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Title: Xenocide : Volume Three of the Ender Quartet by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0-8125-0925-0 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 August, 1992 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.87 (163 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Philosophical and ethical issues---I loved it!
Comment: It seems the reviewers of this book are divided into two camps. Some hated the book because it doesn't live up to Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, because the "plot" is boring and minimal, because it's too long and drags, etc. Others rate Xenocide highly because of its well developed characters and its treatment of ethical issues. Both views are valid to some extent, but if you're able to accept this book for what it is, then you'll find it's a superb book, well worth the time to read it.
Ender's Game is all about Ender's childhood development, as he trains to become the savior of humanity. Speaker for The Dead explores some larger issues as it tracks Ender's healing of Novinha's dysfunction family, and the plot is kept going partially through the mysteries concerning the pequininos. Xenocide is different from both of these in that there's no real main character, and very little plot; instead, the focus of the story is the dillema faced by the three sentient species of Lusitania. Within this framework, Card explores a number of unusual ethical questions, such as whether human survival justifies the extermination of another species, and whether fear of the unknown will always be a barrier when interacting with those unlike ourselves. He also develops the complex web of love and hatred within Novinha's family, and the nature of the relationships within it. At times it was almost painful to read about the emotional states of the characters, so well did Card depict it. Yet I was completely hooked from the start, and I marvel at his ability to write about some very abstract issues within a science fiction setting.
If anything, the situation Card created was too hopeless, and once things started resolving the plot became a bit incredulous. One reviewer suggested that Card wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to cheap plot devices to save himself, and that's certainly how it looks to me. Happily, this occurs so near the end it doesn't detract much from the overall value of the book. (However, the consequences are compounded in the final book, Children of the Mind, which is the only one of the four I do not recommend reading.)
I enjoyed Xenocide as much as, if not more than Ender's Game and SftD. (One has to admit that Ender's Game, fantastic as it is, is much more simplistic and lightweight than Xenocide.) As long as you don't enter with undue expectations and you are willing to explore some tough ethical issues, then you'll see the merits of this book, perhaps the most human novel Card has written.
Rating: 4
Summary: No Speaker For The Dead but solid none the less
Comment: The first thing you notice about "Xenocide" is the difference in sheer size compared to the rest of the Ender Series. There's a reason for that, and it's the sheer complexity of the story Card is telling here. This novel is a return to the style Card used in "Ender's Game." By that I mean, he's telling two stories at once that will some how come together in the end. In "Ender's Game" the stories were that of Ender in battle school, and of Valentine and Peter's actions on Earth. "Speaker for the Dead" was a much more focused book taking place in one locale. With "Xenocide" we have the still unfolding story on Lusitania, as well as occurences on a new colony called Path. To be honest, for awhile it seems as though the story on Path and the continuing story on Lusitania could be two seperate novels. Perhaps the weak point of this novel is that when it does become clear how the two are tied together, it does not turn out to be a very strong correlation. It could even be said that "Xenocide" would remain much the same novel without the story of Path. A lot of people compalined about the preachy nature of this novel, and admitedly it is rather heavy on the metaphysical philosophy. However, the basic themes of the series, such as mankind's struggle with their exagerated fear of foreigness, still ring true throughout "Xenocide."
Rating: 3
Summary: Not too bad
Comment: Xenocide is not quite up to par with the previous books in the Ender Series. It starts off slowly, with Jane cutting of ansible communications with the fleet that has been sent to attack the colony on Luisitania, and doesn't really start to get interesting until over 100 pages into the book. From the 100 page mark it does become an enjoyable read.
A god spoken girl on the world of Path is set the task to find out why they lost contact with the fleet, while the people of Luisitania search for a way to stop the Descolata from killing them and all of humanity by keeping the Pequinoes confined to just one planet. Through their separate searches many amazing and terrifying things are discovered. The terrifying purpose of the Descolata is discovered as is the reason behind Godspoken of Path. All of these discoveries help to add tension and excitement to an otherwise pretentious book.
The story leaves many questions unanswered, and the survival of the human colony is in doubt, as the whole universe seems to be pushing for its destruction. The first books in this series all seemed fresh, and new, if not a little overbearing, but this one isn't quite up to par. The story seems a little forced in places, and it's not as fun as its predecessors.
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Title: Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812522397 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 15 June, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Speaker for the Dead : Author's Definitive Edition by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812550757 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 August, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812565959 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 09 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0812575717 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Shadow Puppets (Ender, Book 7) by Orson Scott Card ISBN: 0765340054 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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