Author: Orson Scott Card
Published by: Tor Books (1991)
Length: 592 pages
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3.5/5
Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:
Length: 592 pages
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3.5/5
This is science-fiction that is heavy on the "science." I couldn't decide if I would appreciate the novel more if I was a science whiz, or if having more knowledge would just frustrate me because I would see the holes in the different theories presented. Usually in these cases, I find that ignorance is bliss. It really aids my "suspension of disbelief!"
As the third of a series, it's difficult to provide a summary (which I'm bad at anyways). The first in the series, Ender's Game, I found to be entertaining and original. I had never read anything quite like it. The second book, Speaker for the Dead, had some disturbing aspects, but it was brilliant and emotional. I actually cried--not unusual for me in general, but not expected while reading sci-fi. It's taken me a couple of years to finally get to Xenocide (I waited forever and ever for a copy to turn up at the used book store in the library.) As I read this one, I kept getting a mental image of Card's brilliant mind spewing out an inordinate number of ideas and loosely gathering them all into one book. Interesting ideas--just too many.
Having said that, I still enjoyed reading it. The two main things that draw me to Card's writing are his themes about sociology and ethics. He comes up with the most bizarre characters and scenarios, but it manages to be "swallow-able" because of this framework of the inter-relationships of humans, alien species, and even computers. Card also constantly weaves in ideas of religion and faith, which never result in any strong conclusions (at least none that I picked up), except maybe that a society wants and needs to have faith in something, regardless of any evidence against it.
As the third of a series, it's difficult to provide a summary (which I'm bad at anyways). The first in the series, Ender's Game, I found to be entertaining and original. I had never read anything quite like it. The second book, Speaker for the Dead, had some disturbing aspects, but it was brilliant and emotional. I actually cried--not unusual for me in general, but not expected while reading sci-fi. It's taken me a couple of years to finally get to Xenocide (I waited forever and ever for a copy to turn up at the used book store in the library.) As I read this one, I kept getting a mental image of Card's brilliant mind spewing out an inordinate number of ideas and loosely gathering them all into one book. Interesting ideas--just too many.
Having said that, I still enjoyed reading it. The two main things that draw me to Card's writing are his themes about sociology and ethics. He comes up with the most bizarre characters and scenarios, but it manages to be "swallow-able" because of this framework of the inter-relationships of humans, alien species, and even computers. Card also constantly weaves in ideas of religion and faith, which never result in any strong conclusions (at least none that I picked up), except maybe that a society wants and needs to have faith in something, regardless of any evidence against it.
Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:
"These are the people who hold a community together, who lead. Unlike the sheep and the wolves, they perform a better role than the script given them by their inner fears and desires. They act out the script of decency, of self-sacrifice, of public honor--of civilization. And in the pretense, it becomes reality. There really is civilization in human history, thought Valentine, but only because of people like these. The shepherds."
