Rating: 
Summary: good, but long and boring
Review: I found this book majorly hard to get into. I couldn't read it very fast. Usually I read Cards books in a few days, but this one took me a long time to read. It is long, confusing, and no offense to anybody, but it is very boring. Enders Game and Enders Shadow have got to be the best books written by him, as the sequels don't even come close to the intense, fast-paced, novel that I expected. I recommend this book if you are really into scientific things, and if you have a long time to read.....
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent continuation of a great series
Review: Orson Scott Card, The creator of one of the the most original series of booksI have ever set my eyes upon follows up with a tale to set your heart aloft once more in the eye and mind of our hero and worst enemy; Ender. Don't miss it, but make sure You read Ender's Game and Xenocide first!
Rating:
Summary: A mixed review
Review: The best part of Xenocide was the middle. The ending got a little too much into hard SF for my taste, although I did enjoy the suprise appearance of two characters from previous books at the end. And for all of OSC's philosophizing, I was not necessarily put out, but I cannot not say I fully 'get' where he's going. An anti-federal sentiment is obvious of course. I can swallow that, however if Ender turns out to be a born-again Christian in Children of the Mind, I may wretch.
Rating: 
Summary: better than "speaker for the dead"
Review: I remember reading "Speaker for the Dead" not too long ago, and was dreadfully confused. It was a bit hard for me to get into. For me, "Xenocide" was not only less confusing for me, but it was more interesting. For one thing I liked the plot better; the Starways congress is worried that the Descolada virus will spread to new worlds, and sends a fleet down to Lusitania to destroy the entire planet. Then things start to happen, and the fleet disappears, and now it is up to Gloriously bright to find out why they disappeared. This book doesn't seem to just follow one straight story either; there are many twists and turns that makes this a fascinating book to read. I guess the main con to this book is how Catholicism falls into the story, and how the humans start converting the piggies. To me, this book makes the Catholic converting seem positive. At any rate, the book is worth the con, and is a great read for Ender fans.
Rating:
Summary: He's slipping
Review: This book is decent, but not nearly as good as the earlier books in the series.I don't so much object to the "wordiness" or "philosophical discussions" that other reviewers pointed out. What bothered me was that Card now results to preaching, and the plot simply stretched credibility too far. As for the preaching, in his previous books, he alway had points to make about various moral issues. Here, however, he uses his characters to literally preach Card's beliefs. There was one scene where he, through Valentine, discusses polygamy, and I thought I had entered Card's temple. It was simply too much, too preachy. Philosphical discussions are fine, but preaching your gospel was overkill. I also felt that the plot stretched credibility a bit too far. There is always a need to suspend belief in Card's books (teens taking over the world, etc.) but this book was too much, bombarding me constantly. And the conclusion... let's just say that was the epitome of a contrived ending. On the plus side, I like that Valentine reappeared, I like that the story is about Ender, but not solely about Ender, as there are other interesting characters in the story. I found Wang-mu and Qing-jao to be interesting characters as well. I liked that Novinha is not a major character, as she always bothered me, but instead the story focusses on her children and their internal struggles. Warning, Xenocide ends very suddenly, and it's not truly an ending at all. Card realised he had another book to write, so he fairly arbitrarily ended the story and wrote Children of the Mind. I will read the last book, as I have purchased it, and I have enough curiosity to see how the story ends. .... Furthermore, if you didn't like Speaker for the Dead, you definitely won't like this book, as it is even talkier and stretches the credibility boundaries farther than SFTD did. This is not another "Ender's Game".
