Jane when she's gone?"
   
   Stars: 3.5 out of 5.
   
   Final Word: Deadly.



4. As my three year-old son says whenever his dad and mom are chatting for awhile, "too much talking!" And that pretty much says it all for this book. Way too much talking!
   
   I am a great fan of great dialog. Raymond Chandler could write dialog, clipped, brief and to the point. Hunter S. Thompson wrote great dialog, fast, funny and to the point. These are not fair and adequate comparisons to Mr. Card's style of writing. But I am composing this negative review out of thin air and can't at the moment think of better examples. Basically, the dialog in this book is over the top lengthy, preachy, tiresome, annoying and cloying.
   
   The author has opted to go for a really, really long narrative framed almost extensively with dialog. There is surprisingly little exposition compared to the first book in the series, Ender's Game, which was almost all description and action. Speaker For The Dead started to go the "talkie" way, but it managed to hold its own with just enough action, drama and consequence to keep it mildly interesting.
   
   This book, however, to put it bluntly, is boring, boring, boring! The characters just drone on and on about the most inconsequential things. And the author attempts to create false drama where there doesn't need to be any in the endless conversations that take place between the tiny number of characters that matter. And the non-stop discussions regarding religion are so forced and unmotivated that you really have to question what exactly the author was trying to actually say. Seriously mixed messages, that's what.
   
   Okay. Here is a list of the other annoyances that probably won't matter to anyone except those who have already read the book. If you haven't read the book and are looking for buying advice, BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS:
   
   - First, I find it tremendously annoying when an author focuses abnormally on things that don't matter to the story, the characters, the action or the genre. Many authors have this problem, they try to inject their own personal real-life hobbies, sports interests, travel destinations, etc. into their writing. And it stands out like a cancerous lump. In this case, Mr. Card focuses way too much on his love of the Brazilian culture - especially the Portuguese language. It becomes so intensely, rancorously, `throw the book into the ocean', annoying after only the first couple of chapters to have to wade through endless Portuguese utterances by the characters. Especially since, in every friggin' single case, an English translation follows immediately after. Why bother at all? Having this band of characters be Brazilian is so absolutely incidental to the plot, it is unnecessary. Ahhh, but then the author did his Mormonic duties in Brazil and this is one of his personal loves. Therefore, we must suffer his hobby with him. Not to mention, the ludicrous idea that a purely Portuguese/Brazilian/Catholic group of xenophobes is chosen by the one-hundred world congress to be the only entity allowed to walk on this world of Lusitania. Where is the cultural diversity? Are there really no people of any other ethnic group allowed into this community? It really is a cult by nearly every definition, but I don't think that is what the author necessarily intended. Or did he... (read any religious undertones into this statement that you want)
   
   - It is made clear early in Speaker For The Dead that a rampant virus affects the world of Lusitania. Therefore, all people there know that they can never leave this world for fear of carrying the virus out into the rest of the universe. So then, why is a gigantic fleet of ships assembled and sent to Lusitania to wipe out the planet and all trace of the "Descolada" only after it is found out that Miro and Wanda have taught the Piggies how to grow some hay? Again, this virus is not new news. Everybody knows about it and has always known about it. Yes, the 100 World Congress wants to keep any of the so-called "rebels" from leaving the planet. But wait. In the many years it will take for the invasion fleet to arrive, any number of people could hop into Ender's or Valentine's space yachts and fly off to anywhere. Not to mention the colonization ship that still sits out there. There is a serious disconnect here.
   
   - Why send a multi-ship invasion fleet if all they intend to do is drop one worldbuster bomb on the place? Further, there is to be no "invasion". So this terminology is simply incorrect throughout the series.
   
   - How is it that throughout all the hundred worlds and the ten trillion people out there, there only seems to be capable scientists in the Ribeira family? Not only are they universe-class xenobiologists (and apparently the only ones in the universe), they are together the top biologist (Ella creates the descolada killer pretty much all by herself, which the rest of the scientists in the entire history of the universe apparently have no luck at. Ella also one morning over tea and crumpets creates the great OCD killer that is subsequently sent to the planet Path. That Ella is a busy little chick!), and the greatest Physicist (exactly where Grego got his incredible training and degree is entirely unclear since the fifteen thousand people on Lusitania are apparently all brick layers, clergy, barmen and policemen. But he solves faster than light travel in basically an afternoon). And seriously, would the 100 World Congress entrust all that is known about the only other sentient creatures in the universe to two eighteen year-old members of a Portuguese semi-cult? That's like leaving the opening of King Tut's tomb to a couple of middle school kids with hammers. Come on!
   
   - Can the 100 World Congress think of no other plan than to destroy the only other sentient creatures in the universe? Can't they even try? How about quarantine? How about trying to figure out a virus killer? Oh wait, only the eighteen year-old biologist on Lusitania could ever figure that out. Right. Forgot.
   
