Xenocide

Rating:
Summary: Card continues to escalate the difficulty and seriousness
Review: "Ender's Game" is a rapid-fire, tremendously adventurous novel with a rip-roaring end. "Speaker for the Dead" is more challenging, as it turns a murder mystery into a philosophical quest. "Xenocide" goes even further up the difficulty scale, and should not be read unless a copy of the final novel, "Children of the Mind," is close at hand. "Xenocide" takes the issues of religion, racism, genocide, love, family, insanity, redemption, and the nature of the universe as its subject matter; a truly amazing mix, as you might guess. But it's not really a stand-alone novel; when you come to the end, you may feel as I did that Card cheated with a deus ex machina at the end. He didn't; I think he just decided to chop the novel off and publish it, then publish the second half as "Children of the Mind." My anger at the ending quickly faded when I started "Children of the Mind"; clearly, "Xenocide" was not the end of the story. I loved the entire Ender Quartet, even if it was hard going for many readers to shift from "Ender's Game" to "Speaker for the Dead." Card has produced a philosophical masterpiece of science fiction in this series, and one that is only matched by his "Pastwatch Redemption" in its scale and importance in his writings. One of the few genre writers worth re-reading in his or her entirety, Card continues to amaze with the breadth and depth of his creations.

Rating:
Summary: Another link in the chain...
Review: First off, this book is the second sequel to Ender's Game, so I suggest you go read the other two books first. Second, Xenocide follows the story of The Speaker for the Dead, so don't expect a story similar to Ender's Game.

But with that over, lets get on to the good stuff! Xenocide is not a direct sequel, instead, Card takes another of his twists and makes it take place 20-30 years later, once the children are grown, and Ender is an old man.

(For those of you who have read the series) it's interesting to see how everyone has changed over the years, to see what fields each has entered. Card built a person out of each name, and with this book, the personality grows for all of them.

On top of that, the series also sees the return of Valentine, Ender's sister. Reading this book is like looking at your highschool yearbook, it's fun to see how everyone's both changed and stayed the same.

Concerning the plot, this book has gained some respect. I don't read too many sci-fis because of the fantasy involved. In Star Trek, if a ray-gun is needed, there it is. It is assumed that they were made a long time ago and are as common as pants now. But this series, and especially this book rejects that theory. Everything exists for a reason, and Card does a fantastic job at explaining "histories" and describing theories, then BUILDING on those theories to make more. I'm sure it was time consuming to Card, but it has an excellent effect on the reader.

A word of caution though. Some of the theories (especially the ones involving space) get, to say the least, confusing. On more than one occasion, I needed to put the book down because I either had a headache, or needed to work out the words in my mind. But nothing written is too confusing to figure out. The benefits of the explanation outnumber the time it takes to figure it out.

It's a good, long story with realistic characters and just enough science fiction to satisfy the crowds. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Simply Beautiful.
Review: I've scanned some of the reviews for this book, to find that a lot of people found Card's change of pace difficult to digest. I suppose people were hoping for a similar dosage of brash suspense and violent conflict. Xenocide delivers something much different. Orson Scott Card is probably one of the few Sci-Fi writers who could get away with creating his own science. Some may argue that he does not accomplish that in this novel, but I beg to differ. Xenocide reads far more like a journey into the psyche of the feeble-brained human, than a simple conflict of interest which is once again, perpetuated by the patriotic, but ultiamtely antagonistic, Starways Congress. Card decided to write something less like a simple novel, and more like a philosophical odyssey. This book also tackles a very popular sci-fi issue of artificial intelligence, but with a complete twist. In this book, readers will actually feel a great deal of empathy for the one called "Jane." Her character makes this novel an emotional masterpiece... it may even be enough to bring one to tears. And the villians of the novel turn out to be multi-dimensioned to the nth degree. And finally, you are left with the story of many factions, fighting to do what they believe is right, and none seeming to be ultimately evil or ultimately good.

Card exposes the flaws and the beauty of the human psyche in what is easily one of his best works to date.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoying the ride through increasing complexity
Review: Card has managed in Xenocide to change the style of the story of Ender once again. The narrative is the highlight of the book as it explores the various species as they try to coexist-the buggers, pequininos, and humans. As the destruction of their world Lusitania nears, tensions increase and spill over into violence and blood. As hope recedes, the need for solutions to multiple problems grow. How do you cripple the seemingly intelligent virus that dominates the world? How do you find the soul of a computer without a body and save its life?

Sadly, the characters involved are shallow, without the depth they posessed in Speaker. They haven't changed in the 30 years between books. If you want to know more of the plot, read this book, but if you are looking for more character development, you will be disappointed. However, if you are interested in the metaphysical, you will enjoy this book.

