Reviews

Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card

robivy's review

4.0

Much better than Xenocide, but still not up to the standard set by Speaker for the Dead. Part of me liked how everything got tied up with a bow, but I can't help but think that it would have been a better book of that wasn't the case. Card got a little existential in this one, but not so much so that it turned me off. Overall it was a great ending to the series, and I'm glad I invested the time to read it.

ekmsmith's review

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

kaitlyn_murgatroyd's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

2000rebecca2000's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

rainbyrd's review

4.0

Pretty good, this is where the series starts to go downhill for me though.

muji89's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

lyhadley's review

5.0

Fantastic, mystical wrapping-up of Ender's journey. While Children of the Mind didn't answer all my questions from the previous three books, it does a good job of passing the torch to new characters while laying the main protagonist to rest. I think Peter and Wang-mu are especially intriguing characters, mostly because they're both very smart but in very different ways. Looking forward to reading The Last Shadow after I finish the Shadow Saga.

chriskirk's review

1.0

Utterly mediocre, with unreasonable, sometimes unnecessary, characters that act and think spastically. Characters evade tough choices through the spontaneous discovery of loopholes, courtesy of the ambiguity of major plot points. Only a handful of things actually happen in this book; the rest of it comprises mountains of childish, trivial bickering between the characters or characters psychoanalyzing other characters to make them and the book seem profound and complex, but it just comes off as contrived.

kamkanga's review

3.0

A good read, worth the time, but not mind-altering. There are some new concepts that are interesting, but not necessarily very inspiring If you want to read the series though, this is worth your time.

bjonassen10's review

4.0

Great ending to the series, would have been 5 stars if the characters would’ve had better development. Annoyed that Grego and Quara were essentially exactly the same last book but only Grego got growth, Plikt never spoke and it turns out she was just obsessed with Ender for 30 years and was never a whole person, Novinha still somehow became a religious fanatic when that makes zero sense, and Valentine was severely pushed to the side as usual. It just seems like women never get great development.