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Ender's Saga #4
Children of the Mind
Children of the Mind (1996) is the fourth novel of Orson Scott Card's popular Ender's Game series of science fiction novels that focus on the character Ender Wiggin. This book was originally the second half of Xenocide, before it was split into two novels.
At the start of Children of the Mind, Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, is using her newly discovered abilities to take the races of buggers, humans and pequeninos outside the universe and back instantaneously. She uses these powers to move them to distant habitable planets for colonization. She is losing her memory and concentration as the vast computer network connected to the ansible is being shut down. If she is to survive, she must find a way to transfer her aiúa (or soul) to a human body.
At the start of Children of the Mind, Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, is using her newly discovered abilities to take the races of buggers, humans and pequeninos outside the universe and back instantaneously. She uses these powers to move them to distant habitable planets for colonization. She is losing her memory and concentration as the vast computer network connected to the ansible is being shut down. If she is to survive, she must find a way to transfer her aiúa (or soul) to a human body.
370 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1996
About the author
Orson Scott Card
830 books20k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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December 4, 2013
I know several readers, myself included, who were blown away by Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. They then found the sequel, Speaker for the Dead, to be equally as riveting and eagerly reached for Xenocide, book three in the series, with the highest of expectations--only to be slammed with disappointment. This otherwise serviceable book, with an original premise and interesting characters, crashes to an unsatisfying and confusing ending that combines the worst attributes of deus ex machina and sequel hooking. Back in the mid-90s, it seemed that only the most devoted of Ender fans dared to approach the fourth book, Children of the Mind. The rest of us avoided it like the descolada virus itself.
This situation may have changed over the ensuing decade as Card has published a number of prequel and sequel books in the Ender universe including a notable series about the life and times of Ender Wiggin's schoolmate, Bean. As the story world has expanded, characters have been fleshed out, political systems have been better defined, and the original quadrology has been reframed into a new context. Xenocide-burned readers may finally be ready to take tentative steps toward CotM--or at least that's my theory, after receiving an endorsement of the book from a friend who described it as "not as bad as everyone thought it would have to be."
So I read the book and it was, indeed, not as bad as everyone thought it would have to be--but it's no Ender's Game, either.
It helps to know that Xenocide and CotM were originally conceived as a single volume, which was divided in half when the page count climbed higher than the publisher was willing to accommodate. CotM's confusing and disjointed opening takes place only moments after Xenocide's confusing and disjointed ending, and neither book feels complete on its own. I'm sure the author did the best he could but the result still reads like a botched operation to separate conjoined twins.
CoTM starts in the middle of the action with no easy recap for those of us who haven't read the previous book in a while, so a better transition would have been appreciated. Perhaps something like I've done in this episode of Book Review Theater...
EXTERIOR - EXTRASOLAR PLANET WITH THREE MOONS IN AN ORANGE SKY, WHERE PEOPLE STROLL ALONG A BOARDWALK THAT SEPARATES A BEACH ON ONE SIDE FROM URBAN BLIGHT ON THE OTHER - LATE EVENING
A cardboard box appears from nowhere. Peter Wiggin and Si Wang-mu emerge, look around in confusion for a moment, and confront the first man passing by.
PETER: Excuse me, sir?
MAN: Yeah? Whatta you want?
PETER: I'm an extra-universally created simulation of Peter Wiggin, the late Hegemon of the Free People of Earth, under the spiritual control of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin who is and will remain, until his imminent death of old age, reviled and celebrated, respectively, as Xenocide and Speaker for the Dead.
WANG-MU: And I am Wang-mu, a former slave with artificially-enhanced intellectual capacity, ironically named after a Chinese goddess. Also ironically, the so-called free people of my society were in fact enslaved to outside powers by virtue of their genetically-crafted OCD tendencies while peasants and slaves like myself remained actually free.
PETER: With the aid of Jane, a unique artificial intelligence originally created by an alien race that's falsely presumed to be extinct at the hands of my apparent younger brother and puppetmaster, we are travelling from Wang-Mu's home world--
WANG-MU: The Planet Where Everyone Is Chinese.
PETER: Right. From Wang-Mu's home world, The Planet Where Everyone is Chinese, we were meant to find The Planet Where Everyone Is A Pacific Islander by way of The Planet Where Everyone is Japanese.
WANG-MU (looks around): With my advanced intellect, I've determined that this is not any of those worlds.
MAN: Nah. This is The Planet Where Everyone Is From New Jersey. Got a problem with that?
PETER: Not at all, my hairy knuckle-dragging friend. It would seem that Jane is playing a practical joke on us, or perhaps manipulating our journey in the same way that everyone around us seems to be constantly manipulating everyone else in some way or other.
WANG-MU: Including ourselves.
PETER: I'm sorry for taking up your time, but we really must be going. A fleet is approaching The Planet Where Everyone is Brazilian with the intention of blowing the whole thing up, not knowing yet that a cure to the dreaded species-scrambling descolada virus has been found, or that their actions would mean genocide for the last remaining Buggers as well as the native Piggies and Jane herself--who is unique enough to be considered her own species. Did I mention that Jane has the ability to pop people in and out of the universe, allowing them to create impossible objects, bring people back from the dead, and cure brain damage or deformities of the body?
WANG-MU: Which is why we must prevent Congress from shutting Jane down by persuading some influential philosophers that the events of World War II back on Earth are still relevant in space so many thousands of years later.
Peter and Wang-mu step back into the cardboard box, which promptly vanishes.
MAN: What a couple of self-important jerks!
Something like that would have helped a lot, although the premise does seem rather silly and far-fetched when you try to boil it down to a few short paragraphs of exposition. It also reveals a major weakness of the story world: the assumption that Earth would colonize new worlds on a nation-by-nation basis and that the resulting planetary cultures would not change or evolve noticeably from their progenitors. This detail seems glaringly unrealistic in light of Card's obsession with such anthropological details as food, architecture, and language.
Ender himself hardly appears in this book, and perhaps the most memorable character from Xenocide, OCD-laden genius Han Qing-jao, is missing entirely--only represented in CotM by tantalizing excerpts from her philosophical writings, which serve as thematic chapter headers. But Qing-jao's presence would perhaps have been redundant since she is far from the series's only deep-thinking philosopher and author of impactful works that have changed the lives of billions or trillions of people. In addition to Quing-jao, this would include Ender (author of a trilogy that has stayed continuously in print for over three thousand years), Valentine and Peter (who manipulated world governments through their pseudonymous writings as Demosthenes and Locke), Aimaina Hikari (whose works inspired attempted xenocide), Grace (whose writings inspired Hikari), Malu (whose works inspired Grace), and Plikt (who, as the speaker for Ender's death, has a lock on a future bestseller as well).
Only Ender's stepdaughter, Quara, seems to lack the bug for philosophizing and authorship, so of course the other characters use her as a punching bag for their verbal abuse--which highlights another annoyance I experienced with this book. Every scene is either a dramafest of angst and confrontation or an excuse for long philosophical soliloquies that usually include at least one Shakespeare quotation. Or often, both. Almost without exception, every philosophical theory presented in the book is then subsequently picked apart and discarded as childish and simplistic compared to the unexpressed deeper thoughts that all of our genius characters are keeping to themselves. This makes for one long, emotionally draining, and often pompous book.
Bottom Line: Every reader of thought-provoking science fiction, age 10 through 110, should pick up copies of Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. My prior warning to avoid Xenocide is tempered somewhat, but anyone who continues onward in the series should read Xenocide and Children of the Mind together and be prepared for an exhausting and confusing ride.
This situation may have changed over the ensuing decade as Card has published a number of prequel and sequel books in the Ender universe including a notable series about the life and times of Ender Wiggin's schoolmate, Bean. As the story world has expanded, characters have been fleshed out, political systems have been better defined, and the original quadrology has been reframed into a new context. Xenocide-burned readers may finally be ready to take tentative steps toward CotM--or at least that's my theory, after receiving an endorsement of the book from a friend who described it as "not as bad as everyone thought it would have to be."
So I read the book and it was, indeed, not as bad as everyone thought it would have to be--but it's no Ender's Game, either.
It helps to know that Xenocide and CotM were originally conceived as a single volume, which was divided in half when the page count climbed higher than the publisher was willing to accommodate. CotM's confusing and disjointed opening takes place only moments after Xenocide's confusing and disjointed ending, and neither book feels complete on its own. I'm sure the author did the best he could but the result still reads like a botched operation to separate conjoined twins.
CoTM starts in the middle of the action with no easy recap for those of us who haven't read the previous book in a while, so a better transition would have been appreciated. Perhaps something like I've done in this episode of Book Review Theater...
EXTERIOR - EXTRASOLAR PLANET WITH THREE MOONS IN AN ORANGE SKY, WHERE PEOPLE STROLL ALONG A BOARDWALK THAT SEPARATES A BEACH ON ONE SIDE FROM URBAN BLIGHT ON THE OTHER - LATE EVENING
A cardboard box appears from nowhere. Peter Wiggin and Si Wang-mu emerge, look around in confusion for a moment, and confront the first man passing by.
PETER: Excuse me, sir?
MAN: Yeah? Whatta you want?
PETER: I'm an extra-universally created simulation of Peter Wiggin, the late Hegemon of the Free People of Earth, under the spiritual control of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin who is and will remain, until his imminent death of old age, reviled and celebrated, respectively, as Xenocide and Speaker for the Dead.
WANG-MU: And I am Wang-mu, a former slave with artificially-enhanced intellectual capacity, ironically named after a Chinese goddess. Also ironically, the so-called free people of my society were in fact enslaved to outside powers by virtue of their genetically-crafted OCD tendencies while peasants and slaves like myself remained actually free.
PETER: With the aid of Jane, a unique artificial intelligence originally created by an alien race that's falsely presumed to be extinct at the hands of my apparent younger brother and puppetmaster, we are travelling from Wang-Mu's home world--
WANG-MU: The Planet Where Everyone Is Chinese.
PETER: Right. From Wang-Mu's home world, The Planet Where Everyone is Chinese, we were meant to find The Planet Where Everyone Is A Pacific Islander by way of The Planet Where Everyone is Japanese.
WANG-MU (looks around): With my advanced intellect, I've determined that this is not any of those worlds.
MAN: Nah. This is The Planet Where Everyone Is From New Jersey. Got a problem with that?
PETER: Not at all, my hairy knuckle-dragging friend. It would seem that Jane is playing a practical joke on us, or perhaps manipulating our journey in the same way that everyone around us seems to be constantly manipulating everyone else in some way or other.
WANG-MU: Including ourselves.
PETER: I'm sorry for taking up your time, but we really must be going. A fleet is approaching The Planet Where Everyone is Brazilian with the intention of blowing the whole thing up, not knowing yet that a cure to the dreaded species-scrambling descolada virus has been found, or that their actions would mean genocide for the last remaining Buggers as well as the native Piggies and Jane herself--who is unique enough to be considered her own species. Did I mention that Jane has the ability to pop people in and out of the universe, allowing them to create impossible objects, bring people back from the dead, and cure brain damage or deformities of the body?
WANG-MU: Which is why we must prevent Congress from shutting Jane down by persuading some influential philosophers that the events of World War II back on Earth are still relevant in space so many thousands of years later.
Peter and Wang-mu step back into the cardboard box, which promptly vanishes.
MAN: What a couple of self-important jerks!
Something like that would have helped a lot, although the premise does seem rather silly and far-fetched when you try to boil it down to a few short paragraphs of exposition. It also reveals a major weakness of the story world: the assumption that Earth would colonize new worlds on a nation-by-nation basis and that the resulting planetary cultures would not change or evolve noticeably from their progenitors. This detail seems glaringly unrealistic in light of Card's obsession with such anthropological details as food, architecture, and language.
Ender himself hardly appears in this book, and perhaps the most memorable character from Xenocide, OCD-laden genius Han Qing-jao, is missing entirely--only represented in CotM by tantalizing excerpts from her philosophical writings, which serve as thematic chapter headers. But Qing-jao's presence would perhaps have been redundant since she is far from the series's only deep-thinking philosopher and author of impactful works that have changed the lives of billions or trillions of people. In addition to Quing-jao, this would include Ender (author of a trilogy that has stayed continuously in print for over three thousand years), Valentine and Peter (who manipulated world governments through their pseudonymous writings as Demosthenes and Locke), Aimaina Hikari (whose works inspired attempted xenocide), Grace (whose writings inspired Hikari), Malu (whose works inspired Grace), and Plikt (who, as the speaker for Ender's death, has a lock on a future bestseller as well).
Only Ender's stepdaughter, Quara, seems to lack the bug for philosophizing and authorship, so of course the other characters use her as a punching bag for their verbal abuse--which highlights another annoyance I experienced with this book. Every scene is either a dramafest of angst and confrontation or an excuse for long philosophical soliloquies that usually include at least one Shakespeare quotation. Or often, both. Almost without exception, every philosophical theory presented in the book is then subsequently picked apart and discarded as childish and simplistic compared to the unexpressed deeper thoughts that all of our genius characters are keeping to themselves. This makes for one long, emotionally draining, and often pompous book.
Bottom Line: Every reader of thought-provoking science fiction, age 10 through 110, should pick up copies of Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. My prior warning to avoid Xenocide is tempered somewhat, but anyone who continues onward in the series should read Xenocide and Children of the Mind together and be prepared for an exhausting and confusing ride.
August 21, 2020
Wraps up the series neatly enough . . . until you stop to think about how ridiculous the entire premise is or how annoying it is that everything seems to fit so nicely together.
I suppose I have to recant the part of my Xenocide review where I called the "birth" of Peter and Young Val "unnecessary." That was obviously a crucial episode for what Card had in store for the series conclusion. But I still won't take back the opinion that it's annoying.
Positives: After starting slowly, the plot did pick up around halfway through and was sufficiently interesting to keep me turning pages; there was a scene where the mothertrees started to fruit which was beautiful. . . by far the most emotional part of the book for me; there was much creativity in the solution to the Jane problem.
Negatives: Overall, the book was simply annoying. We were subjected again to far too many pages of the completely useless and unbelievable Quara, the inner turmoil of Miro (this time as he's deciding between Val and Jane), the completely incredible romance between Peter and Wang-Mu, tedious scenes between Ender and the second-least sympathetic character in the series Novinha (Card, if you're going to make her this unlikeable, you can't continue to subject the reader to her), and "recaps" from the previous books that went on for long paragraphs and I ended up just skipping. The chapter intros by Qiang-Jao brought nothing, and if anything had only the effect of reminding me of one of the most annoying characters from the previous book.
The entire concept of Peter and Young Val was inconsistent. They either have free will and are their own people (in which case Ender is like a God, to have enough soul to split in two), or they're not. If the former, they wouldn't need Ender anyway to continue living, and if the latter, there's no way they would ever be able to experience self-pity. There's no in between.
Overall, this and Xenocide could have been greatly condensed into one 500-600 page novel and been a masterpiece.
Not Bad Movie and Book Reviews.
@pointblaek
I suppose I have to recant the part of my Xenocide review where I called the "birth" of Peter and Young Val "unnecessary." That was obviously a crucial episode for what Card had in store for the series conclusion. But I still won't take back the opinion that it's annoying.
Positives: After starting slowly, the plot did pick up around halfway through and was sufficiently interesting to keep me turning pages; there was a scene where the mothertrees started to fruit which was beautiful. . . by far the most emotional part of the book for me; there was much creativity in the solution to the Jane problem.
Negatives: Overall, the book was simply annoying. We were subjected again to far too many pages of the completely useless and unbelievable Quara, the inner turmoil of Miro (this time as he's deciding between Val and Jane), the completely incredible romance between Peter and Wang-Mu, tedious scenes between Ender and the second-least sympathetic character in the series Novinha (Card, if you're going to make her this unlikeable, you can't continue to subject the reader to her), and "recaps" from the previous books that went on for long paragraphs and I ended up just skipping. The chapter intros by Qiang-Jao brought nothing, and if anything had only the effect of reminding me of one of the most annoying characters from the previous book.
The entire concept of Peter and Young Val was inconsistent. They either have free will and are their own people (in which case Ender is like a God, to have enough soul to split in two), or they're not. If the former, they wouldn't need Ender anyway to continue living, and if the latter, there's no way they would ever be able to experience self-pity. There's no in between.
Overall, this and Xenocide could have been greatly condensed into one 500-600 page novel and been a masterpiece.
Not Bad Movie and Book Reviews.
@pointblaek
January 21, 2020
Children of the Mind (Ender's Saga, #4), Orson Scott Card
At the start of Children of the Mind, Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, is using her newly discovered abilities to take the races of buggers, humans and pequeninos outside the universe and back instantaneously. She uses these powers to move them to distant habitable planets for colonization. She is losing her memory and concentration as the vast computer network connected to the ansible is being shut down (An ansible is a category of fictional device). If she is to survive, she must find a way to transfer her aiúa (or soul) to a human body. Children of the Mind is the end of the Ender Quartet.
At the start of Children of the Mind, Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, is using her newly discovered abilities to take the races of buggers, humans and pequeninos outside the universe and back instantaneously. She uses these powers to move them to distant habitable planets for colonization. She is losing her memory and concentration as the vast computer network connected to the ansible is being shut down (An ansible is a category of fictional device). If she is to survive, she must find a way to transfer her aiúa (or soul) to a human body. Children of the Mind is the end of the Ender Quartet.
March 13, 2014
I just finished this book and I read it not too long after reading 'Xenocide'. I really should review 'Xenocide' but I wanted to get this out while it was still fresh since 'Children of the Mind' was so awful. A full review of 'Xenocide', though, isn't really necessary since both books are terrible and suffer from the same flaws.
The big problem with this book is that Card violates the 'Show, Don't Tell' rule of writing. This book consists almost exclusively of long dialogue between characters and very long monologues and/or character ruminations. Even though a lot is happening in the book - colonies of buggers, pequeninos, and Lusitanians are moving off-world; the Starways Congress Fleet is traveling to Lusitania to destroy it; Peter and [the hyper-annoying] Wang-Mu are conducting Card's ridiculous idea of shuttle diplomacy - Card only ever has characters talk about it, rather than have the reader along for the ride. Card even takes the excitement out of space flight for Pete's sake.
Then there is Card's half-baked morality/philosophy baked into the crust of this mud pie. For example, Peter's 'mission' is to sway political opinion against the fleet's use of the Molecular Disruptor (M.D., or the Little Doctor, first seen in 'Ender's Game'). They do this by going to exactly two planets - neo-Japan and, I'm not making this up, neo-Samoa! They have exactly two meetings (one on each planet) with two philosopher/academic types. These meetings consist of some pseudo-philosophical claptrap that is supposed to pass for weighty jousting of ideas of serious moment and then, presto! change-o! political opinion in the Congress of ONE HUNDRED WORLDS is changed and an order goes out telling the fleet not to use the Little Doctor!
Then there is the pointless conflict and endless hand wringing over where Jane's soul (or aiua) will go. It's obvious that Jane will end up in the Young Val that returns from the initial faster-than-light space flight at the end of 'Xenocide'. But that doesn't stop Card from allowing his characters (such as they are) from arguing and bickering endlessly about it. As if that's not bad enough, the conflict is repeated (albeit on a blessedly smaller scale) with the question of where Ender's soul will go when he dies. (If you haven't figured out that it's Peter, hit yourself in the head with a hammer.)
Which brings me to yet another annoying thing about this book - the endless bickering between the characters. It's not enough that the book is endless dialogue. It's a lot of endless bickering, sniping and malicious psychoanalysis between the characters. First of all, very, very few people (and when I say 'very, very few' I mean none) has the acumen that Card's characters have. No-one really knows what anyone else is really thinking or why they do what they do. This makes it all the more unforgivable for Card to saddle the book with loads of shrill attacks between Jane and Ender, Jane and Miro, Young Val and Miro, Peter and Wang-Mu, Ender and Novinha, Quara and everyone! It reminded me of why I stopped reading Card's Homecoming series, which suffered from the same shortcoming.
Also, Card doesn't pass up the opportunity to re-hash all his earlier sermo - I mean, arguments from the previous three books about how it is wrong for one species - in this case, humans - to exterminate another - in this case, the buggers (notwithstanding the fact that the buggers were attacking humankind). Except that he doesn't even make an argument; it's simply an assertion. He doesn't explain why it was wrong of Ender to destroy the buggers' home world when they had attacked humans. He just declares that it is (and saddles poor Ender with the guilt). It was unconvincing the first several times Card made it and unnecessary in this volume.
I think this book suffers from the Forced Franchise Syndrome. That's my own term for when a filmmaker, or in this case author, takes a perfectly good standalone property ('Ender's Game' in this case) and tries to string it out to create a series when it's not supported by the material. My two favorite examples of this are the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Matrix movies.
I rarely give up on a book once I have started it. I thought long and hard about it with this one. In the end, the reason I didn't was because the book was relatively short and it only took me a little over three days to get through it.
The big problem with this book is that Card violates the 'Show, Don't Tell' rule of writing. This book consists almost exclusively of long dialogue between characters and very long monologues and/or character ruminations. Even though a lot is happening in the book - colonies of buggers, pequeninos, and Lusitanians are moving off-world; the Starways Congress Fleet is traveling to Lusitania to destroy it; Peter and [the hyper-annoying] Wang-Mu are conducting Card's ridiculous idea of shuttle diplomacy - Card only ever has characters talk about it, rather than have the reader along for the ride. Card even takes the excitement out of space flight for Pete's sake.
Then there is Card's half-baked morality/philosophy baked into the crust of this mud pie. For example, Peter's 'mission' is to sway political opinion against the fleet's use of the Molecular Disruptor (M.D., or the Little Doctor, first seen in 'Ender's Game'). They do this by going to exactly two planets - neo-Japan and, I'm not making this up, neo-Samoa! They have exactly two meetings (one on each planet) with two philosopher/academic types. These meetings consist of some pseudo-philosophical claptrap that is supposed to pass for weighty jousting of ideas of serious moment and then, presto! change-o! political opinion in the Congress of ONE HUNDRED WORLDS is changed and an order goes out telling the fleet not to use the Little Doctor!
Then there is the pointless conflict and endless hand wringing over where Jane's soul (or aiua) will go. It's obvious that Jane will end up in the Young Val that returns from the initial faster-than-light space flight at the end of 'Xenocide'. But that doesn't stop Card from allowing his characters (such as they are) from arguing and bickering endlessly about it. As if that's not bad enough, the conflict is repeated (albeit on a blessedly smaller scale) with the question of where Ender's soul will go when he dies. (If you haven't figured out that it's Peter, hit yourself in the head with a hammer.)
Which brings me to yet another annoying thing about this book - the endless bickering between the characters. It's not enough that the book is endless dialogue. It's a lot of endless bickering, sniping and malicious psychoanalysis between the characters. First of all, very, very few people (and when I say 'very, very few' I mean none) has the acumen that Card's characters have. No-one really knows what anyone else is really thinking or why they do what they do. This makes it all the more unforgivable for Card to saddle the book with loads of shrill attacks between Jane and Ender, Jane and Miro, Young Val and Miro, Peter and Wang-Mu, Ender and Novinha, Quara and everyone! It reminded me of why I stopped reading Card's Homecoming series, which suffered from the same shortcoming.
Also, Card doesn't pass up the opportunity to re-hash all his earlier sermo - I mean, arguments from the previous three books about how it is wrong for one species - in this case, humans - to exterminate another - in this case, the buggers (notwithstanding the fact that the buggers were attacking humankind). Except that he doesn't even make an argument; it's simply an assertion. He doesn't explain why it was wrong of Ender to destroy the buggers' home world when they had attacked humans. He just declares that it is (and saddles poor Ender with the guilt). It was unconvincing the first several times Card made it and unnecessary in this volume.
I think this book suffers from the Forced Franchise Syndrome. That's my own term for when a filmmaker, or in this case author, takes a perfectly good standalone property ('Ender's Game' in this case) and tries to string it out to create a series when it's not supported by the material. My two favorite examples of this are the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Matrix movies.
I rarely give up on a book once I have started it. I thought long and hard about it with this one. In the end, the reason I didn't was because the book was relatively short and it only took me a little over three days to get through it.
August 6, 2010
Whoo, finished, finally. Sometimes you get sucked in a series and you just can't wait until its over because of the command over your whole attention that it has on you. Andrew Wiggin is somebody who we would all like to become; understanding, compassionate, brilliant, and charitable. Yet he is a tragic character who carries the burden of humanity on his shoulders, always taking on more responsibility than is seemed his share.
This final novel is the fast paced, engaging, climax to the series. Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide were mature, slow and ponderous; albeit very fascinating. (In my opinion, Xenocide could have done with a hundred less pages.) Yet all of them were anticlimactic; Card left much of the plot lines unresolved or those that were resolved done with diminished excitement. Children of the Mind made up for it. I found it satisfying and was unable to put it down. He developed and expounded all that was missing from the first two (yes, two, I don’t consider Ender’s Game part of this series, its character and mood and purpose are entirely different than these three. I view it as a prequel) novels. I’ve read complaints about Speaker or Xenocide that were resolved in this last one.
His characters drive his stories. Their challenges, brilliance, and road on life are the heart of the story. I do recommend the series. They read fairly quickly, are enjoyable and powerful.
This final novel is the fast paced, engaging, climax to the series. Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide were mature, slow and ponderous; albeit very fascinating. (In my opinion, Xenocide could have done with a hundred less pages.) Yet all of them were anticlimactic; Card left much of the plot lines unresolved or those that were resolved done with diminished excitement. Children of the Mind made up for it. I found it satisfying and was unable to put it down. He developed and expounded all that was missing from the first two (yes, two, I don’t consider Ender’s Game part of this series, its character and mood and purpose are entirely different than these three. I view it as a prequel) novels. I’ve read complaints about Speaker or Xenocide that were resolved in this last one.
His characters drive his stories. Their challenges, brilliance, and road on life are the heart of the story. I do recommend the series. They read fairly quickly, are enjoyable and powerful.
October 12, 2014
I have to find that quote in this book that PISSES ME OFF. It made me take away a star.
Why so RACIST? To asians and whites! Ever think that maybe Peter just wants to sit in a chair because chairs are more comfortable than kneeling?
Sorry, but what he wrote about Hiroshima and Nagasaki is OFFENSIVE AS ALL FUCK!
I hate this book. I hate OSC's writing. Why did I EVER think he was a good writer?
Oh, that is IT Orson Scott Card. I'm going to go out and DESTROY THE NUCLEAR FAMILY! I will destroy gender roles, make boys play with dolls and girls play with trucks and turn everyone in the world gay and then have a gay pride parade in your town full of strippers and topless lesbians! There will be transgendered people, gender queers like me and SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WILL BREAK DOWN SOCIETY! We will take over the schools and such and encourage EVERYONE to be hedonistic heathens because he is getting on my damn nerves THAT MUCH!
I swear this computer is trying to tell me to read Harry Potter instead. Why the hell would you tell a woman who was battered by her husband such TRIPE? How was it good to have a man who beat their mother and made them unstable? Libo was a frigging WUSS for not taking responsibility for his kids and the woman he loved. It's like I can't even think of a character of his as a good guy because they FRIGGING SUCK THAT MUCH AS A PERSON! His sick world view permeates every word. That's it's better to have an unhealthy family as long as it's a heterosexual family with proper gender roles than to have a happy healthy gay family! How is it protection for them if they are screwed up because of this awful, abusive man? Families should NEVER be about abuse. Or gender roles, but love and trust!
And why must Novinha be in this book? I. Hate. Her.
I regret rereading Xenocide and Children of the Mind. In the past, I loved the Ender's Game series, but rereading them too many times and reading Ender in Exile killed that. I thought these books were better than Ender in Exile, but they are the same.
Every single paragraph is poisoned by Orson Scott Card's world view. Characters exist only to express it and spout out his philosophy. Characters argue and bicker and act bitchy and stupid when the fate of people are at stake. People fall in love in two days and get married, even if the person they are marrying is 14! Most of the characters spout on about getting married and religion every three seconds. If there are characters of colour, they are more like racial caricatures. Are all Samoans fat? All Asians obsessed with honour and being humble? OSC seems to think so!
I'm sorry, but he's just not a good writer. He can't write women for shit. He just conquers characters and make them lecture the reader. His plots are thin and based on characters doing ridiculous things. If these characters are such geniuses, why the hell are they so damn stupid?
It's three thousand years into the future! It's like nothing has changed or gotten any better and people move to segregated planets to live like stereotypes. I can't believe that in 30 years Novinha's stupid children never changed. Quim was just as self righteous, Grego, ready to instigate things, and Quara, arg! Why was she in this book? She was such a BITCH for no reason at all other than to irritate everyone and the reader. Only Ela had any sort of sense. What is the point of Science Fiction if things don't change? Yes, people are on other planets, but wouldn't they have developed MORE than this? Octavia Butler has way more complexity to her stories. Read her instead!
That is it. I gave him a chance. I'm going to go out and write subversive literature and I'm not even going to read the Bean series when I could read Harry Potter instead and be happy instead of cranky.
I could have practiced piano!
Why so RACIST? To asians and whites! Ever think that maybe Peter just wants to sit in a chair because chairs are more comfortable than kneeling?
Sorry, but what he wrote about Hiroshima and Nagasaki is OFFENSIVE AS ALL FUCK!
I hate this book. I hate OSC's writing. Why did I EVER think he was a good writer?
Oh, that is IT Orson Scott Card. I'm going to go out and DESTROY THE NUCLEAR FAMILY! I will destroy gender roles, make boys play with dolls and girls play with trucks and turn everyone in the world gay and then have a gay pride parade in your town full of strippers and topless lesbians! There will be transgendered people, gender queers like me and SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WILL BREAK DOWN SOCIETY! We will take over the schools and such and encourage EVERYONE to be hedonistic heathens because he is getting on my damn nerves THAT MUCH!
I swear this computer is trying to tell me to read Harry Potter instead. Why the hell would you tell a woman who was battered by her husband such TRIPE? How was it good to have a man who beat their mother and made them unstable? Libo was a frigging WUSS for not taking responsibility for his kids and the woman he loved. It's like I can't even think of a character of his as a good guy because they FRIGGING SUCK THAT MUCH AS A PERSON! His sick world view permeates every word. That's it's better to have an unhealthy family as long as it's a heterosexual family with proper gender roles than to have a happy healthy gay family! How is it protection for them if they are screwed up because of this awful, abusive man? Families should NEVER be about abuse. Or gender roles, but love and trust!
And why must Novinha be in this book? I. Hate. Her.
I regret rereading Xenocide and Children of the Mind. In the past, I loved the Ender's Game series, but rereading them too many times and reading Ender in Exile killed that. I thought these books were better than Ender in Exile, but they are the same.
Every single paragraph is poisoned by Orson Scott Card's world view. Characters exist only to express it and spout out his philosophy. Characters argue and bicker and act bitchy and stupid when the fate of people are at stake. People fall in love in two days and get married, even if the person they are marrying is 14! Most of the characters spout on about getting married and religion every three seconds. If there are characters of colour, they are more like racial caricatures. Are all Samoans fat? All Asians obsessed with honour and being humble? OSC seems to think so!
I'm sorry, but he's just not a good writer. He can't write women for shit. He just conquers characters and make them lecture the reader. His plots are thin and based on characters doing ridiculous things. If these characters are such geniuses, why the hell are they so damn stupid?
It's three thousand years into the future! It's like nothing has changed or gotten any better and people move to segregated planets to live like stereotypes. I can't believe that in 30 years Novinha's stupid children never changed. Quim was just as self righteous, Grego, ready to instigate things, and Quara, arg! Why was she in this book? She was such a BITCH for no reason at all other than to irritate everyone and the reader. Only Ela had any sort of sense. What is the point of Science Fiction if things don't change? Yes, people are on other planets, but wouldn't they have developed MORE than this? Octavia Butler has way more complexity to her stories. Read her instead!
That is it. I gave him a chance. I'm going to go out and write subversive literature and I'm not even going to read the Bean series when I could read Harry Potter instead and be happy instead of cranky.
I could have practiced piano!
May 15, 2019
The End
Children of the Mind is the end of the Ender Quartet and the story of the passing of the torch to the next generation of Ender’s “Children.” His children include memory creations of his siblings, his adopted family, and the connected one, Jane. It’s a fitting conclusion to a series filled with wonder, with magic, with spectacle.
It has thus far met with rather mixed reviews, but if you’ve been following these characters, it’s like revisiting old friends when you open up the next book. You want to know if the fleet ever reaches Lusitania. You want to know if Jane survives when the Ansible system is shut down. You want to know if somehow someone figures out how to persuade the Starways Congress. But you never imagined this ragtag band on this backward planet would survive. It is recommended that the reader start the series at the beginning or else you could find yourself lost and drifting in the cosmos.
The story is now a mix of science fiction and metaphysics and Eastern philosophy is explored. Instant space travel exists, changing everything. And, spirits can jump from one container to another. A bold satisfying read.
Card continues presenting his themes of ethical quandary such as how do we know if an alien species is intelligent and how do we know if they threaten our existence. As we travel through space and encounter aliens 👽, the question becomes whether we can understand them and vice versa and should we strike first.
The science 🧬 part of the book gets a little crazy. First, we have traveling at lightspeed where we age a few months while the rest of the world lives out thirty years of real time. Then, because that doesn’t move the story along fast enough, we get instant space travel where the Jane entity moves ships outside of reality and then brings them back wherever she wants. Of course, that’s far more easy to understand than the sound of people or souls of networks in the case of Jane flirting around through psychic Webs of connection. Kind of a New Age crystals and mind reading thing, but Card makes all this stuff work well in the context of the story.
Children of the Mind is the end of the Ender Quartet and the story of the passing of the torch to the next generation of Ender’s “Children.” His children include memory creations of his siblings, his adopted family, and the connected one, Jane. It’s a fitting conclusion to a series filled with wonder, with magic, with spectacle.
It has thus far met with rather mixed reviews, but if you’ve been following these characters, it’s like revisiting old friends when you open up the next book. You want to know if the fleet ever reaches Lusitania. You want to know if Jane survives when the Ansible system is shut down. You want to know if somehow someone figures out how to persuade the Starways Congress. But you never imagined this ragtag band on this backward planet would survive. It is recommended that the reader start the series at the beginning or else you could find yourself lost and drifting in the cosmos.
The story is now a mix of science fiction and metaphysics and Eastern philosophy is explored. Instant space travel exists, changing everything. And, spirits can jump from one container to another. A bold satisfying read.
Card continues presenting his themes of ethical quandary such as how do we know if an alien species is intelligent and how do we know if they threaten our existence. As we travel through space and encounter aliens 👽, the question becomes whether we can understand them and vice versa and should we strike first.
The science 🧬 part of the book gets a little crazy. First, we have traveling at lightspeed where we age a few months while the rest of the world lives out thirty years of real time. Then, because that doesn’t move the story along fast enough, we get instant space travel where the Jane entity moves ships outside of reality and then brings them back wherever she wants. Of course, that’s far more easy to understand than the sound of people or souls of networks in the case of Jane flirting around through psychic Webs of connection. Kind of a New Age crystals and mind reading thing, but Card makes all this stuff work well in the context of the story.
January 22, 2024
I enjoyed this closure for the Ender Quartet a lot, not as much as Speaker for the Dead, but slightly more than Xenocide. I actually put this one off because I was worried that it would get weighted down by obscurantism and Mormonism, but it surprised me in being interesting without being annoying. In Xenocide, I thought the Jane instantaneous transport was a stretch when it was added at the end of the book, but I think it was better justified and explained in Children. I think Peter got short-shifted a bit, because he is an interesting character, but I thought he didn't get enough screentime and then his transformation at the end was, honestly, a little disappointing. The end was fairly predictable, but still, it was an enjoyable read. I can't imagine how hard it would be to imagine the situations and characters in the Ender space opera much less keep up the action and mystery across 4 books, but I have to admit that Card did a great job here.
Fino's Enderverse Reviews in internal chronological order (I think):
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fino's Enderverse Reviews in internal chronological order (I think):
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
October 18, 2014
I wanted to love this. I really did - after all, I love Miro, who is given a lot more page space, and I was excited to see what Peter would bring to the table. But after Xenocide, it was pretty weak.
Now to make a few comments (ehem, rants)…
a) Why is it that the only truly negative bits in the series come from the women? You know, the only truly unforgivable, unredeemable, unreasonable, and supremely infuriating bits… Let me summarize what these bits were: QUARA, Qing-Jao, and Novinha. Welcome to the Hate Club. QUARA: I've never read a nastier b**** than Quara. She should've been sacrificed to her beloved descolada. No one should have to put up with the kind of crap behavior, attitude, and total disregard of authority and sense that Quara consistently subjected everyone to. She is the only absolutely unredeemable character in the books. Screw the daddy issues. She was a [horribly] flawed character without any saving grace. Not a one. I quite successfully hated her. QING-JAO: represents the kind of brainwashed religious fanatic that is ultimately pardonable, and pitiable, because they truly believe they are doing the right thing. But man, what a waste of a highly-educated and once perfectly rational mind. This is the unreasonable bit. (*note: Qing-Jao appears in Xenocide.) NOVINHA: So Ender finally commits himself to a woman, and he has to choose a massively-scarred, emotionally-wrecked, paranoid, vitriolic control freak who, it was revealed, never really gave him her unconditional love and devotion and who treated him like trash in this last book. HE DESERVED WAY BETTER. Witch. I totally blame her for
To sum this rant topic up, though, one does not have to think long when wondering why it was only women who were written into this role, whereas all the men eventually reach some state of grace (or are naturally already paragons of wisdom. Semi-sarcastic eye roll). The series is clearly male-centric, even in the tipping of the moral scale.
b) I was somewhat surprised by the excessive support given to the marriage institution. The concept of marriage is absolutely upheld. It was like love = marriage, and no other equation exists. Even Novinha's adultery was eventually painted as the manifestation of a "marriage of the heart." Overall I felt that there was unnecessary underlining of the concept, clearly based on the author's personal moral beliefs.
c) Jane is AWESOME. Period.
Now to make a few comments (ehem, rants)…
a) Why is it that the only truly negative bits in the series come from the women? You know, the only truly unforgivable, unredeemable, unreasonable, and supremely infuriating bits… Let me summarize what these bits were: QUARA, Qing-Jao, and Novinha. Welcome to the Hate Club. QUARA: I've never read a nastier b**** than Quara. She should've been sacrificed to her beloved descolada. No one should have to put up with the kind of crap behavior, attitude, and total disregard of authority and sense that Quara consistently subjected everyone to. She is the only absolutely unredeemable character in the books. Screw the daddy issues. She was a [horribly] flawed character without any saving grace. Not a one. I quite successfully hated her. QING-JAO: represents the kind of brainwashed religious fanatic that is ultimately pardonable, and pitiable, because they truly believe they are doing the right thing. But man, what a waste of a highly-educated and once perfectly rational mind. This is the unreasonable bit. (*note: Qing-Jao appears in Xenocide.) NOVINHA: So Ender finally commits himself to a woman, and he has to choose a massively-scarred, emotionally-wrecked, paranoid, vitriolic control freak who, it was revealed, never really gave him her unconditional love and devotion and who treated him like trash in this last book. HE DESERVED WAY BETTER. Witch. I totally blame her for
To sum this rant topic up, though, one does not have to think long when wondering why it was only women who were written into this role, whereas all the men eventually reach some state of grace (or are naturally already paragons of wisdom. Semi-sarcastic eye roll). The series is clearly male-centric, even in the tipping of the moral scale.
b) I was somewhat surprised by the excessive support given to the marriage institution. The concept of marriage is absolutely upheld. It was like love = marriage, and no other equation exists. Even Novinha's adultery was eventually painted as the manifestation of a "marriage of the heart." Overall I felt that there was unnecessary underlining of the concept, clearly based on the author's personal moral beliefs.
c) Jane is AWESOME. Period.
August 26, 2011
This book actually led me to break two rules of mine: 1) Never give up on a book more than 30 pages in, and 2) Nobody needs to read my review of a book, so what's the point in writing one. But this time I just... I just couldn't do it.
What I loved about Ender's Game was that it's not a blatant, lasers'n'aliens sci-fi novel (although there is NOTHING wrong with laser'n'aliens), so much as it's the story of a boy placed in relatively difficult circumstances, "up against it" if you will, who learns through simple necessity how to handle himself in difficult situations, and it all just so happens to be told against the backdrop of a science fiction universe. With the rest of the series (barring Ender's Shadow, et al.--I'm talking about the main "Quartet") Orson Scott Card seemed to say, "Of you like stories of moral dilemma told in a science fiction world? Well gettaloadathis!" It's the literary equivalent of saying to me, "Hey, I really like this sandwich. The bread and butter pickles really bring out the flavor." And then the next time I make you a sandwich, it's just a pile of bread and butter pickles. And maybe a glass of pickle juice on the side. Too much! He really lays it on thick with the inner monologue and moral indecision. And with sentences like "It was so complex--and yet so simple" peppered throughout, it feels more like a satire than an actual, I'm-taking-myself-seriously novel. I tried, oh how I tried, to finish this book. But I got to a point where I realized I still had 100 or so pages of this, and I just had to put my foot down.
Which leads me to broken rule #2: The purpose of this whole review is so that someone might save themselves the trouble of reading this novel. I know it's tempting, especially after reading the three that lead up to it, but save yourself the trouble and just look it up on Wikipedia. Then maybe re-read Ender's Game so that someone, somewhere, can once again send positive vibes toward Orson Scott Card.
What I loved about Ender's Game was that it's not a blatant, lasers'n'aliens sci-fi novel (although there is NOTHING wrong with laser'n'aliens), so much as it's the story of a boy placed in relatively difficult circumstances, "up against it" if you will, who learns through simple necessity how to handle himself in difficult situations, and it all just so happens to be told against the backdrop of a science fiction universe. With the rest of the series (barring Ender's Shadow, et al.--I'm talking about the main "Quartet") Orson Scott Card seemed to say, "Of you like stories of moral dilemma told in a science fiction world? Well gettaloadathis!" It's the literary equivalent of saying to me, "Hey, I really like this sandwich. The bread and butter pickles really bring out the flavor." And then the next time I make you a sandwich, it's just a pile of bread and butter pickles. And maybe a glass of pickle juice on the side. Too much! He really lays it on thick with the inner monologue and moral indecision. And with sentences like "It was so complex--and yet so simple" peppered throughout, it feels more like a satire than an actual, I'm-taking-myself-seriously novel. I tried, oh how I tried, to finish this book. But I got to a point where I realized I still had 100 or so pages of this, and I just had to put my foot down.
Which leads me to broken rule #2: The purpose of this whole review is so that someone might save themselves the trouble of reading this novel. I know it's tempting, especially after reading the three that lead up to it, but save yourself the trouble and just look it up on Wikipedia. Then maybe re-read Ender's Game so that someone, somewhere, can once again send positive vibes toward Orson Scott Card.
December 22, 2011
I couldn't wait to finish this book. The Ender quartet started so strong and got progressively worse with each book. I hated who the characters became in this book (particularly Wang-Mu) and the long-winded monologues about the difficult love relationships got excessive. The tired philosophy and ruminations on the human condition were boring and unwanted.
Children of the Mind started with so much potential but it was poorly executed. I was really hoping to see the ruthless Peter emerge, having been given only the worst of himself from Ender. Then Ender would have to act on his promise to stop Peter. But of course this didn't happen. Peter is just a brat, and embarks on his mission to save Lusitania with the ever annoying Wang-Mu.
The fleet that was sent at the end of book 2 finally got to Lusitania and the actions of the Captain was probably the best part of the book. Comparing his ethical quandary to that of Ender was really interesting but couldn't make up for everything else that made this book so bad.
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't. After reading Children of the Mind it will take time before I want to read another book by Orson Scott Card.
Children of the Mind started with so much potential but it was poorly executed. I was really hoping to see the ruthless Peter emerge, having been given only the worst of himself from Ender. Then Ender would have to act on his promise to stop Peter. But of course this didn't happen. Peter is just a brat, and embarks on his mission to save Lusitania with the ever annoying Wang-Mu.
The fleet that was sent at the end of book 2 finally got to Lusitania and the actions of the Captain was probably the best part of the book. Comparing his ethical quandary to that of Ender was really interesting but couldn't make up for everything else that made this book so bad.
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't. After reading Children of the Mind it will take time before I want to read another book by Orson Scott Card.
April 3, 2008
Children of the Mind flows from the rest of the Ender saga. Aside from the issues that carry over from the previous book, there's less focus on all the philosophy in the universe and more story. It's mostly about Jane and her bid for survival along side all the peoples and aliens on the world of Lusitania. Like the other books, it's pretty enthralling and opens up the type of moral and philosophical issues that probably have entire sections of the library dedicated to understanding them.
The biggest criticism I can offer is the role of Ender in this, the final part of Ender's series. It seems like he's been shunted off in the background for the most part. Technically he is playing a large role in the whole fight for alien survival. But it seems as if this character with such great potential, if not as the main hero then as a really cool supporting role, is almost completely useless from the third book on. I was expecting much more from Ender... It's his series, after all.
The biggest criticism I can offer is the role of Ender in this, the final part of Ender's series. It seems like he's been shunted off in the background for the most part. Technically he is playing a large role in the whole fight for alien survival. But it seems as if this character with such great potential, if not as the main hero then as a really cool supporting role, is almost completely useless from the third book on. I was expecting much more from Ender... It's his series, after all.
May 10, 2013
Don't get me wrong, Orson Scott Card is one of the greats. Ender's series is one of the best series of all time. However, this book was his weakest due to being monotonous and preachy. The characters were going back and forth, stating the same dialogues. I understand the message and the characters' purposes, but the book lasted way too long; thus,I barely finished the book. Of course, there were many moments, but the bad outweighs the good.
July 20, 2013
The last book in the sci-fi series following Ender Wiggin is disappointing to say the least. It takes all of the amazing characters introduced in Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide and devolves them into what boils down to a soap-opera-in-space.
Card excels at creating interesting characters, but he obviously struggles with writing romance; this is all the more apparent when, in a series that until this book never had any focus on romance between characters, suddenly has romance forced down the throats of nearly every major character.
He also seems to forget entirely about the science-fiction aspect of the series and abandons it entirely for the supernatural, including religious revelation to minor characters, and the discovery of instantaneous interstellar travel based solely around "close your eyes and wish really hard."
