The Ender series...

[hbdragon88]

I've been slow to pick it up - after reading and loving Ender's Game and its parallax Ender's Shadow, the sequels just seem kinda lame. I didn't like Hegemon or Puppets that much. I fianlly read Speaker for the Dead and I liked it a lot - although about 90% of the philosophy probably blew over me.

The question is now - is Xenocide and Children of the Mind worth reading? Do you recommend it?

 

[anarres]

I liked them all, but each to his own.

 

[Hundegesicht]

Xenocide is somewhat slow compared to Speaker for the Dead, but definitely worth reading. While Speaker was the religious and philosophical side of Ender's story, Xenocide splits up, sort of. One half covers the more technological and theoretical elements (how did Jane come to exist? How does the ansible work? Is FTL travel possible?) while the other half is basically an extended essay on Eastern Religion and obsessive compulsive disorder, and how the two compliment each other mentally. Fascinating book.



Children of the Mind (the title a wordplay of "Children of the Mind of Christ, and Ender's metal offspring) is basically "Xenocide part 2."



Probably my least favorite of the series, much of it is Orson Scott Card writing himself out of the hole he had dug in Xenocide, and tying up all the loose ends. Still worth reading, but not very original.



If you’re into Orson Scott Card, you should give the “Homecoming” series a try

 

[fishlore]

I am a huge fan of the series. Xenocide is the last one I've read up to this point but I enjoyed it immensely. I have the next one and I'm just waiting for a good time to start reading it. Card has some other interesting sci-fi stuff that my roomate really liked, but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Homecoming is one series of them.

 

[Turner]

Xenophobe was a....well, I can't say it here. But it was good. I enjoyed it. The parallax series, I read the first one, and left it there. Didn't enjoy them. But Speaker for the Dead and Xenophobe was pretty good.

 

[blackheart]

I've read a lot of the series, but missed out on some of the books. Could someone list all books in the Ender series too, please? Even the offshoots like Ender's Shadow.

 

[Lockesdonkey]

Children of the Mind is good.

Once you've finished with Ender, try the ones about Bean; if it's by Orson Scott Card and has the word "Shadow" in it, that's a Bean book.

Whereas the Ender books were slow and more about religion, the Bean books are faster-paced, with enough international politics and conquering armies and bizarre tactics to satisfy any civfanatic's heart; Shadow of the Hegemon in particular is like that; Shadow Puppets reads a bit like a spy novel. But they're not all action; they go into some degree of moral philosophy and the ethics of biotechnology, especially genetic engineering (it wouldn't hurt to tell you that Bean is so small because of a genetic experiment...)

 

[brennan]

lol I recommended Ender's game and Speaker for the Dead on another thread this morning. Two of the best books I ever read. Wouldn't bother with the others though.

 

[Hundegesicht]

I've read a lot of the series, but missed out on some of the books. Could someone list all books in the Ender series too, please? Even the offshoots like Ender's Shadow.

Ender's Game was the pilot novel, followed by Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind.

Ender's Shadow was an offshoot. And, while it was about a friend of Ender's, is completely different in style. (I enjoyed both) It's followed by Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant. (Just released 2 or 3 months ago... I was the very first person at my library to check it out )

 

[slip79]

The Ender series is fantastic. Pretty philosophical. Kinda nice that the Bean series isn't quite so philosophical, it's there, just not so much of it bogging you down. Also kinda cool that you get to find out more about Peter and what he got up to once Ender left. Like Lockesdonkey said Shadow Puppets is like a spy novel. Very cool and well worth reading. Although I must confess that I haven't as yet got around to getting out the "Homecoming" series from my local library.... I really should....

 

[Yuri2356]

I've read Ender's Game. It was alright, I could accept the idea of super-genious-warrior children (Sort of like the Ancient Spartan armies) and I could almost accept having Peter try to conquer the world, but things realy dropped off for me with the ending. If he'd stopped just shortly after Ender's final battle, leaving the rest of it open to the immagination, it would have been better for me.