   - Why does Ender, the smartest, toughest, most powerful human in history have to become such a wimp? He is utterly a wet Kleenex throughout this book. I have lost all interest in him as a character by the end. He is not at all the same person that started the trilogy. Perhaps this is by design, but I find it disconcerting and dismaying.
   
   - Hey, by the way, what happened to Valentine's family and the tutor who was so enamored first with Ender and then with the bugger queen? Did they go away? Did they die? Did they just go out for a quick bite down at the Portuguese bakery on the corner? The author built these characters up enough early on that to entirely abandon them later with no resolution is just poor story construction. Perhaps he was working on a typewriter and couldn't go back and delete them. I don't know.
   
   - So, the Lusitanians all get drunk and upset one evening in June and they go out and burn down the Piggy's forest, kill all the women and children, and basically holocaust the Piggies into oblivion. Now this is a minor complaint, but just a few chapters later, all is unicorns and rainbows. The Piggies harbor absolutely no resentment and are actually begging to be used in Ella's death experiments. "Yeah, you killed ma and my two sisters, but hey, these things happen, right? Let's see what's cookin' down at ye olde lab, shall we?" It just is not entirely realistic.
   
   - Another minor inconsistency. Early in the book, it is claimed that no planet has ever been terraformed by humans. Then, close to the end of the book, it is made clear that the planet Path is a terraformed planet. So this is an anomaly. Also, somewhat related, the characters make a big deal all throughout the book about how awful it was for some unknown entity to have tried to terraform Lusitania by unleashing its 'descolada' as an instrument of biological change. But then, without any twinge of conscience (and I think this actually happens at the beginning of 'Children of the Mind', I can't remember exactly) the Piggies, the Buggers and the Humans are dropping in all over the galaxy and planting themselves into fresh planets. Now isn't planting piggy trees going to mess with the ecology of an existing ecosystem? Apparently, our characters are all xenophobic hypocrites.
   
   I've got more, much more. But I've just hit one thousand words and I'm sweating with anger and frustration. This diatribe must end. "Too much talking!"



5. I have read a half dozen of Card's Ender series. None are as good as the original "Enders Game" but this is definitly second place. Ender has aged a good deal, and the young boy's unique, but somehow believable life situation had given the first book a lot of appeal. That was gone in this book. Ender is not the strong character he was.
   
   The Xenocide storyline and character development are what was so fascinating for me. Card takes his creatures and humanizes them and yet gives them complete uniqueness as interstellar foreign species. In the first three books of the series, the author is excellent at developing the moral issues, without being terribly obvious that they are moral issues, which can get kind of sappy. This book as well as the other two are very compelling reads - hard to put down - make you think and want to talk about them.
   
   My kids turned me on to them after reading them in school, and I have continued to recommend them to others for years. And I am not a sci fi fan in general.

5 comments about Ender's Shadow.

1. Ender's Game became, when I read it, one of my favorite books. This book is OK, alright, acceptable, etc. any middle of the road adjective you could think of and even that, it's only because it's based on a story I liked, in a location I liked, etc.
   So why not give it 4 or 3 stars?
   Because it actually seems to try to tear down Ender's Game.
   All the things you remember about Ender's Game, this book tells you they were actually WRONG!
   
   Ender is a smart kid? well NO, turns out he's "slow" compared to the title character in this book.
   Ender took a ragtag group of people and made them into a great 'army'? NO, the only reason he did well, was because the title character in this book chose a great army for him.
   Ender is a good leader? NO again, he only did well because the title character in this book was helping him behind the scenes.
   I could go on, but you get the gist. This book takes your prized memories of Ender from Ender's Game and tears them down.
   Extremely disappointing!



2. I think I'm one of the few reviewers who had not read _Ender's Game_ before reading this. But after reading, I went back and read about 5 other books in the Ender's series. Still, I think this is the best, and most interesting. Characters well drawn out. Good tension between main characters. Interesting imagination of what life on the streets was like while most of the Ender's series is about life in space.



3. ender's game and ender's shadow are both very good books and it doesn't meter which book you will read first.



4. There are very few writers who are able to really introduce you to the characters. So many book are written as stories where we watch what is going on, similar to a movie. Card takes us into the characters helping us to see as they see, think as they think. For me this happened as I got to know Bean and it changed the way i saw the world.



5. I didn't fall in love with "Ender's Game" like everyone else, but I decided to give this book a chance. Even though it takes place during the same time period and place, I found it worth reading. It stays more on point than the other book and was just easier to read.

5 comments about Ender's Game (Ender Quartet).

1. Ender's Game is a scifi masterpiece, with a psychological twist. Fantastic read! It's surprisingly meaty for young adult literature. This book should be mandatory in every high school.



2. This may be the worst book of science fiction/fantasy I ever finished. I should have dumped it after the first fifty pages, but I kept thinking it had to get better based on all the awards it won and the rave reviews. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the books is absolutely terrible.
   
