NovelReviewer.com

By Orson Scott Card

-pgs: 280

Although I have never thought of myself as a fan of science fiction, I have been pleasantly surprised by the works of Card. In particular, I have really enjoyed his Ender series from the first book Ender’s Game to this novel. I felt like they were very well written with a clear plot that engages the reader through its suspense and mystery. Card does a good job of twisting the story at the end of both of these books which makes the reading even more enjoyable. I particularly liked this story because it shows Ender Wiggin as an adult many years after he destroyed the bugger’s planet and you see how he has been shaped by this experience and how he has changed. In this book, he focuses on helping others and not destroying things. I found that Card’s representation of him as a thirty year old adult to be very accurate to what I had hoped for his character. His experiences in life have given him a wisdom that helps him interact with and understand those around him. The only negative comment I have about this book involves the first chapter. It is written very awkwardly and is not engaging and actually functions as a challenge to read this book. However, if you can make it through the first chapter, the book becomes amazingly better and flows in a much more natural way. In the introduction of the book, Card does mention that he had a lot of problems writing the first chapter and I do not think he necessarily solved all the things wrong with this initial chapter. However, as I stated, the book improves drastically in the next chapters and becomes a novel that is difficult to put down. Even if you are not a science fiction reader, I would recommend this series of books because the themes, the character development, and the climax are masterfully written. An excellent story that would be appropriate for anyone who loves fiction.