Ender in Exile
by Orson Scott Card
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Book Reviews of Ender in Exile
Book Review: Intent vs. Consequences!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ender is acknowledged as the victorious warrior against the notorious buggers threatening Earth in Orson Scott Card's momentous first novel, Ender's Game. Ender in Exile is the sequel to that first novel, revealing Ender's life-long quest to free himself of guilt in the death of Stilson, Bonzo and all the formics in the universe. But Ender clarifies this issue by stating he's not to blame for their deaths but he is responsible. Intent is not the issue but consequences are.
While Ender is attempting to reconcile his outer reputation as a savior of the earth with his killer, instinctual responses and consequences, the reader discovers the evolution of so many who touched his life and he theirs in some way during that questionable, short time span.
Colonies are being formed on all the former formic worlds and it is through the ansible email communications that we learn how Peter, Ender's brother, evolves into the Hegemon, a world leader who can wreak peace or devastating war on earth. What will he honor, knowing his own destructive, evil nature?
Hyrum Graff could retire as the engineer of the ultimately victory Ender won; instead, he has bigger plans as Minister of the Colonies now in the process of being rebuilt and shaped by humans traveling in and out of stasis to their destinies as the creators of a different world than strife-ridden Earth. Who is smarter about that process, the court-martialed, shamed Graff or Ender and what is the destiny of those affected by these plans?
Ender's sister, Val, is the single-minded relative and person who has Ender's best interests in mind and agrees to sacrifice her relationships with Peter and her parents to be a guiding force to heal Ender of the crushing burden he carries for past actions and as the first Governor of the planet, Shakespeare. How will Val reconcile her sacrifice and Ender's resistance to her advice? Are they really opponents or is there more behind their genius plans and conversations?
What about other members of Ender's "jeesh" or battle squads, those with him and those banished before and after the final war with the Hive Queen? While he might be worshipped by many of the world, what of Bean's descendant, Achilles, who carries a twisted story of the past and is determined to wreak punishment on the one who hold's the world's highest regard? This and so much more fills Ender in Exile with a story that covers the gap between the end of the war and the Speaker for the Dead story in Orson Scott Card's brilliant science fiction series.
A brief afterworld expresses not only thanks to the countless individuals who supported and assisted Card in this huge endeavor but also offers a singular message to those to whom this story is really directed, a significant, needed and moving tribute indeed.
Ender in Exile can be read as a stand-alone novel, with enough repetition for a new reader to understand what preceded this novel. It's also an excellent prequel to Speaker for the Dead which took a huge leap beyond the past bugger war. That Orson Scott Card manages to fill this gap and at the same time create a new story within a grand series speaks of his superb skills as a writer with enough imagination and creativity to shape stories within stories, changing, maturing character perspectives and worlds interweaving present, past and future science fiction to thrill both faithful and newly found readers of every persuasion.
Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on November 16, 2008
Book Review: Typing up of a lot of loose ends
Summary: 4 Stars
Of the entire Ender series my favorite has always been Ender's Game, mostly because it centered around Ender as a child and, as such, it seemed less grown up than all of the other Ender Books. The closest I've come to enjoying another "Ender" book was "Ender's Shadow", the first Bean book. Again, because it was largely told from the perspective of children, it seemed more fun to me.
As I've aged and become more aware of our political climate the stories of Peter and Valentine became more meaningful and interesting. But despite that, it was Ender's struggle that always grabbed my attention the most and made me fall in love with Ender's Game.
As a teenager, I was jolted a bit when the sequel to Ender's Game had Ender being a grown up. WOAH!!! I did enjoy the rest of the series but not as much as Ender's Game.
My point is, I was excited to see another Ender book while Ender is still a child. But I found myself disappointed that Ender, though a child, had now grown up more than I had hoped in this book. Not only is he now a war hero, but also an IF Admiral and headed to become the first Governor of a colony on another world.
The tables are turned a lot in this book. In Ender's Game there were a lot of things going on that Ender was unaware of (I really hope that doesn't blow it for anybody who hasn't read Ender's Game), but in this book he seems to be in charge of the information. It is Ender who surprises several people with facts that changes their lives. It is us, as a reader, who are mostly in on it as well. And this took a lot of the fun out of this book.