Further evidence of why this book should probably never have been written is its weakening of the universe Card has created. The Hundred Worlds up until this novel had been fairly believable because we had only encountered a few different planets. Each of those planets seemed to revolve around a particular culture, but it was fairly easy to believe why the culture was so limited. For example, the world of Path maintained its ancient-Chinese style culture because Starways Congress had genetically engineered them to be that way for its own purposes. Lusitania was entirely comprised of Brazilian Catholics because of its inability to expand across the electrified fence separating them from the pequeninos.
So, why then, do we have an entire planet of Samoans, and another planet of Japanese? Why would we not have multiple cultures on planets that have been in existence for over 3000 years, instead of people maintaining the traditions of people that lived millenia ago? This situation would be the same as if we on Earth still had essentially the same culture from 1000 years before the birth of Christ. This also brings us to the question of why technology has not advanced since the time of the First Xenocide (the events of the first novel in the series). 3000 years have passed, and yet humanity has not progressed in the sciences in any notable fashion.
All in all, the main problem with Orson Scott Card's novel is that it ruins the magic established by the previous novels in the series by abandoning its main character, forcing romance where it doesn't belong, and ruining the suspension of disbelief by bringing the universe's most glaring inconsistencies into the foreground.
Card excels at creating interesting characters, but he obviously struggles with writing romance; this is all the more apparent when, in a series that until this book never had any focus on romance between characters, suddenly has romance forced down the throats of nearly every major character.
He also seems to forget entirely about the science-fiction aspect of the series and abandons it entirely for the supernatural, including religious revelation to minor characters, and the discovery of instantaneous interstellar travel based solely around "close your eyes and wish really hard."
Further evidence of why this book should probably never have been written is its weakening of the universe Card has created. The Hundred Worlds up until this novel had been fairly believable because we had only encountered a few different planets. Each of those planets seemed to revolve around a particular culture, but it was fairly easy to believe why the culture was so limited. For example, the world of Path maintained its ancient-Chinese style culture because Starways Congress had genetically engineered them to be that way for its own purposes. Lusitania was entirely comprised of Brazilian Catholics because of its inability to expand across the electrified fence separating them from the pequeninos.
So, why then, do we have an entire planet of Samoans, and another planet of Japanese? Why would we not have multiple cultures on planets that have been in existence for over 3000 years, instead of people maintaining the traditions of people that lived millenia ago? This situation would be the same as if we on Earth still had essentially the same culture from 1000 years before the birth of Christ. This also brings us to the question of why technology has not advanced since the time of the First Xenocide (the events of the first novel in the series). 3000 years have passed, and yet humanity has not progressed in the sciences in any notable fashion.
All in all, the main problem with Orson Scott Card's novel is that it ruins the magic established by the previous novels in the series by abandoning its main character, forcing romance where it doesn't belong, and ruining the suspension of disbelief by bringing the universe's most glaring inconsistencies into the foreground.
June 17, 2015
A solid conclusion to the Ender Quartet.
It was thoughtfully written and obviously much more than just a science fiction book.
A few of my favorite quotes:
"But we were there, and during the time we lived, we were alive. That's the truth—what is, what was, what will be—not what could be, what should have been, what never can be. If we die, then our death has meaning to the rest of the universe. Even if our lives are unknown, the fact that someone lived here, and died, that will have repercussions that will shape the universe."
"Miro, I'm so sorry. I always felt such pity for you humans because you could only think of one thing at a time and your memories were so imperfect and... now I realize that just getting through the day without killing someone can be an achievement."
"Changing the world is good for those who want their names in books. But being happy, that is for those who write their names in the lives of others, and hold the hearts of others as treasure most dear.
It was thoughtfully written and obviously much more than just a science fiction book.
A few of my favorite quotes:
"But we were there, and during the time we lived, we were alive. That's the truth—what is, what was, what will be—not what could be, what should have been, what never can be. If we die, then our death has meaning to the rest of the universe. Even if our lives are unknown, the fact that someone lived here, and died, that will have repercussions that will shape the universe."
"Miro, I'm so sorry. I always felt such pity for you humans because you could only think of one thing at a time and your memories were so imperfect and... now I realize that just getting through the day without killing someone can be an achievement."
"Changing the world is good for those who want their names in books. But being happy, that is for those who write their names in the lives of others, and hold the hearts of others as treasure most dear.
June 24, 2010
4.0 to 4.5 stars. Book four of the classic Ender series. Not quite as good as the previous books but still excellent and highly recommended.
September 20, 2010
Well, now I've finished the "Ender Quartet" (or saga, as it's called here) at a very leisurely pace. The first book, Ender's Game, was excellent. Second was Speaker For The Dead, which was great. Then there were Xenocide and this one, both of which were merely okay.
It seems that Xenocide and Children Of The Mind were originally meant to be one book. I suspect that if Xenocide had stayed within its own borders, it would have been much better. These two books are weighed down by a lot of ideas. They're usually very interesting ideas, but that doesn't excuse their interference with the story.
It's not only ideas that bloat the two books, though. For example, I don't think Wang-Mu and Qing-Jao are both needed. It's quite interesting to see their personalities clash, but it's not necessary. One character could have served the functions of both.
I also feel that much of the plot of Children Of The Mind was not needed. A lot of it follows the path of "Oh no, this terrible thing is going to happen!" "Wait, maybe if this extremely unlikely event takes place, the terrible thing won't happen!" "Hooray, the event took place!" I didn't see a lot of value in that.
The characters were written weakly as well. Perhaps this is my own lack of comprehension, but their dialogue sounded like the same person most of the time (except for the queen and the tree, who sounded like each other). Furthermore, they were virtually flawless, which makes it hard to care about them. Sure, there was a lot made of their flaws, but these flaws all seemed superficial, and pretty much everyone was a super great person doing the best they could. The only truly flawed ones that I saw were the minor characters Quara, Plikt, and Lands.
There were still a few great moments. I particularly enjoyed (in a bad way) Miro's last scene with Young Val. The confrontation between Peter and Lands was also very enjoyable.
It seems that Xenocide and Children Of The Mind were originally meant to be one book. I suspect that if Xenocide had stayed within its own borders, it would have been much better. These two books are weighed down by a lot of ideas. They're usually very interesting ideas, but that doesn't excuse their interference with the story.
It's not only ideas that bloat the two books, though. For example, I don't think Wang-Mu and Qing-Jao are both needed. It's quite interesting to see their personalities clash, but it's not necessary. One character could have served the functions of both.
I also feel that much of the plot of Children Of The Mind was not needed. A lot of it follows the path of "Oh no, this terrible thing is going to happen!" "Wait, maybe if this extremely unlikely event takes place, the terrible thing won't happen!" "Hooray, the event took place!" I didn't see a lot of value in that.
The characters were written weakly as well. Perhaps this is my own lack of comprehension, but their dialogue sounded like the same person most of the time (except for the queen and the tree, who sounded like each other). Furthermore, they were virtually flawless, which makes it hard to care about them. Sure, there was a lot made of their flaws, but these flaws all seemed superficial, and pretty much everyone was a super great person doing the best they could. The only truly flawed ones that I saw were the minor characters Quara, Plikt, and Lands.
There were still a few great moments. I particularly enjoyed (in a bad way) Miro's last scene with Young Val. The confrontation between Peter and Lands was also very enjoyable.
January 26, 2023
This is more of a review for the entire series.
I didn't care much for the first book (Ender's Game), but the surprise ending captivated me enough to read the next book (plus the series was a Christmas present and I didn't want to leave it unread). The second book (Speaker for the Dead) was much better and I love the Speaker for the Dead idea. This is where things in the book get complicated. The third book (Xenocide), whoa, huge leap in time, love how chaotic everything is with the race to save [insert one of many things here]. The ending of the third book threw me off a bit though. The fourth book (Children of the Mind), I can't say much about this book without giving SOME part of it away, so I will keep it simple. Amazing conclusion.
Note: certain things in the book may seem a little weird, not in a bad way, just strange
I didn't care much for the first book (Ender's Game), but the surprise ending captivated me enough to read the next book (plus the series was a Christmas present and I didn't want to leave it unread). The second book (Speaker for the Dead) was much better and I love the Speaker for the Dead idea. This is where things in the book get complicated. The third book (Xenocide), whoa, huge leap in time, love how chaotic everything is with the race to save [insert one of many things here]. The ending of the third book threw me off a bit though. The fourth book (Children of the Mind), I can't say much about this book without giving SOME part of it away, so I will keep it simple. Amazing conclusion.
Note: certain things in the book may seem a little weird, not in a bad way, just strange
March 1, 2021
I really enjoyed it but the ending was lacking. It didn't feel significant or suspenseful.
The first quarter of the book had a really good recap of the previous book as well as the series and tied it into this book well.
What I love most about this book and series is the philosophical out of the box thinking the character's have. Also about moral and doing what is right.
“...back when people lived on only one world, all the nations and races and religions and philosophies crushed together elbow to elbow, with nowhere to go but into each others land’s, for the sky was a ceiling then, and space was a cast chasm that could not be bridged.”
"Everyone dies. Everyone leaves. What matters is the things you build together before they go. What matters is the part of them that continues in you when they're gone."
The first quarter of the book had a really good recap of the previous book as well as the series and tied it into this book well.
What I love most about this book and series is the philosophical out of the box thinking the character's have. Also about moral and doing what is right.
“...back when people lived on only one world, all the nations and races and religions and philosophies crushed together elbow to elbow, with nowhere to go but into each others land’s, for the sky was a ceiling then, and space was a cast chasm that could not be bridged.”
