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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
This whole book is a retcon. Which Card acknowledges in the afterword. Also you need to read Shadow of the Giant, first.
I listened to this one while I worked. The kids are reaching maturity and the snark is laugh out loud funny.
Not the greatest of books dealing with Ender Wiggin and those he's influenced. It is not a bad read and there is something to be said about reading it for three straight days to finish it but it just did not seem to be as captivating and eye opening as previous novels (especially those from the original four). There are moments when you come to a realization that seemed spectacular but it just didn't seem the same. There are interesting characters and moments but the greatest moments seemed to be when the narrative touched back to the original novel (Ender's Game) and saw those moments from a different perspective. If this book was meant to get one to wish to pick up that novel again then it did a great job at it. Now to find where I left my copy.
PS. What is this in the afterwood about altering a few things in the final chapters of "Ender's Game" to have it coincide more accurately with all other books and short stories. Even if it is just a name change on one page of a random colony, please, Mr. Card, don't begin to alter you books into "Special Editions" (a la Star Wars). Yes I am aware that revisions in novels have occurred since they were first invented. I just feel conflicted.
PS. What is this in the afterwood about altering a few things in the final chapters of "Ender's Game" to have it coincide more accurately with all other books and short stories. Even if it is just a name change on one page of a random colony, please, Mr. Card, don't begin to alter you books into "Special Editions" (a la Star Wars). Yes I am aware that revisions in novels have occurred since they were first invented. I just feel conflicted.
This Ender book fills in gaps to bridge between the Shadow series and the rest of the Ender saga. This book also is an action based book, but with a less climatic battle scenario but perhaps one of the most critical battle scenarios of all. This book does not enter the extensive psychological and religious thought exercises that propagate through Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. I really liked it and eagerly await the last book....presently listed as Shadows Alive. I hope it and the conclusion to Card's Alvin Maker series come out soon (hint Hint HINT) as many new series are popping out of Scott Card's brilliant mind and being published.
There were a lot of negative reviews on here, so that may have actually earned it an extra star on mine, but I did really like this book, as much as (and more than some of) the rest of the Ender series, and thought it was necessary to the canon as it did tie up a few loose ends from the Shadow books, as well as allowed me to spend some more time with characters I've really gotten to know and enjoy.
“Hey Mr. Card, do you still have great internal dialogue?”
“Nope.”
“Character development?”
“Ran out three sequels ago.”
“Do you at least have some military strategy?”
“None. Although, I do have a useless replacement to the ending of Ender’s Game.”
Why was this even written…
“Nope.”
“Character development?”
“Ran out three sequels ago.”
“Do you at least have some military strategy?”
“None. Although, I do have a useless replacement to the ending of Ender’s Game.”
Why was this even written…
Ender in Exile is a very fun but ultimately pointless book.
Orson Scott Card has a gift for writing compelling page-turners. I always read his books on the edge of my seat, fully absorbed in the world he creates, unable to put them down until I finish. Card could write a 500-page book about Ender Wiggin negotiating the price of a used car, and I would devour it, but I would ultimately feel like my time had been wasted. With Ender in Exile, that is very nearly what he has done.
Ender in Exile serves to answer two questions about the Ender series: one that nobody asked, and one that I had hoped would have a better answer.
The first half of the book answers the question “How was Ender’s flight to the colony that he governed?” The answer is “Inexplicably difficult”. The captain of the ship spends the entire flight looking for an excuse to put Ender in hypersleep, and send him back to Earth. It is entirely unclear what the captain would have to gain from this, or even what Ender would have to lose from it. The book specifies that upon arriving at Earth, he would be immediately cleared of all charges, and sent out to govern another colony without having aged a day. SPOILER ALERT: Ender uses his superior intellect to outsmart the captain, and reach his destination.
The second half of the book answers the question “What was the deal with that one character who was briefly introduced at the end of Shadow of the Giant?” While you may have actually been asking this question, I guarantee you’ll be disappointed with the answer. Rather than becoming a major player in the game, the character just turns out to be confused and misinformed, and dealing with some personal demons. SPOILER ALERT: Ender clears things up for him, and everybody lives happily ever after.
As I said above, Orson Scott Card is gifted. When he combines that gift with a strong premise, the result is an amazing book. When he combines that gift with a thin premise, the result is this utterly pointless page-turner.
Orson Scott Card has a gift for writing compelling page-turners. I always read his books on the edge of my seat, fully absorbed in the world he creates, unable to put them down until I finish. Card could write a 500-page book about Ender Wiggin negotiating the price of a used car, and I would devour it, but I would ultimately feel like my time had been wasted. With Ender in Exile, that is very nearly what he has done.
Ender in Exile serves to answer two questions about the Ender series: one that nobody asked, and one that I had hoped would have a better answer.
The first half of the book answers the question “How was Ender’s flight to the colony that he governed?” The answer is “Inexplicably difficult”. The captain of the ship spends the entire flight looking for an excuse to put Ender in hypersleep, and send him back to Earth. It is entirely unclear what the captain would have to gain from this, or even what Ender would have to lose from it. The book specifies that upon arriving at Earth, he would be immediately cleared of all charges, and sent out to govern another colony without having aged a day. SPOILER ALERT: Ender uses his superior intellect to outsmart the captain, and reach his destination.
The second half of the book answers the question “What was the deal with that one character who was briefly introduced at the end of Shadow of the Giant?” While you may have actually been asking this question, I guarantee you’ll be disappointed with the answer. Rather than becoming a major player in the game, the character just turns out to be confused and misinformed, and dealing with some personal demons. SPOILER ALERT: Ender clears things up for him, and everybody lives happily ever after.
As I said above, Orson Scott Card is gifted. When he combines that gift with a strong premise, the result is an amazing book. When he combines that gift with a thin premise, the result is this utterly pointless page-turner.
Continuing my chronological reread of the Ender books, I've reached this "direct" sequel to the original ENDER'S GAME. It was an enjoyable read, but as a book, it doesn't have much of an identity in and of itself. Much of it is a detailed expansion and revision of the last chapter of ENDER'S GAME. Other parts serve as an epilogue to SHADOW OF THE GIANT, picking up on a dangling plot thread remaining from Bean's series. Still more of it works to justify some of the major cultural changes in the 'verse between ENDER'S GAME and its original sequel, SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD. As a fan of the series as a whole and of universe-building works in general, I enjoy the book, but I feel more as though I've read a series of novellas or short stories starring the same characters and linking to larger works instead of a complete novel in and of itself.
I know I'm not the intended audience for this novel, because I've only read two other books in the Ender series. The aim of this installment is to fill in holes and flesh out things that have been mentioned before in passing. Given that I'm not initiated into the full Ender-verse, I'm sure I've been exposed to spoilers here. Despite that, I really enjoyed this book. It's full of vignettes featuring pairs of characters in conflict. Their conflicts build over the course of events. Some resolve and others rise. As such, the book is episodic, really several related stories strung together. I thought it was clever that each chapter is headed with an email which provides different perspectives on events as well. At the core of this book is Valentine and Ender, brother and sister who were previously separated when Ender went off to Battle School. Now reunited and participating in the colonization of other worlds, they are going through the prickly process of learning how to relate to each other again. Even though Valentine's exasperation at Ender gets repetitive, I still enjoyed them and was rooting that their relationship would improve. On the whole, Ender in Exile encouraged me to read on and further explore the Ender-verse.
Ender in Exile does a good job of filling the long gap between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. Not quite as good as those books but helps to add to the story of Ender and show how he moved from being the war hero against the formics to being best equipped to deal with the new aliens to come in Speaker for the Dead.