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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
It took me a while to get into it - I'm not a fan of email format - but at about the middle of the book I was finally in.
I still can't stand Valentine and the book is not nearly as good as the first one. Overall OK.
I still can't stand Valentine and the book is not nearly as good as the first one. Overall OK.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a good solid read but has some problems. See my blog about it here - https://johnthecaptainryan.blogspot.ie/2017/11/ender-in-exile-by-orson-scott-card-book.html
I liked this book a lot better than the original (Ender's Game). Chronologically, the events in this book occur at the same time as the final few chapters of Ender's Game. But this was written 23 years after Ender's Game. And Card seems to have developed splendidly as a writer during this time.
Unlike in Ender's Game, where I felt the writing style, pacing and descriptions to be jarring and inconsistent, everything flows smoothly in this book. The descriptions are detailed, the pacing is consistent with nothing feeling rushed and the characters are all way, way better. And by better, I mean they behave in a more mature fashion, their motivations and thoughts are well explained and don't make you go 'WTF?' every few pages. Things generally progress much slower in this book than Ender's Game, but they keep the same steady pace throughout and are nevertheless very interesting.
Unfortunately, since this book is basically a fleshing-out of the final 2 chapters of Ender's Game, not only do you already know the overall plot, you also know not much is going to happen in this book. And that is basically the biggest flaw: the average (and already known) plot. Presumably, Card felt that the final few chapters of Ender's Game were not well done (rightly so) and wrote this book to fix his shoddy work. It is a great fix, sure, but it is a fix nonetheless.
Overall, the writing is of very high quality but is let down a bit by the plot which is average.
Unlike in Ender's Game, where I felt the writing style, pacing and descriptions to be jarring and inconsistent, everything flows smoothly in this book. The descriptions are detailed, the pacing is consistent with nothing feeling rushed and the characters are all way, way better. And by better, I mean they behave in a more mature fashion, their motivations and thoughts are well explained and don't make you go 'WTF?' every few pages. Things generally progress much slower in this book than Ender's Game, but they keep the same steady pace throughout and are nevertheless very interesting.
Unfortunately, since this book is basically a fleshing-out of the final 2 chapters of Ender's Game, not only do you already know the overall plot, you also know not much is going to happen in this book. And that is basically the biggest flaw: the average (and already known) plot. Presumably, Card felt that the final few chapters of Ender's Game were not well done (rightly so) and wrote this book to fix his shoddy work. It is a great fix, sure, but it is a fix nonetheless.
Overall, the writing is of very high quality but is let down a bit by the plot which is average.
challenging
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyed it. If you like his Ender & Bean series (which I do, obviously), then this is a cool read because it ties together and fills in a lot of interesting plot details & twists.
While a pleasing, but not critical, entry into the Ender series, it was a mostly enjoyable foray. Of course, you knew Ender would end up victorious and, if you had read the quartet prior, you knew his thought processes and guilt behind everything with the Formics, making this novel become a bit of a rehash of everything already alluded to in the other novels. It was an interesting read nevertheless, as the novel explored the universe following the Formic war and how the colonisation of other worlds was handled.
Overall I enjoyed the book, however I thought it could've ended earlier.
I would recommend it to those who enjoyed the Ender universe immensely, however it isn't a critical read and is easily skippable.
Overall I enjoyed the book, however I thought it could've ended earlier.
Spoiler
It felt like it had ended after everything was cleared up on Shakespeare, but the addition of the Achilles and Virlomi 'saga' was still undergoing by the time that had all wrapped up, and as a result the end of that saga felt clunky and rushed. I understood that it was a device to aid Ender in absolving his guilt (somewhat), and probably a nod to Bean and the other series of books, but I thought it was a bit tacked on and clumsy in execution.I would recommend it to those who enjoyed the Ender universe immensely, however it isn't a critical read and is easily skippable.
I'm not a big fan of science fiction but I have loved the Ender series since discovering it back in college. This is a great addition to the saga: a story of Ender's life immediately following the war of the "Buggers." Card spins a great tale, as always, and as always I find woven into the story little gems of truth that speak to me on a deeper level.
I really enjoyed the story of Ender between "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the Dead". It was not what I expected it to be, but I enjoyed the characters, both old and new, and the interesting concepts (the Gold Bugs). I was so happy when the loose end from "The Shadow of the Giant" was tied up. Overall, a read I enjoyed for the most part and was one of O. S. C.'s better books.