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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I think I will finally be able to read Speaker for the Dead. This gives me the backstory that I felt missing from that novel, whose Enderless beginning proving all to jarring for me. This is perhaps an odd review but this is an odd and particular volume. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this very much.
I'm in love with the Enderverse! I can't get out of it! I try and try to read other books but keep coming back for more. What a wonderful addiction!!!
More of a collection of Ender stories than a cohesive novel. It's nice to be back in the Enderverse, but I wish there had been more plot.
(3.85 Stars)
I forgot how much I loved this series!
OSC is a great writer, and this is such an interesting story. This book fills in a gap between other major works and really grows Ender/Andrew as a character.
I don't know if I just never noticed it in other books or if OSC has inserted his religious beliefs in this book more than his others (keep in mind it has been several years since I last read an OSC book). It isn't to the point where I feel like it is being shoved down my throat, but it is there, and unnecessarily so... in most cases.
I forgot how much I loved this series!
OSC is a great writer, and this is such an interesting story. This book fills in a gap between other major works and really grows Ender/Andrew as a character.
I don't know if I just never noticed it in other books or if OSC has inserted his religious beliefs in this book more than his others (keep in mind it has been several years since I last read an OSC book). It isn't to the point where I feel like it is being shoved down my throat, but it is there, and unnecessarily so... in most cases.
I thought that this was a nice continuation of the story that bridges the gap between Ender's Game, the Shadow Series, and the next set of sequels. There were a few times that you could tell that problems were written in search of a solution, that solution being a reason for this book to exist outside of a 100 page novella. Objectively, and certainly to people who read the original sequels when they came out, I'm sure it's probably more of a 2/5, but I enjoy these characters and universe a lot so for me it's a 3.5/5. I definitely think Graff got a little bit too mushy, but I guess there is some sort of setup for his character to do so in EG, I just don't know that it's significant enough. I liked that characters from Ender's Shadow show up here, and that some attempt to tie up loose ends was made. I don't love how hastily it was done, and in a totally separate plot from the rest of the book's main story. The first two parts, on the ship and on Shakespeare, work well together, but the last part that takes up only a few dozen pages seemed forced. I'm not sure what Card's thought process was/is at this point with his writing, and I am quite sure I don't want to know.
I wasn't impressed by Card's admission in the afterword that he's basically forgotten a lot of the details of this series and couldn't be bothered to go back and re-read his own writing in order to ensure consistency when he wrote this book, and so instead relied on fans to answer his questions for him. I honestly don't know how he kept chugging out enjoyable work this long. He is also really beating a dead horse with the not-so-subtle inclusions of the "family matters" trope at this point. It was exhausting when it cropped up in the Shadow series; he recovered well enough by the end. It's in this book, too, and it's completely obvious. Of course it's important to him, of course it's what he believes, but it's like he feels bad for swearing too much and not including his beliefs in his original book and has been making up for it since by trying to find a way to shove them into the plots of the sequels. Even though we share the same beliefs (though I'm sure we see them differently in just about every way), it's still painful to me to see him shoehorn this stuff into his work. It's just not well executed and comes at the potential cost of his stories. You can't keep revisiting the same "everyone wants a huge happy family" trope without it becoming cheesy and overplayed. I've had to compartmentalize a lot while reading this series, but it's an interesting enough world with such good characters (mostly) that it doesn't come as too much of an issue for me. We'll see what happens in the Speaker series.
I wasn't impressed by Card's admission in the afterword that he's basically forgotten a lot of the details of this series and couldn't be bothered to go back and re-read his own writing in order to ensure consistency when he wrote this book, and so instead relied on fans to answer his questions for him. I honestly don't know how he kept chugging out enjoyable work this long. He is also really beating a dead horse with the not-so-subtle inclusions of the "family matters" trope at this point. It was exhausting when it cropped up in the Shadow series; he recovered well enough by the end. It's in this book, too, and it's completely obvious. Of course it's important to him, of course it's what he believes, but it's like he feels bad for swearing too much and not including his beliefs in his original book and has been making up for it since by trying to find a way to shove them into the plots of the sequels. Even though we share the same beliefs (though I'm sure we see them differently in just about every way), it's still painful to me to see him shoehorn this stuff into his work. It's just not well executed and comes at the potential cost of his stories. You can't keep revisiting the same "everyone wants a huge happy family" trope without it becoming cheesy and overplayed. I've had to compartmentalize a lot while reading this series, but it's an interesting enough world with such good characters (mostly) that it doesn't come as too much of an issue for me. We'll see what happens in the Speaker series.
Set immediately after the events of Ender's Game, this sequel narrates Ender's life following the end of the Bugger War. The story deals primarily with the guilt that Ender feels as a result of having killed two boys while at Battle School, and the unknowing xenocide of an entire species.
