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A review by jenibo
Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
3.0
To me this fourth instalment of The Ender Quartet Box Set is the final step in a deterioration of what should to me have been a stand alone book (Ender's Game), and this one is not quite worth reading in its own right.
I do feel that it is a fair criticism noted by other reviewers when they point out the limitations of Card's depiction of female characters. They are dependent,shrill, lacking in depth and too driven and limited by the roles that they play in relation to the more major characters.
The plot is at times fascinating, twisting and original, but I think that the excursions into political theory and Edge and Centre nations goes at times a little too far, expecting interest for its own sake, at the expense of plot, and it is my feeling that Card is more interested in these ideas than his own storyline by this stage in the quartet. This is maybe okay sometimes, but this interest does overwhelm the plot at times, making the characters seem a bit like placeholders, and the book reads at times as pretty self indulgent.
In my view, this is a tendency which grows as the quartet continues.
I do feel that it is a fair criticism noted by other reviewers when they point out the limitations of Card's depiction of female characters. They are dependent,shrill, lacking in depth and too driven and limited by the roles that they play in relation to the more major characters.
The plot is at times fascinating, twisting and original, but I think that the excursions into political theory and Edge and Centre nations goes at times a little too far, expecting interest for its own sake, at the expense of plot, and it is my feeling that Card is more interested in these ideas than his own storyline by this stage in the quartet. This is maybe okay sometimes, but this interest does overwhelm the plot at times, making the characters seem a bit like placeholders, and the book reads at times as pretty self indulgent.
In my view, this is a tendency which grows as the quartet continues.