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I know several readers, myself included, who were blown away by Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. They then found the sequel, Speaker for the Dead, to be equally as riveting and eagerly reached for Xenocide, book three in the series, with the highest of expectations--only to be slammed with disappointment. This otherwise serviceable book, with an original premise and interesting characters, crashes to an unsatisfying and confusing ending that combines the worst attributes of deus ex machina and
Children of the Mind (Ender's Saga, #4), Orson Scott CardAt the start of Children of the Mind, Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, is using her newly discovered abilities to take the races of buggers, humans and pequeninos outside the universe and back instantaneously. She uses these powers to move them to distant habitable planets for colonization. She is losing her memory and concentration as the vast computer network connected to the ansible is being shut down (An ansible is a category o...
I couldn't wait to finish this book. The Ender quartet started so strong and got progressively worse with each book. I hated who the characters became in this book (particularly Wang-Mu) and the long-winded monologues about the difficult love relationships got excessive. The tired philosophy and ruminations on the human condition were boring and unwanted. Children of the Mind started with so much potential but it was poorly executed. I was really hoping to see the ruthless Peter emerge, having b...
Well, now I've finished the "Ender Quartet" (or saga, as it's called here) at a very leisurely pace. The first book, Ender's Game, was excellent. Second was Speaker For The Dead, which was great. Then there were Xenocide and this one, both of which were merely okay.It seems that Xenocide and Children Of The Mind were originally meant to be one book. I suspect that if Xenocide had stayed within its own borders, it would have been much better. These two books are weighed down by a lot of ideas. Th...
I have to find that quote in this book that PISSES ME OFF. It made me take away a star.Why so RACIST? To asians and whites! Ever think that maybe Peter just wants to sit in a chair because chairs are more comfortable than kneeling? Sorry, but what he wrote about Hiroshima and Nagasaki is OFFENSIVE AS ALL FUCK!I hate this book. I hate OSC's writing. Why did I EVER think he was a good writer?Oh, that is IT Orson Scott Card. I'm going to go out and DESTROY THE NUCLEAR FAMILY! I will destroy gender
I wanted to love this. I really did - after all, I love Miro, who is given a lot more page space, and I was excited to see what Peter would bring to the table. But after Xenocide, it was pretty weak. Now to make a few comments (ehem, rants)…a) Why is it that the only truly negative bits in the series come from the women? You know, the only truly unforgivable, unredeemable, unreasonable, and supremely infuriating bits… Let me summarize what these bits were: QUARA, Qing-Jao, and Novinha. Welcome t...
This book actually led me to break two rules of mine: 1) Never give up on a book more than 30 pages in, and 2) Nobody needs to read my review of a book, so what's the point in writing one. But this time I just... I just couldn't do it.What I loved about Ender's Game was that it's not a blatant, lasers'n'aliens sci-fi novel (although there is NOTHING wrong with laser'n'aliens), so much as it's the story of a boy placed in relatively difficult circumstances, "up against it" if you will, who learns...
Wraps up the series neatly enough . . . until you stop to think about how ridiculous the entire premise is or how annoying it is that everything seems to fit so nicely together.I suppose I have to recant the part of my Xenocide review where I called the "birth" of Peter and Young Val "unnecessary." That was obviously a crucial episode for what Card had in store for the series conclusion. But I still won't take back the opinion that it's annoying.Positives: After starting slowly, the plot did pic...
Don't get me wrong, Orson Scott Card is one of the greats. Ender's series is one of the best series of all time. However, this book was his weakest due to being monotonous and preachy. The characters were going back and forth, stating the same dialogues. I understand the message and the characters' purposes, but the book lasted way too long; thus,I barely finished the book. Of course, there were many moments, but the bad outweighs the good.
I just finished this book and I read it not too long after reading 'Xenocide'. I really should review 'Xenocide' but I wanted to get this out while it was still fresh since 'Children of the Mind' was so awful. A full review of 'Xenocide', though, isn't really necessary since both books are terrible and suffer from the same flaws.The big problem with this book is that Card violates the 'Show, Don't Tell' rule of writing. This book consists almost exclusively of long dialogue between characters an...
A solid conclusion to the Ender Quartet. It was thoughtfully written and obviously much more than just a science fiction book.A few of my favorite quotes:"But we were there, and during the time we lived, we were alive. That's the truth—what is, what was, what will be—not what could be, what should have been, what never can be. If we die, then our death has meaning to the rest of the universe. Even if our lives are unknown, the fact that someone lived here, and died, that will have repercussions
This is more of a review for the entire series. I didn't care much for the first book (Ender's Game), but the surprise ending captivated me enough to read the next book (plus the series was a Christmas present and I didn't want to leave it unread). The second book (Speaker for the Dead) was much better and I love the Speaker for the Dead idea. This is where things in the book get complicated. The third book (Xenocide), whoa, huge leap in time, love how chaotic everything is with the race to save...
Children of the Mind flows from the rest of the Ender saga. Aside from the issues that carry over from the previous book, there's less focus on all the philosophy in the universe and more story. It's mostly about Jane and her bid for survival along side all the peoples and aliens on the world of Lusitania. Like the other books, it's pretty enthralling and opens up the type of moral and philosophical issues that probably have entire sections of the library dedicated to understanding them. The big...
I really enjoyed it but the ending was lacking. It didn't feel significant or suspenseful.The first quarter of the book had a really good recap of the previous book as well as the series and tied it into this book well.What I love most about this book and series is the philosophical out of the box thinking the character's have. Also about moral and doing what is right.“...back when people lived on only one world, all the nations and races and religions and philosophies crushed together elbow to
Ender's game was really fun and interesting read. It made me excited to explore more of Card's work. With each subsequent book of the Ender Saga I have enjoyed it less and less.Throughout the entire series there has been a strong drive to explore philosophical notions of war and survival and the connections between people. In Ender's game it is not too heavy handed and mostly submerged beneath the narrative. By Children of the Mind Card might as well be bludgeoning you over the head with it. I h...
These books are a great combo of sci-fi and philosophy, but I feel like the Ender series begins with the best book and then they gradually lose appeal. The first book in the series was skillfully crafted to weave complex strategy lessons for a child, and I was very pleased with how clever the author was, with only a few areas that were a bit heavy-handed. The subsequent books got a bit more convoluted, and lost some of the brilliance. It seemed like Card spent most of his effort on coming up wit...
Whoo, finished, finally. Sometimes you get sucked in a series and you just can't wait until its over because of the command over your whole attention that it has on you. Andrew Wiggin is somebody who we would all like to become; understanding, compassionate, brilliant, and charitable. Yet he is a tragic character who carries the burden of humanity on his shoulders, always taking on more responsibility than is seemed his share.This final novel is the fast paced, engaging, climax to the series. Sp...
The EndChildren of the Mind is the end of the Ender Quartet and the story of the passing of the torch to the next generation of Ender’s “Children.” His children include memory creations of his siblings, his adopted family, and the connected one, Jane. It’s a fitting conclusion to a series filled with wonder, with magic, with spectacle. It has thus far met with rather mixed reviews, but if you’ve been following these characters, it’s like revisiting old friends when you open up the next book. You...
The last book in the sci-fi series following Ender Wiggin is disappointing to say the least. It takes all of the amazing characters introduced in Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide and devolves them into what boils down to a soap-opera-in-space. Card excels at creating interesting characters, but he obviously struggles with writing romance; this is all the more apparent when, in a series that until this book never had any focus on romance between characters, suddenly has romance fo...
4.0 to 4.5 stars. Book four of the classic Ender series. Not quite as good as the previous books but still excellent and highly recommended.