Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card

Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Everyone loves Ender's Game. After that, opinions are all over the place. It seems most people like the second book, Speaker for the Dead a bit better than I liked it- though I did give it 4 stars for reasons I can't recall. But the third book, Xenocide was just bad. A little research revealed that originally Xenocide and Children of the Mind were one huge book. That would explain it. If you spend time reading Xenocide, you have to read this one. This one will make the time you expended on Xenocide worth it.

Only Ender's Game works as a stand alone book. This one would make absolutely no sense if you didn't read the three that proceed it.

I liked almost all of this book, especially everything related to Jane, the Hive Queen, and Rooter. The romantic relationship that Wang-Mu develops doesn't make a lot of sense to me, especially since it's fast and not based on much. But the thing that bothered me the most is that Quara's character makes no sense to me. She spent earlier books defending and protecting the Descolada virus and in a fit of argumentativeness, she turns on all her most deeply held values? Not great character development.

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Xenocide by Orson Scott Card

Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The last one-third of this book is better than the first two-thirds which should have been way more heavily edited. One major problem was that the book was trying to bring readers who skipped the first two books up to speed. I can't imagine what the point of that is. It would be impossible to like this book if you didn't read the other two.

Another problem is Ender's family. Even though it's been 30 years for them since the last book they act like they never healed or matured despite Ender's presence. They're super annoying, mean, and there's too many of them to care.

Finally, why is the author of The Hive Queen just getting to know the Hive Queen in this book?

But if you make it to the last one-third, it's interesting and fun. I'm considering reading the fourth in the series but I need a break right now.

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Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book almost as much as Ender's Game, but I did miss the battle/ battle-game scenes.

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Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this book. This is one of those books that when you finally read you're mad that you waited so long to read it. I'm even trying to get my husband to read it- even though he's usually not a fan of "genre" books. But this book is about so much more than science fiction. It's about war but also about platonic love, sibling love, and rivalries. It's about the failure of moral responsibility.

It's also a frighteningly accurate prediction of current day technologies and the resulting moral quandaries -- such as drones.

Looking forward to reading many more Orson Scott Card novels.

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