But all in all, I did enjoy this book. I probably wouldn't enjoy it if I hadn't fallen more in love with political science so let that being a warning for those who also didn't like the stories of Valentine and Peter. What I liked about this book was that it was unique from others in that it didn't have one plot from beginning to end. It didn't build up and then have everything fall into place in the final chapters but a lot of the plot elements are resolved part ways throughout the book. A major one was resolved right in the middle and new ones would develop throughout as well. I really liked that. It also resolved a lot of dropped plot lines from previous books (Ender's Game and the Bean/Shadow Series). I think there could have been a bit more but it was still enjoyable.
While reading this I was trying to find out the best order to read these series if I was just getting into Ender's Game. So here is what I would suggest:
Read Ender's Game... it all revolves around this book.
Read the Shadow Series... it all overlaps or shortly follows Ender's Game. Also, a lot of the plots that are resolved started in that series.
Read this book.
Read the rest of the Ender Series starting with Speaker for the Dead.
There is one major plot line left that I suspect OSC is saving for another book, what ultimately happens to Bean? I really hope that as that gets resolved that Bean and Ender hook up at some point. That would be a reunion I would LOVE to read about.
So, not the best book I've ever read. But it is hard to dislike any book written by OSC as his characters will also grab your heart and make your yearn for more. I want more! And that, to me, is the sign of any good book.
Book Review: Courtesy of Teens Read Too
Summary: 5 Stars
Gold Star Award Winner!
Where did Ender disappear to after he saved planet Earth from the formics? What happened to Peter and his bid for world domination, to Valentine in Peter's shadow, and to the human race and its government between ENDER'S GAME and SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD?
Finally, Orson Scott Card provides the missing story in the ENDER series that readers have been waiting for! Card writes with his characteristic straightforward style that, though simple, belies the hidden ethical dilemmas presented to the characters every step of the way. And through it all, the story is as gripping as ENDER'S GAME and will keep you up all night until you reach the book's AWESOME conclusion.
Having saved the world from a race of super intelligent and ruthless fighting formics, Ender is exiled to the far reaches of space under the pretension of governing and developing a new colony for humans on a new planet. As always, the government plays an underhanded game in sending him off and all his doings, as Earth and its countries are still at war and unsettled after Ender and the other children of his Battle School won the war. Seen as "Earth's most deadly weapon," Ender soon guesses he will never return to Earth, his family, or any semblance of the life he once knew.
Instead, he begins to research his new obsession, the formic race he destroyed. The new colony he is going to is built on an old formic planet, so Ender goes willingly into hyperspace, aging only two years while everyone on Earth ages forty years. Valentine escapes the plans of Peter on Earth to join Ender in space and secretly, Ender is relieved to have someone he can trust. While Ender indulges in every spec of information on the formics and on the people of his new colony, Valentine waits patiently for Ender to confide his new plans to her while also beginning a series of historical novels on Ender, Battle School, and the Earth wars.
Upon landing on the new colony planet, Ender is hailed as a hero and a welcome source of leadership. He is also confronted with the best discovery he could have asked for - a species of creatures is found deep in a cave, hybrids between formics and a native creature. This is the closest Ender or anyone else has come to studying the actual formics themselves! Through his mental and telepathic communications with these creatures, Ender learns more than he could hope for about the planet and the formics history.
One day, Ender and a native person named Abra go off to explore the planet to find a location for a new colony. On this adventure, Ender discovers the answer to the question he has silently asked himself since he found out the game he played was really a war - "Why did you [the hive queens] let me kill you?"
The truth is more exciting than I can spoil for anyone who has breathlessly awaited this novel.
As always, Orson Scott Card intertwines the story of emerging governments, political struggle, and personal and moral dilemmas as the story of Ender unfolds. Kudos to him for not only continuing a series for over twenty books, but for doing so with inventiveness, brilliant writing, and a compelling story.
Reviewed by: Erikka Adams, aka "The Bookbinder"
Book Review: Ender and Valentine are back, and Card cleverly ties up loose ends
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is more properly considered part of the Ender's Shadow series, rather than a sequel to Ender's Game. It is stylistically like the Shadow series, features many of the same characters, and ties up loose ends from those books.