"Everyone dies. Everyone leaves. What matters is the things you build together before they go. What matters is the part of them that continues in you when they're gone."
February 20, 2024
il 50% è il continuo ripetersi di riassunti dei tre libri precedenti
il 40% è il continuo ripetersi di un paio di concetti (forse 3, non di più)
il 5% è il continuo ripetersi di atteggiamenti, zero distinzione tra Novinha, Quara, Jane ne tra Ender, Peter, Wang-Mu
TRAMA E SPOILER:
c'è il restante 5% ole!!!
il 40% è il continuo ripetersi di un paio di concetti (forse 3, non di più)
il 5% è il continuo ripetersi di atteggiamenti, zero distinzione tra Novinha, Quara, Jane ne tra Ender, Peter, Wang-Mu
TRAMA E SPOILER:
c'è il restante 5% ole!!!
September 26, 2011
Ender's game was really fun and interesting read. It made me excited to explore more of Card's work. With each subsequent book of the Ender Saga I have enjoyed it less and less.
Throughout the entire series there has been a strong drive to explore philosophical notions of war and survival and the connections between people. In Ender's game it is not too heavy handed and mostly submerged beneath the narrative. By Children of the Mind Card might as well be bludgeoning you over the head with it.
I have no problem with a deep exploration of philosophy in literature but Card has become so enraptured with his own ideas that the book has very little forward momentum. I understand that is not a sequel but actually the second half to Xenocide; but the only time anything happens is in the last few pages of the book. It feels like he has sacrificed story to just get his point across.
Another unappealing aspect of the novel is the racism and limitations inherent in Card's vision of the future. Every world we encounter has one presiding culture and no other. It is simply taking countries and believing that their culture is maintained across thousands of years as we know it know. Never mind that you can watch culture evolve over the space of a century. This also leads to the "Japanese planet"; "The Chinese planet" and the "Pacific Islanders planet". On the Pacific islanders planet one character makes reference to how unambitious the people are and wonders if it is something to do with their racial character or their genome. I can't even comment on this, but I am sure the Nazi's would have been happy.
Lastly, the aspect of religion in these novels just never made much sense to me. It is logical that certain religions would found colony planets that continued their beliefs. But their is no portrayal of agnostic/atheist world or planet. Neither is there any attempt to reconcile the "universal truths" that are discovered with the concept of a Catholic or Christian God. For all his pages and pages of characters talking about the nature of being we never get an explanation how some deeply religious characters can learn things without trying to reconcile their world view.
Stick to Ender's Game. Read the next one, Speaker of the Dead, if you really want to; but avoid Xenocide and Children of the Mind as far as possible.
Throughout the entire series there has been a strong drive to explore philosophical notions of war and survival and the connections between people. In Ender's game it is not too heavy handed and mostly submerged beneath the narrative. By Children of the Mind Card might as well be bludgeoning you over the head with it.
I have no problem with a deep exploration of philosophy in literature but Card has become so enraptured with his own ideas that the book has very little forward momentum. I understand that is not a sequel but actually the second half to Xenocide; but the only time anything happens is in the last few pages of the book. It feels like he has sacrificed story to just get his point across.
Another unappealing aspect of the novel is the racism and limitations inherent in Card's vision of the future. Every world we encounter has one presiding culture and no other. It is simply taking countries and believing that their culture is maintained across thousands of years as we know it know. Never mind that you can watch culture evolve over the space of a century. This also leads to the "Japanese planet"; "The Chinese planet" and the "Pacific Islanders planet". On the Pacific islanders planet one character makes reference to how unambitious the people are and wonders if it is something to do with their racial character or their genome. I can't even comment on this, but I am sure the Nazi's would have been happy.
Lastly, the aspect of religion in these novels just never made much sense to me. It is logical that certain religions would found colony planets that continued their beliefs. But their is no portrayal of agnostic/atheist world or planet. Neither is there any attempt to reconcile the "universal truths" that are discovered with the concept of a Catholic or Christian God. For all his pages and pages of characters talking about the nature of being we never get an explanation how some deeply religious characters can learn things without trying to reconcile their world view.
Stick to Ender's Game. Read the next one, Speaker of the Dead, if you really want to; but avoid Xenocide and Children of the Mind as far as possible.
July 10, 2018
This book was not good :(
-the female characters were all written badly
-the plot wasn't captivating, everything they wanted to happen just kinda worked out
-it was too self aware? as if every event had to be justified by the unrealistic conversations of the previous page
It's disappointing but I just didn't enjoy it. That being said, I'd still recommend reading the first two books of the series, as I think they hold their own nicely & I think they're brilliant.
-the female characters were all written badly
-the plot wasn't captivating, everything they wanted to happen just kinda worked out
-it was too self aware? as if every event had to be justified by the unrealistic conversations of the previous page
It's disappointing but I just didn't enjoy it. That being said, I'd still recommend reading the first two books of the series, as I think they hold their own nicely & I think they're brilliant.
March 7, 2024
15 June 2007 - ***. I read Xenocide and Children of the Mind back-to-back, as they are essentially two volumes of one long novel. Card says in the foreword and afterword that it did start out as one book, but grew too long in the writing. Together, they add quite a bit of conceptual material to what is known as the Enderverse - the universe where Ender’s Game and all its progeny are set - while remaining a close sequel to Speaker for the Dead.
I'm not going to recap the plot here, except to say that it is complex. The multiple threats to the community of species on Lusitania are well woven. Card spends a lot of time exploring the nature of the self and self-awareness, through the words of his characters. At times this is carried to an unrealistic extent, as when characters pause in their actions to discuss determinism and free will.
The plot maneuvers through the splitting and merging of personalities of some of the major characters, to reach a "happy ending". I found that ending to be somewhat predictable, and thought things dragged a little by the second half of Children of the Mind. All in all, these two books constitute an interesting and creative additional chapter to the Ender series. These are the books that brought initial fame to Orson Scott Card, exceeding much of his more recent work.
I'm not going to recap the plot here, except to say that it is complex. The multiple threats to the community of species on Lusitania are well woven. Card spends a lot of time exploring the nature of the self and self-awareness, through the words of his characters. At times this is carried to an unrealistic extent, as when characters pause in their actions to discuss determinism and free will.
The plot maneuvers through the splitting and merging of personalities of some of the major characters, to reach a "happy ending". I found that ending to be somewhat predictable, and thought things dragged a little by the second half of Children of the Mind. All in all, these two books constitute an interesting and creative additional chapter to the Ender series. These are the books that brought initial fame to Orson Scott Card, exceeding much of his more recent work.
May 25, 2022
The long and short of it is that I shouldn't have read this book to begin with.
Upon finishing Xenocide I was very disappointed and had pretty much given up on this series. Fast forward to Medieval-A-Thon in which one of the reading prompts was "read a book you're scared of", I chose to read Children of the Mind. Xenocide went so poorly I had no high hopes for this installment, I was scared to read it because I figured it wouldn't be any good and I was correct.
Xenocide as well as Children of the Mind really felt like the author or the publishers or whoever were trying to milk the series because of how well Ender's Game did and were just trying to piggy back off of the success of the original hit. Sadly we see this often in TV, movies and books. It seems that we can never just quit while were ahead. After the events of Speaker for the Dead everything has just felt....I hate to say pointless but that's what it has been for me, it has all just felt like unnecessary filler.
I know there are more still more in the Ender's series but at this point I'm going to leave well enough alone and not be continuing on with the series.
Upon finishing Xenocide I was very disappointed and had pretty much given up on this series. Fast forward to Medieval-A-Thon in which one of the reading prompts was "read a book you're scared of", I chose to read Children of the Mind. Xenocide went so poorly I had no high hopes for this installment, I was scared to read it because I figured it wouldn't be any good and I was correct.
Xenocide as well as Children of the Mind really felt like the author or the publishers or whoever were trying to milk the series because of how well Ender's Game did and were just trying to piggy back off of the success of the original hit. Sadly we see this often in TV, movies and books. It seems that we can never just quit while were ahead. After the events of Speaker for the Dead everything has just felt....I hate to say pointless but that's what it has been for me, it has all just felt like unnecessary filler.
I know there are more still more in the Ender's series but at this point I'm going to leave well enough alone and not be continuing on with the series.
July 13, 2018
An excellent conclusion, a great outcome, almost happy all around. Speaker for the Dead is still my favourite of the four, and Xenocide is still my least favourite. But of the two left, Ender's Game and Children of the Mind, I'm not sure which I prefer. Ender's Game is absolutely brilliant, but so different from the others its hard to figure out where it fits. Ender's Game is like the introduction to Ender's character, his background, but the last three are the story. I must admit, I have a great weakness for romance mixed into science fiction. I almost always find the romances within a sci-fi novel, movie, or tv series, more satisfying than pure romance/drama. So, this book was quite a bit of fun for me, in that sense. It is also the only book to make me cry, as far as I can remember. I cried several times while reading this. So many confessions of love for a sci-fi novel! I'm such a softy.
November 29, 2019
esta saga hubiese sido bastante epica de haber cometido algunos errores garrafales, el primero de ellos fue el de alargarla innecesariamente. Desde su primer libro esta historia se fue perfilando en el área de la novela corta, con un mensaje sencillo y con ideas brillantes y revolucionarias. Pero en estas dos ultimas ultimas de 650 paginas cada una cuando las primeras dos eran de solo 300, tener mas paginas la hace mejor? claramente no.
