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Xenocide : Volume Three of the Ender Quartet

Xenocide : Volume Three of the Ender Quartet

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than Ender's Game
Review: I feel that I betray Ender by saying this but this book surpasses Ender's Game. Ender had a pretty good start in life compared to Bean. I would take peter over Achillis any time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Philosophical and ethical issues---I loved it!
Review: It seems the reviewers of this book are divided into two camps. Some hated the book because it doesn't live up to Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, because the "plot" is boring and minimal, because it's too long and drags, etc. Others rate Xenocide highly because of its well developed characters and its treatment of ethical issues. Both views are valid to some extent, but if you're able to accept this book for what it is, then you'll find it's a superb book, well worth the time to read it.

Ender's Game is all about Ender's childhood development, as he trains to become the savior of humanity. Speaker for The Dead explores some larger issues as it tracks Ender's healing of Novinha's dysfunction family, and the plot is kept going partially through the mysteries concerning the pequininos. Xenocide is different from both of these in that there's no real main character, and very little plot; instead, the focus of the story is the dillema faced by the three sentient species of Lusitania. Within this framework, Card explores a number of unusual ethical questions, such as whether human survival justifies the extermination of another species, and whether fear of the unknown will always be a barrier when interacting with those unlike ourselves. He also develops the complex web of love and hatred within Novinha's family, and the nature of the relationships within it. At times it was almost painful to read about the emotional states of the characters, so well did Card depict it. Yet I was completely hooked from the start, and I marvel at his ability to write about some very abstract issues within a science fiction setting.

If anything, the situation Card created was too hopeless, and once things started resolving the plot became a bit incredulous. One reviewer suggested that Card wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to cheap plot devices to save himself, and that's certainly how it looks to me. Happily, this occurs so near the end it doesn't detract much from the overall value of the book. (However, the consequences are compounded in the final book, Children of the Mind, which is the only one of the four I do not recommend reading.)

I enjoyed Xenocide as much as, if not more than Ender's Game and SftD. (One has to admit that Ender's Game, fantastic as it is, is much more simplistic and lightweight than Xenocide.) As long as you don't enter with undue expectations and you are willing to explore some tough ethical issues, then you'll see the merits of this book, perhaps the most human novel Card has written.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I didnt think this book was the best of the saga.
Review: I didn't like this book that much but I suffered through it to get to Children of the mind. It wasn't as bad as I've read before but I wouldn't read it again. I do suggest you read it to get to Children of the Mind.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: He blew it.
Review: Ender's Game is so riveting that I lost sleep to keep reading it. Speaker for the Dead is all that and more. It made me examine how I act around other people - not too many books have been able to do that. Xenocide starts off with similar build up and thoughtfulness as Speaker, but then about 7/8 of the way through, it sputters and the book becomes sort of dumb. I was really disappointed and I'm not sure if I want to go on to read Children of the Mind. By the way, there are some very close parallels between the philotes in this book and the metachlorides (??) that are used to explain the Force in the new Star Wars movie. Although I don't think its possible, its almost as if one got the idea from the other.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The third installment of the Ender series, a perfect link!
Review: Andrew Wiggin(Ender) is in his usual situational 'fix'. A military fleet, bent on destroying the Lusitania colony, current home of Ender and his newly accuired step family, is looming ever closer . Time is of the essence. Also a virus, that basically causes the HUMAN body to reject itself, called the Descolada, hovers like a hawk waiting to attack. So as you might guess its somehow up to Ender and his family to save, not only themselves but also two other sentient species dwelling with them on the planet. The Buggers, and a pig-like race called the piggies. This book as an excelent read, it does however get complicated. I recomend reading the first two books in this series, and then folow it up with the fourth and final installment, Children of the Mind.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Card's Ender series continues to explore ethical dilemas
Review: This book is the longest of the quartet. As a stand-alone I would not recommend it, however it is a very important part of the Ender series. It serves as the link between Speaker for the Dead and Children of the Mind. Probably the weekest of the four books and too lengthy. However, Card says that Xenocide and Children of the Mind are actually one longer novel that he had to publish as two novels. The Ender quartet receives 5 stars. Its the best reading experiance of my life and spanned 9 years before I completed it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Card's Brilliance Continues
Review: Ender's story continues in Xenocide, and Card's use of science-fiction as a literary medium continues unmatched. The hard ethical dilemmas he draws and the depth of his characters are as remarkable as in the saga's first two books - the subplot on the planet Path introduces Xenocide's best characters, Wang-mu and Qing-Jao. The tedium that will continue into the fourth book creeps in near the end, but does not detract too much from the book's other endearing qualities.

A great read - Card should have won the Hugo for this!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Most Excellent
Review: Orson Scott Card is probably one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time, rivaled only by Isaac Asimov, Timothy Zahn, Michael Crichton and Arthur C. Clarke. His use of the English language is both eloquent and elegant. His use of verbal imagery is astounding. I was captivated by Ender's Game, Speaker caught me but did not keep me the way Ender did. Now, with Xenocide, I was captured again. In a tribute to Card's style, he had me about to cry and then bursting my sides laughing in the same fifty pages. Not only is his verbal imagery astounding, he is also in touch with a little human psychology. His revelations at how people think, especially in a crowd and mob situation, shocked me beyond all belief. The book deserves more than four stars, but I do not give out perfect reviews. For more information, contact me. My information is listed above. This truly is a wonderful book, and Orson Scott Card is an amazing author.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Xenocide definitely continues the Ender Quartet.
Review: This third book in the series deserves the respect of any sci-fi writer and reader. While it may take you a while to get through all the pages in this book, you will not be disappointed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great book for anyone who likes reading.Perfect
Review: I have read Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, and now Xenocide. I must say, this book was awesome! I loved it, even more than Ender's Game. All the twists and turns in the plot of this book are amazing. And the climax, what extraordinary storytelling! If you have read any Sci-fi books, you've gotta read this! But, read Speaker first!


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