It was only reluctantly that I picked up this book at all. Ever since I learned that Orson Scott Card is such a giant Mormon douchebag, my opinion of him has taken a tumble. But, as I'm normally able to separate the art from the politics of the artist, I gave it a chance. Sure, he's milking the Ender series (this is what, the eighth book set this universe? ), but I believed that I could still enjoy revisiting one of my favorite characters. I was wrong.

First, Card's Mormonism and the profoundly weird worldview he subscribes to was readily apparent in the novel - at several points I had to roll my eyes at "heterosexual monogamy is the bestest greatest thing evar and the only thing that has ever worked". It was also implied that the whole point to the human experience is to make as many children as possible. And there were also some frankly troubling undertones about the appropriate role of women and what they should aspire to. One character even openly wonders "Is there something in women that makes us long to be humbled?". Disgusting.

Religious themes and overtones don't normally bother me, but it felt like he was preaching these ideas to the reader. In the context of the world he had built, these views made little sense, and there was a notable absence of any competing ideas among the characters - it was as if they were all Mormon.

Second, this is a novel that filled a gap that just didn't need to be filled. It basically takes place at the end of Ender's Game - not after the end of Ender's Game, but during it. Never did I feel that there was a missing story there. And frankly, there wasn't much of a story to be told. The plot was mostly dull, and the conflicts all felt contrived. He spent most of the book building up a conflict between Ender and the Captain of the ship he was traveling on, only to diffuse it anticlimactically when they arrived at the planet. After recapping the events at the end of Ender's Game, he spent rest of the novel was spent tying up loose ends from his Bean novels. The novel was simply disjointed and lacked any compelling raison d'être.

Overall, disappointing. ( )

Reviewed by Erikka Adams, aka "The Bookbinder" for TeensReadToo.com

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. ( )

I am never disappointed by Orson Scott Card's series revolving around Ender and friends, and I feel that here he yet again provides a very readable tale. Is it necessary to the Ender universe? No. Yet I, for one, appreciate knowing just what happened to Ender directly after the war. I had always wanted to see a little bit more of his life before he emerges as an adult in Speaker for the Dead, and here we get to finally see it. Not the most interesting or suspenseful in the series, but I still appreciate glimpses into the lives of our beloved characters. I was very satisfied to finally find out what happened to all of Bean and Petra's children - I appreciated the closure! ( )

I enjoyed this book simply because I missed Ender. A character that has been missing since Ender’s Game. The rest of the original series followed Andrew, same man but not quite the same person. He had grown up and changed in that time. The shadow books followed Bean and other characters that were considered minor in Ender’s Game. This book brings Ender back as he was just after the war. He was a smart and natural leader who had the flaws of someone who was still a child in so many ways. Just to see that Ender again made this book well worth it. Card also brings back the moral issues of the first book and forces Ender to come to grips with his actions during the war, something that seemed to have been brushed over in the other novels. ( )

This is a book with no real reason to be. It fills a gap that didn't need to be filled, explains things that didn't need further explanation. It's a pleasant enough read, but it has no point, either narratively or thematically. ( )