El autor cayó en un vicio con la familia Ribeira, cae en el melodrama, explora fastidiosamente sentimientos y problemas de carácter en alguna persona mientras que una flota viene de camino con la estrella de la muerte para destruir su planeta, bastante inverosímil, tanto que te hastía.
Lo rescatable está en el dilema moral de la supervivencia de las especies en el universo desde un punto de visto de otras razas inteligentes y la necesaria convivencia entre todos, por demás bastante optimista el autor en este caso.
En fin, decepcionante.
El autor cayó en un vicio con la familia Ribeira, cae en el melodrama, explora fastidiosamente sentimientos y problemas de carácter en alguna persona mientras que una flota viene de camino con la estrella de la muerte para destruir su planeta, bastante inverosímil, tanto que te hastía.
Lo rescatable está en el dilema moral de la supervivencia de las especies en el universo desde un punto de visto de otras razas inteligentes y la necesaria convivencia entre todos, por demás bastante optimista el autor en este caso.
En fin, decepcionante.
June 19, 2007
These books are a great combo of sci-fi and philosophy, but I feel like the Ender series begins with the best book and then they gradually lose appeal. The first book in the series was skillfully crafted to weave complex strategy lessons for a child, and I was very pleased with how clever the author was, with only a few areas that were a bit heavy-handed. The subsequent books got a bit more convoluted, and lost some of the brilliance. It seemed like Card spent most of his effort on coming up with the species and characters and fascinating theories, but not as much on the plot twists and fine detail as he did with the first book. I still enjoyed them, but I can imagine some people would rather stick with the first book and not read further.
September 4, 2016
The end is coming. Starways Congress has sent the little doctor, a weapon that can destroy an entire planet, to the world of Lusitania, regardless of the fact that the Descolada virus has been cured. Meanwhile, they have also discovered the existence of Jane, a computer program that has grown into a being of consciousness, and is planning on destroying her due to her inconvenient interference. It will take the efforts of everyone to stop Starways Congress, save Lusitania, and keep Jane alive.
Children of the Mind is the fourth published book in the Ender Saga, and originally the final volume. Before I began this book, I had noticed a trend with the previous Ender books. I enjoyed them all, but loved each book just a little less. I came into Children of the Mind wondering if this downward trend would cease or continue. By the end of the audiobook I felt frustrated and disapointed. It’s true that Children of the Mind has times when it really shines, but there were far too many times when I wanted to chuck my mp3 player out the car window.
Let’s start out with the positive. Much how I enjoyed learning about the Chinese/Taoist inspired planet of path in Xenocide, I enjoyed seeing the Ender universe expand even further to a Japanese inspired planet, and a Samoan inspired one. I enjoyed further exploring the motivations of Young Val and Peter (created accidentally by Ender’s thoughts in Xenocide).There were also moments when the novel was heartbreakingly beautiful, reminding me why I picked up this series in the first place.
At the same time, Children of the Mind is a very uneven novel. One of the things that bothered me about Xenocide is I felt that there was too much infighting among the characters. Apparently Card did not agree with me because it felt like half of Children of the Mind was made up of fighting, from petty bickering to full on screaming matches, which seemed absolutely ridiculous considering the sensitive timelines the characters had to deal with. It also resulted in characters that had so far been interesting becoming unlikable, including Ender who up until this moment had been one of my favorite characters in sci-fi. I was also uncomfortable with how this book treated it's female characters. This can be seen with the harsh treatment of Young Val who was just expected to stop existing because she wasn’t a “real” while Peter appeared to be somehow more legitimate, if incomplete, despite the fact that their situations were identical. This can also be seen with how so many of the female characters became marked with ugly jealous, either of Jane or another female character. Is this really written by the same person who gave us such great female characters as Valentine? The book presented more problems as well. There’s really only so many times when something impossible is required to solve an issue and the characters somehow do it, before it starts to grate on ones nerves. I also felt the two romantic pairings that popped up in this book to feel shoe-horned in for convience sake.
After much grappling with my own issues surrounding Children of the Mind, I have come to the conclusion that regardless of it’s bright moments, there were just too many that made me want to tear out my hair to consider this to be a good book. It is worth noting that the audiobook production was put together quite well, despite the fact that it couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to be a full cast or a straight recording with multiple voices. I would really only recommend reading this if you’ve enjoyed the series up until now and really want to see how it ends, and even then I wouldn’t rush out to get it.
Children of the Mind is the fourth published book in the Ender Saga, and originally the final volume. Before I began this book, I had noticed a trend with the previous Ender books. I enjoyed them all, but loved each book just a little less. I came into Children of the Mind wondering if this downward trend would cease or continue. By the end of the audiobook I felt frustrated and disapointed. It’s true that Children of the Mind has times when it really shines, but there were far too many times when I wanted to chuck my mp3 player out the car window.
Let’s start out with the positive. Much how I enjoyed learning about the Chinese/Taoist inspired planet of path in Xenocide, I enjoyed seeing the Ender universe expand even further to a Japanese inspired planet, and a Samoan inspired one. I enjoyed further exploring the motivations of Young Val and Peter (created accidentally by Ender’s thoughts in Xenocide).There were also moments when the novel was heartbreakingly beautiful, reminding me why I picked up this series in the first place.
At the same time, Children of the Mind is a very uneven novel. One of the things that bothered me about Xenocide is I felt that there was too much infighting among the characters. Apparently Card did not agree with me because it felt like half of Children of the Mind was made up of fighting, from petty bickering to full on screaming matches, which seemed absolutely ridiculous considering the sensitive timelines the characters had to deal with. It also resulted in characters that had so far been interesting becoming unlikable, including Ender who up until this moment had been one of my favorite characters in sci-fi. I was also uncomfortable with how this book treated it's female characters. This can be seen with the harsh treatment of Young Val who was just expected to stop existing because she wasn’t a “real” while Peter appeared to be somehow more legitimate, if incomplete, despite the fact that their situations were identical. This can also be seen with how so many of the female characters became marked with ugly jealous, either of Jane or another female character. Is this really written by the same person who gave us such great female characters as Valentine? The book presented more problems as well. There’s really only so many times when something impossible is required to solve an issue and the characters somehow do it, before it starts to grate on ones nerves. I also felt the two romantic pairings that popped up in this book to feel shoe-horned in for convience sake.
After much grappling with my own issues surrounding Children of the Mind, I have come to the conclusion that regardless of it’s bright moments, there were just too many that made me want to tear out my hair to consider this to be a good book. It is worth noting that the audiobook production was put together quite well, despite the fact that it couldn’t seem to decide if it wanted to be a full cast or a straight recording with multiple voices. I would really only recommend reading this if you’ve enjoyed the series up until now and really want to see how it ends, and even then I wouldn’t rush out to get it.
November 30, 2009
This book was depressingly awful for me. I've loved this series. Early on I committed to drudging through it as a series with seven novels (before this one) and 9 short stories, ranging from good reads to loved, calls for great patience in reading the last story. I just couldn't make it. "Life is too short." took over.
The first full half of the novel consists of pairing off characters, sending them to remote locations, and then switching between scenes of the pairs bickering with each other. Terrible.
The next sixth or so of the novel starts to wind up the story and close down the plot. It does so with such spectacular nonsense that I couldn't go on. Not only does it completely abandon even its own rather loose world and drift into fantasy and mysticism, but even with this emerging new world the author creates, the actions of the players don't make sense given their background and motivation.
I'll still read Shadow in Flight when it emerges. I still love the series as a whole. No one would take advice to not read just the last novel in a series like this. Too bad.
The first full half of the novel consists of pairing off characters, sending them to remote locations, and then switching between scenes of the pairs bickering with each other. Terrible.
The next sixth or so of the novel starts to wind up the story and close down the plot. It does so with such spectacular nonsense that I couldn't go on. Not only does it completely abandon even its own rather loose world and drift into fantasy and mysticism, but even with this emerging new world the author creates, the actions of the players don't make sense given their background and motivation.
I'll still read Shadow in Flight when it emerges. I still love the series as a whole. No one would take advice to not read just the last novel in a series like this. Too bad.
February 27, 2023
If this feels similar and glued to "Xenocide", it's because the author claims they were meant to be one book. I have some reason to doubt that, as the pacing here is kinda different, and the balance of focus seems to have shifted a little from one group of characters to another, but who cares?
This is just as strong as previous books in the series, so chances are if you liked those, you're going to like this one as well. As a matter of fact, you might be unable to prevent yourself from reading this conclusion to the Ender saga. Ahem-ahem, small correction here, it appears that several years after, OSC promised another sequel, but that was 15 years ago and still nothing. As far as I'm concerned, this ends the Ender saga in spectacular fashion.
2023 re-read update:
Not as exciting the 2nd time around. There is too much useless talking, the 'rebirthed' characters are 'overpowered' while the new ability discovered at the end of "Xenocide" is abused here, yielding serious confusion as to where the current character is. Regardless, this is the fitting end to the Enderverse.
This is just as strong as previous books in the series, so chances are if you liked those, you're going to like this one as well. As a matter of fact, you might be unable to prevent yourself from reading this conclusion to the Ender saga. Ahem-ahem, small correction here, it appears that several years after, OSC promised another sequel, but that was 15 years ago and still nothing. As far as I'm concerned, this ends the Ender saga in spectacular fashion.
2023 re-read update:
Not as exciting the 2nd time around. There is too much useless talking, the 'rebirthed' characters are 'overpowered' while the new ability discovered at the end of "Xenocide" is abused here, yielding serious confusion as to where the current character is. Regardless, this is the fitting end to the Enderverse.
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