Xenocide gives one view of the universe or more correctly, a view of what is outside the universe. These ideas and how they are integrated into the story solve too many problems at once but create others that will be looked at in the next book. While this book is not up to par with the first two in the Ender series, I recommend it to readers as an interesting read and continuation of Ender's story.

Rating:
Summary: This series just keeps getting better!
Review: Many people don't like this book because of the long ethical and philosophical discussions in it, but these are the people who only read Ender's Game for the action, violence and war aspect of it. In fact, I'm surprised these people got so far as to even read Xenocide. If you look closely, all of the Ender Quartet are philosophical books, but Xenocide it the most open about it. Xenocide considers outrageous things, such as an entire planet inhabited by geniuses who are struck by a crippling and incurable variation of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or a self-aware computer program making herself into a martyr even though only three people in the entire universe know she exists, or a group of aliens determined to bring humankind to meet it's maker by spreading an incurable plague, etc. The sub-plot on the world of Path is riveting, and holds up the whole book of itself. I don't know how Card does it. First I was convinced that Ender's Game was the best book ever written, then no one could tell me that Speaker for the Dead was anything less than perfect, and now Xenocide has risen to claim the title! I want to read Children of the Mind, though I am skeptical about whether Card can improve on the perfection of his previous three books. For the reader who is into deep philosophy: read Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder, but take it in small doses! I have only one question. Orson Scott Card, will you marry me?

Rating:
Summary: Serious reading!
Review: With every book in Ender series it's becoming more complex and sophisticated. This book is full of very interesting mostly phylosophical (especially interesting on role of religion) and metaphysical discussions. The drawback is that it's much more difficult to read. It takes some effort (at least this was the case for me) to get to the end. Although the series started as quite typical sci-fi I can't consider it to be this genre anymore (the presense of another planet and alien cultures notwithstanding). I am not saying that it's a shortcoming but it's something that future readers need to keep in mind not to be disappointed. I believe Orson Scott Card is a very smart person but not a great writer (if you judge his novels by such criterias as plot and character development). Still, it's a very interesting book assuming you know what to expect.

Rating:
Summary: Not too bad
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Sci-fi for the thinking-person
Review: Xenocide is Orson Scott Card's third installment in the Ender series, and the second book of the Speaker trilogy. Congress has sent its fleet to the world of Lustiania, intent on destroying it in order to put an end to their rebellion. Lusitania also happens to be the only known home in the universe to sentient beings other than Humans, so the result of its destruction will be xenocide - the total annihilation of an entire alien race. When the fleet mysteriously disappears, Congress enlists the aid of Gloriously Bright on the world of Path to discover what has happened.

Xenocide is not one of those action packed non-stop thrill-a-minute science fiction stories that readers of Ender's Game might be hoping for. Instead, Xenocide is much closer to Speaker for the Dead in its pacing. This is sci-fi for the thinking man. Card has a lot he wants to say. He addresses themes of religion, sacrifice, the family, the connections we all make with one another, and much more. Card examines our place in the universe and what it means to be a living thinking being. Card even invents his own science to explain events from the physical, such as the creation of the Universe, to the metaphysical, such as where do our soul's come from. In the midst of all this is an engaging and enjoyable yarn, complete with a rich cast of characters.

If you are looking for a story that makes you stop and think, you will enjoy Xenocide. If you enjoyed Speaker for the Dead then this is a must read. Be warned though, Xenocide doesn't wrap up all of its threads before finishing, so you'll probably be looking forward to picking up the next book in the series in order to resolve those unanswered questions.

Rating:
Summary: Eh...
Review: It wasn't bad. But it was nowhere near as good as the first two. The first two had difficult problems solvable by above average characters. The third had impossible problems solvable by either acts of God or super Sci-Fi, Stephen Hawkings, out of this world solutions. It lost my attention went it went so far. Fortunately, it only got way out of whack at the end and I enjoyed it up to that point.

Rating:
Summary: The Way of the World
Review: I thought that Xenocide was an all right book, but it wasn't nearly as good as Ender's Game or Soeaker For the Dead. I think that most people would find this book pretty boring. It has a lot of theology and philosophy and hardly any action. Although what the book lacks in action it makes up for in plot and character development. The book developed a very complicated and detailed plot with many characters of equal importance. While the plot is developed the reader is immersed into a world of theology and philosophy. The book talks a lot about things called philotes. Phillotes are little unbreakable parts of an atom. There is an entire strange universe of them' it's extremely complicated and a little to advanced for me. While I got through it I didn't understand all of the theology and philosophy.
I loved all of the unexpected twists and turns of this book. I was always completely suprised by all of the peculiar events that unfolded in this book. I found the ending of the book especially suprising.
Over all I thought that this book was fairly good, but like I said before it wasn't as good as its predisesors.