Ender sacrifices his reputation by revealing the deaths of Bonzo and Stilson to the court martial, even though he is unable to understand why the buggers "let him win." He travels out into the colonies to find an answer, and eventually lets himself be beaten up, partly to punish himself.
Orson Scott Card provides some further great lore on the wars during Peter's ascent to the Hegemony. I enjoyed the following up of many characters from Ender's Game, as well as the power the jeesh had on the new Earth. Insight into the way the colonies were created was also welcome.
I think this book falls down on the necessity of sticking with the previous timeline at the end of Ender's Game. Card's afterword notes that he is prone to making errors in continuity. The book suffers from spending a lot of time dealing with how Ender sees his parents and sister on his way to Shakespeare, and much less with his own redemption until the very end. Various plotlines on the ship appeared gratuitous to me - enjoyable to read, but not apparently necessary and diminishing from the "point" of the book.
Looking forward to exploring more of Ender's universe.
Ender sacrifices his reputation by revealing the deaths of Bonzo and Stilson to the court martial, even though he is unable to understand why the buggers "let him win." He travels out into the colonies to find an answer, and eventually lets himself be beaten up, partly to punish himself.
Orson Scott Card provides some further great lore on the wars during Peter's ascent to the Hegemony. I enjoyed the following up of many characters from Ender's Game, as well as the power the jeesh had on the new Earth. Insight into the way the colonies were created was also welcome.
I think this book falls down on the necessity of sticking with the previous timeline at the end of Ender's Game. Card's afterword notes that he is prone to making errors in continuity. The book suffers from spending a lot of time dealing with how Ender sees his parents and sister on his way to Shakespeare, and much less with his own redemption until the very end. Various plotlines on the ship appeared gratuitous to me - enjoyable to read, but not apparently necessary and diminishing from the "point" of the book.
Looking forward to exploring more of Ender's universe.
SLJ review:
Adult/High School-Here is Card's answer to all those readers who asked, "What happened to Ender?" between Ender's Game (1985) and Speaker for the Dead (1986, both Tor), a gap that covers nearly 3000 years. Twelve-year-old Ender Wiggin should be coming home to a hero's welcome after wiping out the dreaded buggers-aliens who have twice defeated humanity in the past-in a fierce space battle. He is instead proclaimed a dangerous weapon and appointed titular governor of a colony world to keep him as far away from Earth as possible. His beloved sister Valentine joins him on the colony ship but is unable to penetrate the barriers he has erected around himself. Wracked with remorse at his genocide of the buggers, Ender searches for the reason the aliens allowed him to defeat them, knowing the answer will give him direction. As in most great speculative fiction, Card mines the depths of humanity's philosophical and political ideas through Ender's trials and discoveries. Exile brings together many drifting story lines from a number of other books in the series, so it's not for the uninitiated. For those who are familiar with Ender and his world, this is a wonderful treat to be devoured whole in a gulp and then returned to later to digest at leisure.-Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Adult/High School-Here is Card's answer to all those readers who asked, "What happened to Ender?" between Ender's Game (1985) and Speaker for the Dead (1986, both Tor), a gap that covers nearly 3000 years. Twelve-year-old Ender Wiggin should be coming home to a hero's welcome after wiping out the dreaded buggers-aliens who have twice defeated humanity in the past-in a fierce space battle. He is instead proclaimed a dangerous weapon and appointed titular governor of a colony world to keep him as far away from Earth as possible. His beloved sister Valentine joins him on the colony ship but is unable to penetrate the barriers he has erected around himself. Wracked with remorse at his genocide of the buggers, Ender searches for the reason the aliens allowed him to defeat them, knowing the answer will give him direction. As in most great speculative fiction, Card mines the depths of humanity's philosophical and political ideas through Ender's trials and discoveries. Exile brings together many drifting story lines from a number of other books in the series, so it's not for the uninitiated. For those who are familiar with Ender and his world, this is a wonderful treat to be devoured whole in a gulp and then returned to later to digest at leisure.-Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI
Although a huge Ender's Game fan, I've wearied of the series a bit over the years, and suspected this book (Christmas present) might just be milking it. But I genuinely enjoyed the midquel (part sequel, part prequel), in part for the way it linked the centuries and different planets' stories from the other books (it's sci fi, obviously). Nice to have an interesting story on its own that also feels nostalgic.
In the notes it's mentioned that Ender in Exile takes place between chapters 14 and 15 of Enders Game. Who would have thought so much and indeed so little could have occurred in this timeframe. There's the usual hints of fun, a would be dictator toppled from his lofty expectations, again the idea of rebelling against ones parents while accepting their flaws. I just wish it had been a bit more fun to read!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes