Xenocide

Rating:
Summary: Ender continues to please...
Review: At first I was a bit intimidated by the 700 some-odd pages that is Xenocide, but I ultimately found it to rewarding reading. As is typical with almost all Card books, the character development and interaction is stellar. The Endaer series is chalked full of individuals who are faced with ethical and moral decisions and I've found myself wondering what I would do in the same situation. I find Novinha and all of her children fascinating. The scheer dysfunctionality of that family is what I enjoy so much. Maybe 'cos I'm a bit dysfunctional myself.

I enjoyed thoroughly the world of Path and treachery inflicted upon them by the Starways Congress. We see the neurosis and/or blind allegiance of an a young lady, bound by duty, unwilling to see the truth that would ultimately set her free from the OCD. How many of us are afraid of to reach inside of ourselves and admit that we are wrong? Introspection is a very difficult thing to do, as evidenced by Qing-Jao (I know I'm spelling that wrong). I found that part of the story very engaging and compelling.

Like Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide explores the philosophies and ethical dilemmas of the people of Path and Lusitania, but it's not without the action. I felt that the burning of the Pequenino forest was just about the most exciting part of the book. Once again, humans prejudging and killing innocent beings all in the name of "justice." A great illustration of how easy it is to incite a mob. Unfortunately, it does seem to be just about that easy.

Xenocide seems to be bridge that links Speaker and Children of the Mind, but it was a necessary one. Granted, a lot of it was a bit boring and difficult to read, but once those layers are peeled away, we're left with another fine novel by one of the finest students of human behavior. Hat's off to you, Mr. Card

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: Bad science fiction has never been better.
Review: I rarely bash products... but Xenocide was disappointing. Not because it focused on ethical dilemmas rather than action, or even because the book had almost nothing to do with Ender, but because the situations, plot line, and characters that Card developed in this book are completely ridiculous and unbelievable.

I'm all for exploring interesting ethical dilemmas, but when an author sacrifices all credibility to discuss tangential issues, it creates a tedious and underwhelming experience for the reader. My biggest issue with the book is the supernatural intelligence and skills he gives to his characters to get them out of impossible situations. In this book you'll find amateur physicists discovering how to break the speed of light (he just tried really hard and figured it out - and discovered that he only had to wish for it), xenobiologists defeating the descolada virus and then reeingineering it to fix the genetic defects of people who live on a planet many light years away (of course this happens during the course of weeks), and last but not least, Miro magically abandoning his crippled body for a new one in a fantastical voyage into a new dimension.

But Card didn't stop there... As Ender had become a tedious an boring character in this book, he chose to literally split him into three. Ender becomes Ender, a New Valentine and a New Peter, all created out of thin air during Enders first voyage outside of the universe... and these characters are real flesh and blood... I mean Card actually just pulls these characters out of thin air and expects the reader to accept it.

I could rant on and on, but I won't... there are some upsides to the books. The Godspoken characters on Path are quite good, and the Hive Queen / Piggies continue to be interesting, but it's hard to put up with all the remaining Ender/Valentine/Peter/Miro baggage to just enjoy those parts.

The characters in this book are weak, the plot is weak, and Xenocide simply doesn't live up to Card's previous books. If you read Enders Game, and Speaker for the Dead, and are looking for another Card book to read, try the Worthing Saga. It's a much better read, and you won't feel like you're totally wasting your time on Xenocide.

Rating:
Summary: A bit talkier than the first two, but solid.
Review: The third of a truly great series, Xenocide is a good deal more talky than the first two books. Maybe it's inevitable: Ender's Game is a novel about gifted youngsters, Speaker for the Dead is about a messed up family and a bizaare alien race; Xenocide is about the nature of existence.

There's not a lot of a plot, there are just a lot of problems to solve. I didn't miss the twisting-turning plot all that much. The story is still pretty strong, and the answers to the problems aren't easily guessable. You learn a lot about Card's philosophy/metaphysics, or at least a philosophy he's made up, even if he doesn't believe in it. Lots of science, a hint or two of mormonism (preexistence and attainable godhood) and some miracles. But all of this is well-woven into the story, so it's handleable-- though difficult at times to get through. If you're a fan of "hard" sci-fi, you'll love it. But if you're like me -- not really a sci-fi fan so much as a Card fan -- it might be better to speedread these passages. You'll miss an interesting way of looking at the nature of the soul, but you can follow the story just fine.

Characterization remains Card's greatest strength, and continues to make me wish he'd write books about the "real" world. His characters are multi-dimensioned, people I can care about, and I appreciate his ability to give them different worldviews and still maintain their integrity here. Unlike in Speaker for the Dead, in this book it's possible to be Catholic--or Taoist-- and not a moron. On top of that, I admire his willingness to make risky moves, like killing off key characters. There are some truly painful scenes in this book, and they are some of the most powerful, best-written pieces. Some of his risks don't quite work (why take away Novinha?) but they're all worthwhile.

There is a subplot about a brilliant race of Taoists afflicted with a form of Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder that is really wonderful. It is some of my favorite pages in the book, and often feels fresh when it feels like Card is tired of his Lusitania characters. It is beautiful, poignant, and well-written. Though it's not all that crucial and never truly ties into the main plot in a significant way, I'm glad it's there.

A passage from the book:

"Jakt gave her his impatient look. "I thought we were coming to Lusitania to help in the struggle against Starways Congress. what does any of this have to do with the real world?"

"Maybe nothing," said Valentine. "Maybe everything."

Jakt buried his face in this hands for a moment, then looked back up at her with a smile that wasn't really a smile. "I haven't heard you say anything so transcendental since your brother left Trondheim."

That stung her, particularly because she knew it was meant to. After all these years, was Jakt still jealous of her connection with Ender? Did he still resent the fact that she could care about things that meant nothing to him? "When he went," said Valentine, "I stayed." She was really saying, I passed the only test that mattered. Why should you doubt me now?

Jakt was abashed. It was one of the best things about him, that when he realized he was wrong he backed down at once. "And when you went," said Jakt, "I came with you." Which she took to mean, I'm with you, I'm really not jealous of Ender anymore, and I'm sorry for sniping at you. Later, when they were alone, they'd say these things again openly. it would not do to reach Lusitania with suspicions and jealousy on either's part."

....

Rating:
Summary: A little better than the second book in this series.
Review: Though the beginning looked like a continuation of Orson Scott Card's philisophical writings disguised as a novel, this book progress to a pretty good book. Though not as well done as Ender's Game, it's still intelligent and well thought out.

Though Card continues his thoughts about religion, family, and morality, much to the reader's chagrin, he finally moves back to more action, plot, and fluidity.

This book deals with who has the right to survice, something Speaker for the Dead failed to draw the reader to. There is no good or bad presented in this book, but instead it's a battle of interpertation for what is right for humanity and the universe.

One of the only real flaws of this book are the impossible ending, and Card's reliance and constant explanation of his own psuedo-science. A good science fiction book must be believable at least.

Rating:
Summary: Card's Incredible Vision Compels Readers To Think
Review: Xenocide is one of Card's best works, and also is one of the best science fiction works of all time. Within the contents of this novel, readers can't help but to become involved with the story, the characters and the unique dilemma's that Card creates so well. With a plethora of philosophical contrasts and fantastic views of society , it is easy to understand, and hard to dismiss, that Xenocide contains issues that society commonly faces. Card has created profound concepts and situations within Xenocide, and has proven once more that he can get people thinking, and he does this with panache.

Rating:
Summary: A lot of information, a little hard to read
Review: I felt that Card added the whole Japanese part almost as an after thought. It made the book long and I did not like the jumping back and forth. I would have rather spent more time with Ender and the gang than reading about someone and their following the grains in the wood. This book does setup a lot of plot for the next book "Children of Mind" so it is worth the read, for that reason alone.