Rating:
Summary: DIfferent, but has it makes up for itself in other ways,
Review: Frankly, I would have to say I enjoyed this book. In my opinion Card has out done himself yet again with this novel. Card's main setback in this story is that, at points the book can get a tad.....wordy. I know what your thinking, "All of Cards books are wordy" which is true, but at points in the novel it can get a little slow. If you are just planning to get this book and i have turned you away, dont get the wrong idea!, this is a fantastic book, and if you enjoyed ANY of Card's work you will enjoy reading and re-reading Xenocide as i have. Xenocide differs from the other Ender saga books is that it really doesnt have a diffined storyline, it has multiple plots going on that become intertwined at some point or another, which i thought was a fresh new turn for Card's writing style and gave Xenocide a " New book" feeling,if you know what i mean...(you probably don't, but thats ok!) Card adds may a surprise in the end, dealing with the "godspoken" of path and the pequino race, but i wont ruin the story. You will have to find out what happens on your own ( dont you just hate it when people do that!) Bottom Line: Read and be merry! ~Locke
Rating:
Summary: Different.. But GREAT!
Review: The third book in the Ender Saga. A lot of people didn't like the sequels, because the style and storyline has changed. Well, they're right, it did change. But I still LOVED the sequels! This sequal, the third book in the series, is indeed a different kind of story, a lot more philosophical, touches on human morals, dilemmas etc.. And moreover, seems to move the spotlight from Ender to other interesting characters.. Personally, the "OSD people of the path" storyline has deeply touched me, and I thought was wonderful!! So, if you're reading this, you've probably read the AMAZING 1st book in the series, Ender's game. And you've probably, like me, LOVED it. The sequels.. Well.. Some people loved it, some hated it.. Because of all the reasons above. Personally, I loved it, maybe even more than Ender's Game. A word of notice though - The book ends in mid-story.. And continues in Children of the Mind.. In conclusion - Give it a try!
Rating:
Summary: Occasionally Worth The Plunge
Review: Firstly, let me state that I am a big fan of Ender's Game. I never intended to read the books that followed because the students that I teach all felt that they were never as good as the original. Naturally my students must all be complete morons and clearly are all incapable of understanding the deeper philosophical issues in both Speaker For The Dead and Xenocide. I really enjoyed Speaker For The Dead. Xenocide took a lot longer to get into and I sometimes found myself bogged down by the science. I was not a fan of the 'Obsessive Compulsive people of Path' storyline and while Card made his point and wove them in nicely, I was once again more intrigued with the original characters. Thus said, I am not a big fan of an adult Ender. I think that he becomes rather wimpy. He seems to be far outclassed by characters like Miro. Even Ender's horrible wife, Novinha, seems to have more strength of character than he does. Maybe the surprise ending is meant to rectify this. I did enjoy this book but I would imagine that only a hard-core science fiction fan would find the guts to plow through it.
Rating:
Summary: Very, very good, but...
Review: When I read Xenocide I realized a definate pattern that had been created by the trilogy. Ender's Game was a lot of story and a little philosophy, Speaker was a little of both, and Xenocide is very little story and a lot of philosophy. At times it seemed that OSC had made up a story for the sake of his philosophy, instead of the other way around. Although the writing was par with what I expect from him (very excellent) and the characters were just as well drawn, sometimes all that talk just got in the way. It is a very good book, very well written and obviously from an intelligent man with a lot of ideas. But sometimes the story suffered, or at least slowed down because of it.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful and complete, yet lacking in pace
Review: I give Card's brilliant "Xenocide" five stars, as I would give all of his "Ender" books a full five, but for a completely different reason than the previous two. "Ender's Game" was a feisty, fast-paced space epic that gripped your attention right off the bat and hurled you through to the end like you were on some light-speed roller coaster. "Speaker for the Dead" was more philosophical and psychological, getting right into the depths of your consciousness and making you think so hard that your head would hurt... but you didn't realize you were thinking. The thoughts just flowed like a crisp river on a warm day, and when the end of the book came, and that last page was turned, you felt extremely emotionally satisfied. "Xenocide" is like a combination of "Speaker for the Dead" and Chinese mythology, brilliant in its own right, but lacking the pace that was necessary to make a page-turner. However, when the book was finished, you felt the same kind of emotional resonance that made "Speaker for the Dead" so great. It's hard to explain how it does it, but "Xenocide" does something completely unique from most novels: It gets under your skin like a tick and stays there until you totally understand what you've read. Pretty cool, huh?
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