Ender in Exile
by Orson Scott Card
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Book Summary Information
Author: Orson Scott CardEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-12-29
ISBN: 0765344157
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780765344151
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Ender in Exile
Book Review: A Great Not-So-Direct Sequel
Summary: 4 Stars
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Ender series-- and Card's work as a whole-- for almost two decades. And this installment is no different. But I must say that the blurb on the front cover proclaiming "The all new direct sequel to Ender's Game" is somewhat mis-leading. If you are a person who has not read Ender since either that first classic novel or since the release of any of it's four original sequels, you will be lost on the identity of certain characters and events which occurred during the roughly parallel Shadow series about Ender's right-hand Battle School mate, Bean. To get the full flavor of this book, I highly recommend such readers bone-up on that series in it's entirety, first.
Now, some reviewers will tell you that this book is not worth the effort. The first complaint many make is Card's writing style. For one, they complain about the fact that his prose and characters insult peoples intelligence by stating everything directly, rather than implying it in the overall structure of the writing. While writing instructors and scholars will state that this is incorrect and poor form, why does everyone think this is someting new with OSC? He's always done that, even in Ender's Game. He even admits it himself! Suddenly, after being fans of his earlier work, people choose now to complain about it. Frankly, I feel the way Card does it works fine. Lesser authors would not be able to write this way and sell millions of books. But when Card's characters speak this way, it feels natural. In fact, I've noticed most people, when working out problems or discussing issues on their minds, speak very similarly. Most people are not as vague as many, technically correct writers, portray them to be in their day-to-day conversation. Those few that are are usually complained about as being poor communicators. I would rather read a story in which the characters speak in a way that feels realistic, whether it "insults my intelligence" or not. Art must imitate life.
This does not mean, however, that I agree with everything Card does. Sometimes he dwells too long on cutesy, silly banter between characters, which, while many people do this in real life, tends to take too much time away from the actual story-telling. At those points I do get impatient and am tempted to skip ahead. But this flaw, as I percieve it, is minor enough to be forgiven in exchange for a clever, well-thought-out science-fiction story in the vein of Asimov or Clarke, which Ender in Exile, like most of Mr. Card's work, provides to my satisfaction.
As for Mr. Card's preachy-ness and percieved bigotry-- well, first of all, I do not consider not agreeing, in itself, with a lifestyle or action to be necessarily eqivilant to bigotry. A bigot would choose to persecute or exclude from basic human rights, one who is either of a certain race, ethnicity, or persuasion. While Card may feel that a homesexual life-style is not the best course to take(an idea never directly stated in this book), he would never strip, or encourage the stripping, of a homesexual of his human rights. That would be against everything he writes about-- which often centers around the need for human kindness to all walks of life. The same goes for persons who do not follow the course of monagamy. These comments are not dwelled on, and are never made with malicious or unkind intent. The philosophies are not the focal point of the book. The characters and plot are. Comments his characters make on monagamy are very brief, and actually have to do with helping the new-born colonies successfully take root. Complaints about these comments by other reviewers are actually taking that material out of context; the comments make sense to the plot of the story and are not the force-feeding of ideology on an unsuspecting public. So rather than get offended as soon as an author like Card says something the majority disagrees with, remember that the quashing of dissenting opinion is what allowed for the general public to accept the viewpoints of true bigots, such as in Nazi Germany. At least think about what is being said without letting emotion block objectivity, and if you find you still disagree, accept that and move on with being entertained, which is what fiction is really about.
I, for one, liked Ender in Exile. It completes many loose ends in a well-thought-out way and fills in aspects of the Enderverse that I always felt were lacking since Speaker for the Dead, and it does it with Card's usual snappy, smooth-reading prose. A great read!
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