Card has found a clever way to do that, while centering the story on Ender and Valentine. Readers of Ender's Game will recall that Ender and Valentine left on the first colony ship because there were some good reasons Ender could not return to Earth. This book picks up just before that voyage begins.
However, that voyage takes decades because of time dilation. So the events of the Ender's Shadow series all unfold during the voyage.
That allows a different slant on those happenings, while also resolving much of what happened to Ender during that period. Ender still has some life issues to face, and this novel shows us how he faces them.
I don't recommend this as anyone's introduction to the world of Ender. Read Ender's Game for sure before this. I'd also recommend at least the first couple of books of the Ender's Shadow series as prerequisites. The more of the series you've read the better you'll lke this, though I don't think you needed to read all the way through that series to enjoy this book. (By the way, it's unnecessary to read Speaker for the Dead and its sequels. They take place later in the timeline and you won't suffer any loss of enjoyment if you have not read them.)
However, if you liked Ender's Game and want to know what happened to Ender as a teen in more detail, this is the story for you. And if you felt there was one major loose end at the end of Shadow of the Giant, you're right and that loose end plays into the story as well.
I was pleased because the sequels to Ender's Game (Speaker for the Dead, etc.) really didn't give me a satisfying view of Ender's character. I concluded at the end of that series that Card really didn't like Ender that much, based on the life he lived in those novels. Perhaps I was mistaken, or perhaps Ender has grown on Card over the years, because the tone of Ender as a character is completely different here than in those books.
There are some minor inconsistencies in this story and the other books and stories in the series. Card details these in the Afterword. The biggest conflict is with the story where the computer character Jane is introduced, which was in the collection First Meetings in Ender's Universe. For me these inconsistencies did not get in the way of the story.
If you have read and liked just about any of the Ender books before, you'll definitely want to get this one to complete some disparate storylines. If you're like me, you'll read it fast. It just came today; I finished it before bedtime and felt motivated to write this review right away.
Book Review: Ender in Exile is a worthy "Ender" novel for the Ender seriers.
Summary: 5 Stars
Orson Scott Card first wrote about the Battle School in a novelette in Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine. It was later expanded to "Ender's Game" and then the Xenocide-Children of the Mind series was written as the true sequel to Ender's Game. But after quite some time, Card came back and revisited Ender with the Ender's Shadow series that fill in the time after Battle School and cover the fate of the other battle school graduates, in particular, Petra Arkanian and Bean (Julian Delphiki.)
The Shadow series was absolutely one of the best "mid-quel" series and I enjoyed every book (most of all Ender's Shadow) and I was nervous that Card would have a tough time to fill in the novel before Shadow began. (This book takes place sometime around Chapter 15 of Ender's Game.)
But Card asked for help unabashedly from friends and fans to make sure incongruities, anachronisms and conflicting stories were minimized, and the result is a very good finish to this extraordinary series of science fiction. I confess I did not like Xenocide at first, but once I saw how it fits into the entire scheme, I came to admire the writing and the story as much as the other Ender books.
This story has to do with the struggle to keep Ender from returning to Earth and fills in his first forays as a colonist on the conquered Bugger worlds. The only flaw is that Valentine (the beautiful, intelligent, loving sister) comes out as a sort of shallow, annoying and frankly irritating person who, other than being able to write histories well, has little to recommend herself as a character. Yes, she has an acerbic wit, but it's transmuted into pure bitchiness here. Sad character development, and it is a flaw in the book. Her role, so large in the other books, is necessarily diminished here (this is Ender's story, mostly) but it really is sad to have Valentine tagging along, being a wet blanket and not a lot else.
Card's writing is as usual, however, at its best when he is telling a basic, almost archetypical tale. The story of Alessandra and Dorabella Toscano is absolutely diverting writing. It seems something of a nonsequitur, but as usual, Card has cards up his sleeve and weaves these new characters into the story with skill. They are actually a sideshow, however and ultimately, they disappear, which is rather strange. Sort of a MacGuffin, in a way, but such good writing one has to forgive it. You can clearly see in the action in many of the scenes that Card thinks like a playwright, especially in the very dramatic showdown between Randall Firth and Ender.
I thought I wouldn't like the book but I couldn't put it down for a second. No, I had to read it all in one gulp and it's sad, but there will be no more Ender stories. This is it, a worthy Ender indeed.