Children of the Mind

Rating:
Summary: no sLeEp for me
Review: i read it. in one night. and i read slowish. i have never read a more passionate (albeit rushed) book in my life. the deep dialouge, the character completion, just the mental images and scenes. the use of many cultures throughout the series....just beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: The final tale is all you could have hoped for.
Review: Ender's Game entertained me, Speaker for the Dead educated me, Xenocide enthralled me, and finally Children of the Mind absolutely immersed me. I think by far this book beholds the best character development out of all of the books. Establishing great characters from Xenocide, you truly get to know, feel, and grow with the focused characters in the fourth book as they develop relationships both brutally and beautifully, confront the final fears that the series has built up to while also producing an amazing end to the Ender Wiggin Saga. The many sides of the tale are so well intertwined, that connecting with the characters and their emotions become so much more easier than what Card did previously. All the profound touches on religion and culture are all here, fantastically written by Card yet again. If the first three books have kept you enraptured, do yourself a favor and finish the amazing saga with Children of the Mind.

Rating:
Summary: Picks up for an exciting ending to the Ender Saga.
Review: After reading Xenocide, which I thought was a bit boring for lack of action and was really just a book on fictional philosophy, I didn't really have high hopes for this book. I was very pleased to find that this book contained more of the old Card I was used to reading. The story line reaches a desperate climax as the death of Jane and the destruction of Lusitainia seem inevitable and yet are prevented by the resourcefullness of three (four counting Jane) species working together for the first time in the Enderverse. This book contains some very interesting ideas about life, love, and happiness by exploring the inner thoughts of all sorts of people from Ender himself to his puppet-like creations, Young Valentine and Peter. The characters in this book are easy to fall in love with and bring the reader through many human emotions. Children of the Mind provides good and solid closure to the Ender saga for everything except the Descoladores. I wouldn't mind reading something about the future of the united races of Humans, Buggers, and Piggies and their relationship with the creaters of the descolada virus.


Rating:
Summary: The Decline and Fall of Orson Scott Card
Review: Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite authors, and many of his books have become touchstones in my life. Children of the Mind, however, is not one of those books. After Xenocide, I really feel that Card had told all the stories about Ender and the gang that could well be told. And, as the others reviewers have mentioned, the odd return of Peter and young Valentine is just plain weird. I really think this whole book could've had 80% of its plot and action gutted and been made into three chapters at the end of Xenocide. The ideas expressed here are too far flung and don't feel like a natural or meaningful completion of the story that began when Ender won his way into Battle School. Moreover, I feel that Children of the Mind marks the point at which Card's powers of creation begin to decline.

Having said all of that, Card's worst books are still better than most people's best ones. As a standalone, this book is still pretty strong. But I found that I was happier with my mental idea of the Ender series before I read this book. If you'd read the first three, you too might be happier to just leave the loose ends dangling and imagine what might have been yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Only for those in absolute need of resolution
Review: I never thought I would say this about a book in this series, but I hate this book. I was absolutely disappointed with the way Card chose to resolve his story. I'll give him license since he may do what he will with his story, but I feel so bitter about this ending to such a magnificent saga that I can't recommend this to anybody that isn't dying of curiousity at the end of "Xenocide".

And to those who believe you fit in this category, I'm sorry for the feelings you will like possess upon completion. I honestly feel the same unrest now as I did when I finished "Xenocide". I hope everyday that Card will come to his senses and revise his plot here to be more logical, less rushed, more conclusive (which some may argue with), and more fulfilling to a character of such quality as Ender Wiggin.

Rating:
Summary: Embarassingly Bad
Review: WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:

There is absolutely no reason on earth to read this book. None. Reading it only makes you angry, bitter, and unhappy. If you bear any love of any kind for Ender Wiggin of Ender's Game, then you must not read this book lest you destroy that memory forever.

WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:

You know, maybe Tor has made enough money robbing the graves of superior authors and pressing living authors of potential into some kind of servitude in working for their private pulp mill. Send a message to these guys by not buying this book and announcing, finally, that you are not a mindless lemming that will purchase any sort of book so long as it has the right pedigree. Have some discrimination and read something new and good; those books are out there.

READ MORE AT INCHOATUS.COM

Rating:
Summary: Picks up where Xenocide left off
Review: "Children of the Mind" is the final book in Orson Scott Card's Ender Quartet. It picks up right where "Xenocide" left off, and is the logical conclusion to Ender's story, wrapping things up in a satisfying enough manner.

Like the books that preceded it, "Children of the Mind" is largely character driven, and this is certainly one of its strengths. Few of the characters are explored in excrutiating detail, but Card gives us just enough of a glimpse into their lives and personalities to give the reader the feeling that we know these people.

While the book is certainly satisfying in that it ties up all the threads woven in the previous books, I feel that it is the weakest of the series. I'm not sure that much would have been lost if it had simply been compressed and included as the final chapters to "Xenocide". That said, if you are a fan of the series, and particularly if you have read "Xenocide", then "Children of the Mind" is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Inconsistent with Xenocide!
Review: Card is one of my favorite authors. The only reason he's not my declared favorite is just because I haven't read everything by him yet. The Ender series stands as my favorite serious sci-fi series; I hold that Card serves up the perfect formula of adventure, levity, technical science, technically skilled writing, and just plain fun. The second half of the Ender series is noticeably more self-indulgent than the first. It seems stuck in that twilight zone where it might have been better if it were shorter, but everything seems to be vital to the storyline!

While not as gripping as the previous installments, I found the continued development of Ender and his doppelgangers satisfying, but I would have liked more about Novinha (though I can always refer back to Speaker) and some of the others. Card's ideas are still fresh and engaging; I thought the ending was well-done (after all, how DO you end such a stellar series? The pressure was immense and he came through), and furthermore, Card had the intelligence to know when to quit - to know when the story is over and not try to drag it out forever just to make more money. My hat's off to him - this was a great series, the ending is exemplary; not too long, not too short. And now it's on to Ender's Shadow.