Rating:
Summary: Card Cheats
Review: Two separate reviews on the back cover of the paperback edition use the same phrase:

"Card has raised to a fine art the creation of suspense by means of ethical dilemmas" - Chicago Sun-Times

"hard ethical dilemmas.." - NY Daily News

These dilemmas are indeed raised, faced, and discussed by the characters, including Ender, Valentine, and the various battling members of the Ribeira family. (Warning: if you haven't read the preceding volumes, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, which are both excellent, you are very likely to be completely lost in this volume.)

However, when it comes to resolving them....

There was a kind of science fiction story, more popular in the 1950's than recently, in which humans would get themselves out of intractible scrapes by reinventing physical law. You couldn't beat those humans, by golly! If a crew got stranded somewhere, they would invent a few new laws of motion, then whomp up a faster-than-light drive or a perpetual motion machine out of spare parts. The rule was, "When all possible solutions fail, pick an impossible one and make it work." Nothing was too far out. I remember that the punch line of one such story was "We brought the planet with us." If individuals got stranded alone without a laboratory, necessity would impart to them the skills of teleportation.

To get away with this kind of nonsense you need a certain kind of brassy showmanship: you can't convince the reader it's not a trick, but you can make it fun. Van Vogt was good at this. In Rogue Ship, one of his characters wakes up his pal and tells him, "Hey, I've discovered the secret of the universe!" And he had: "The universe is a lie!" This meant he could do all kinds of amazing stuff, like going places by thinking about it.

Xenocide is ostensibly a much different book in style, emphasis, areas of focus, mood, and characterization. There are some inventive Card touches: a subplot involving super-intelligent prophets with obsessive-compulsive disorder on a Chinese-settled planet is good. And suspense is indeed created through a set of dilemmas which appear to pit humans, pequeninos, the hive queen, Jane the intelligent program (as she is thought to be), and the arguably-intelligent descolada virus against each other in an inescapable Hobbesian war of all species against all.

But when it comes close to the time of actually making the hard choices, we start to see stuff like this:

"We're on the verge of reconceptualizing the universe. We've discovered the illuminating principle that wishing makes it so..."

I hardly have to point out how closely this parallels the Van Vogt device above! But while it works for Van Vogt, in Card's novel it falls with a hollow thud. The reader can see it coming, because early on Card throws in some stuff about how all mass-energy has been proved by experiments on the planet "Ganges", which nobody tried to replicate because of the universal heavy hand of scientific dogma, to be composed of "philotes" which are like little souls for all atoms, particles, planets, people, etc. (By the way, this is sort of like another Van Vogt invention, "adeledicnander," from another novel!) By bringing together the proper group of High-Tension Thinkers (to borrow from Doc Smith) to ponder these matters for a couple weeks, it is discovered that the beleaguered Lusitanians can do - well - all sorts of amazing stuff.

Well, if you are writing whiz-bang space opera and use such devices, that's one thing. But if you are supposedly dealing seriously with "ethical dilemmas" and writing a cycle about "the ethical awakening of humanity", as the blurb to the sequel says, I believe it is just cheating to change the rules of the game so drastically. In Valentine's words, "It would be too idiotically convenient if the universe could be manipulated to work this way."

Furthermore, there is the added drawback that additional baggage, residue, and characters are created (sic) which/who clutter up the plot considerably as the saga moves into volume 4, "Children of the Mind." Ultimately there are enough good Card tricks here to keep this from being a bad book, but I don't think it's a really good one either.

Rating:
Summary: An intricate woven pattern
Review: I think many people who read this book will not do so carefully enough to appreciate the way Card sets up not only a novel about Ender but an entire theory of reality that I found facinating. Persons with an interest in metaphysics will really love the mental exercises this book inspires. People without that appreciation will find that part of the book boring, confusing, or both.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not the caliber of "Ender's Game" and"Speaker..."
Review: The book is set in the same world as "Speaker" (unlike the difference between the first two novels) and if it wasn't living in the shadow of Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead it would probily be a masterpiece. For the most part I'd enjoyed it, though it did draw out on ocassion.