   You should know that this book is geared almost entirely to pre-teens. And it is so far fetched as to be laughable. Now I realize that Star Wars is far-fetched too, but that's not what I'm saying here. It's the whole premise--the idea that the military is going to scout grade school looking for the next great world leader. But they're not trying to get them through high school--heck no, that would be too late--the really good commanders peak around age nine, right?
   
   The vast majority of this book is spent recording the military training of Ender Wiggins. This training is almost exclusively in a zero gravity chamber where teams of little kids battle with their "freeze suits". Somehow this is supposed to prepare them for battling the insect-like hordes of aliens that are warring with Earth. In reality, this training has nothing to do with anything. It's brainless, repetitious and so utterly abstract as to be meaningless. "Ender kicks of a wall, does a double backflip. The team forms a ring--no one saw that coming. Wow--Ender won again. This kid's a genius!" Yeah, it really is that bad. And it goes on, and on, and on.
   
   Trust me, this is one you want to skip.



3. I just recently read Ender's game for the first time. It would have been better to have read this as a child because that really seems to have been the target audience, but people of all ages can find something to like about it. The story is well told but the author isn't very descriptive, you have to let your imagination do the work. The basic plot is that a special boy gets recruited in the the "I.F" and goes through a lot of training and trials until he is finally read to save all of humanity from an external alien threat. That kind of thing either appeals to you or it doesn't. For obvious reasons it would probably be the kind of thing young boys with healthy imaginations would love. Kids pretend to be heroes all the time. This novel does the work of making a boy hero people can cheer for from the sidelines. It will be great to see this made into film. It's already being turned into a comic if you need a visual experience. Audio editions are also out there if you prefer to have it read to you.



4. The novel feels like a literary equivalent of an abstract black and white landscape photograph- interesting, beautiful in its own way, but not sumptuous or immediately breathtaking. My major complaint is the premise that six to 12 year-old children, brilliant though they may be, are capable of becoming soldiers and commanders of intergalactic space armadas. This strikes me as preposterous and I had difficulty believing or accepting this (thus the 4 and not 5 stars). The aforementioned lack of interesting (to me), beautiful prose, led me to dislike the book about half-way through. That is, until chapter 14. The last 60 pages of this book: several revelations, the climax, resolution, epilogue are brilliantly written. The whole story comes together, everything makes sense. This is a story of struggle, despair, desperation, discipline, loneliness, and love. Ender's Game is a wonderful story, first and foremost. Although, I was not entranced by OS Card's literary style - the language and tone are often dull and monotone - the story, when viewed completely, is worthy of the highest praise.



5. In the introduction to Ender's game by Orson Scott Card, Card talks about how many years before the book was written he came up with the idea of the "Battle room" a room for simulated combat. He never came up with a story he could use this idea in, until Ender's Game. Looking back at the book, it is easy to see that the same idea of simulation is used as a metaphor for human nature, war, strategy, and morals.
   The book is about Andrew "Ender" Wiggin. From the start, we learn he is a third. Since the earth has become overpopulated, each family is only allowed to have two children. However, the Wiggin family's two children were both incredibly smart, but both had extreme tendencies. Peter, Ender's older brother, is almost psychopathic, yet calculating and controlling. He is cruel to both animals and his siblings, Ender and Victoria, the middle child. She is incredibly kind, and emotional, almost to the point of weakness. They were both almost sent up to Battle School, a large orbiting spaceship with multiple simulated combat rooms. However, there extreme tendencies kept them out. The government asked the Wiggin family to have another child, to see if he could have the perfect tendencies.
   Once Ender is sent to Battle School at the age of 6, he is immediately once again treated as an outcast. He is put under the control of an officer who is rigorous and precise. He is not even allowed to fire his weapon, out of spite. He is eventually moved to another group, where the officer is extremely lax. The book spends most of the time talking about his time in Battle School.
   This book has so many different levels. One that I've already touched on is simulation versus reality. Not only does the battle room train the children soldiers, there is a "game" the students are allowed to play. It is in reality a psychological test. At one point, Ender goes beyond the realm of the game's programming, and enters a virtual universe of his own subconscious. This area is used as an analogy for the rest of the book.
   Another theme is the interactions between different family members. While Ender is away, Peter and Victoria start false accounts on the internet that they use to showcase their views. However, their online personas are the opposite of their real selves. Victoria's screen name, Demosthenes, is a raging conservative who will rant and rave about American security. Peter, as Locke, is a calm, cool-headed liberal. They are forced to use each other's advice to write as their online personas.
   Another theme we see is that of good and evil; more specifically, the line between the two. The purpose of the Battle School is to train soldiers for the war against the insect-like creatures nicknamed buggers. However, when it comes time to attack the buggers, Ender is stricken with grief, since, in his words, "Once I truly understand an enemy, I love them." A metaphor for this same struggle is found in Peter and Victoria, who are both forced to work against and with each other at once.
   This is one of the classics of science fiction literature. It is much more suited towards a teenage audience, but it is by no means simplistic, and can be enjoyed by adults as well. It is not an action-packed thriller, but a thriller nonetheless. Well written and enjoyable, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in science fiction.