It's hard to tack down exactly what it was, but the ending as a whole just didn't 'work' for me.

 

[Turner]

The Ender series is fantastic. Pretty philosophical. Kinda nice that the Bean series isn't quite so philosophical, it's there, just not so much of it bogging you down.

That's actually why I liked the first three. Children was okay, but it just didn't do it for me like the first three did.

 

[Elrohir]

I read Ender's Game and liked it. It was different than most sci-fi books, and had a lot more to do with tactics and the mind rather than straight out action, so it was a pleasent change. But other than one book that I'm afraid I can't help you, I haven't read much of Orson Scott Card's work.

 

[Hundegesicht]

I've read Ender's Game. It was alright, I could accept the idea of super-genious-warrior children (Sort of like the Ancient Spartan armies) and I could almost accept having Peter try to conquer the world, but things realy dropped off for me with the ending. If he'd stopped just shortly after Ender's final battle, leaving the rest of it open to the immagination, it would have been better for me.

It's hard to tack down exactly what it was, but the ending as a whole just didn't 'work' for me.

Kind of needed to be.

Speaker for the Dead was written *before* the Ender's Game novel. At the time it was written, Ender's Game did exist, but only as a short story. After Speaker was finished, OSC realized he needed to expand Ender's Game, so it ended up that Ender's Game was actually published first... but the ending was written with the second book in mind. (And thus was more of a starting than an ending)

 

[hbdragon88]

Kind of needed to be.

Speaker for the Dead was written *before* the Ender's Game novel. At the time it was written, Ender's Game did exist, but only as a short story. After Speaker was finished, OSC realized he needed to expand Ender's Game, so it ended up that Ender's Game was actually published first... but the ending was written with the second book in mind. (And thus was more of a starting than an ending)

Uh, I don't think so. The introduction to Speaker for the Dead (dated 1991) says that Card tried to write Speaker first, but couldn't do it because he would have had to write some long boring intro chapter to show how Ender became a Speaker. He wrote a novel version of Ender's Game instead, putting how he became a Speaker at the end of that novel, and then turned his attention to Speaker and wrote that.

 

[Arminius]

I've read a lot of the series, but missed out on some of the books. Could someone list all books in the Ender series too, please? Even the offshoots like Ender's Shadow.

The Ender Series
Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind

The Shadow Series
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant

EDIT: Added previously missing book.

 

[Hundegesicht]

You left out Shadow of the Giant....

 

[Yuri2356]

Uh, I don't think so. The introduction to Speaker for the Dead (dated 1991) says that Card tried to write Speaker first, but couldn't do it because he would have had to write some long boring intro chapter to show how Ender became a Speaker. He wrote a novel version of Ender's Game instead, putting how he became a Speaker at the end of that novel, and then turned his attention to Speaker and wrote that.

Well, if it was just meant to eb a prequel for Speaker, I guess that makes sense. But I still would have preferred it as a stand-alone novel.

 

[gunkulator]

Ender's Game is great straight forward Sci Fi. Compelling story with a good twist at the end.

Speaker for the Dead is more philosophical. Card answers the question, "What happens after the hero defeats the bad guys and rides off into the sunset? How will history consider our hero?" Some very original writing and ideas here.

Xenocide and Children of the Mind were a let-down to me. More of the same ramblings as in Speaker but without the novelty of newness. Mostly just about tying up some plot holes. Also, Card starts to sneak his own religious beliefs into the series with his notions of a "philotic web" to create an eternal family. Left a bad taste in my mouth.

Shadow series is also not so good. The first one has a "Back to the Future Part 2" feel. The rest are essentially The Adventures of the Junior Justice League - teenage super heroes led by The Tortured Superhero of High Doom. Not very original or compelling and full of obvious cliches.

 

[WildFire]

I personally enjoyed the whole series a lot. Agree with gunkulator though, the Shadow series wasn't as good as the originals.