I find myself both loving and hating this book. Orson Scott Card manages to keep me interested and makes me want to find out what is going to happen, but in my opinion, he goes a bit too far on the philosphy and the physics. Much of the book is composed of long sections of philosphical talk regarding the nature of 'other' and of 'self.' There is also some weird half-pseudo-pop physics that it seems like he really believes. But for some reason, I still like the plot and cared about the characters. I'm not sure I'll read another one in the series though. ( )

A bit slow getting started, and little too much talk in the talk/action ratio, but still a brilliant addition to the series. ( )

Despite how fantastic the first two novels in the Ender's quartet are, the 3rd book in the series is a massive letdown that should be avoided. The "science" in this sci-fi novel would more appropriately be classified as magic or super-natural. Faster-than-light travel... Cool! Conjuring things out of thin air... stupid.

Many of the conflicts are solved by characters simply imagining a fix. Miro is able to cure his brain damage just by thinking of it. It's impossible to manufacture a fixed Descolada virus, so let's just have Ela envision one into existence. And while you're at it, also think of another virus to cure the people of the planet Path of their O.C.D. It's such a total cop-out - why not just make the whole thing a dream? (Yes, I'm looking at you, Vanilla Sky.)

For a book that's 600 pages, we never resolve the main conflicts that were left open in the Card's previous novel, Speaker for the Dead! Is the Starways Congress fleet going to destory Lusitania when they get to the planet? Is Jane going to be killed for blocking their Ansible communications? Are the Buggers and Pequeninos able to get off the planet before the fleet gets there?

Also, was the Descolada actually intelligent, since it seemed to be able to communicate? And what ever happened to new Peter and Valentine #2? There were critical plot lines left open.

There are so many characters to hate in this book, especially for their refusal to listen to reason, such as Qing-jao and Ender's wife, Novinha. Grego throws tantrums like a child, and even foolishly insighting a mob riot. Then while in jail, he inexplicably comes up with the recipe for faster-than-light travel. The dialogue of the 3 main characters on Path (Wang-mu, Qing-jao, Han Fei-tzu) come off maddeningly trite and self-deprecating, so much so that it becomes a farce and is difficult to stomach.

The only saving grace of this novel was the AI, Jane. Olhado was likable, but only played a bit part. Definitely read Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, but skip Xenocide. ( )

The third book of four in the Ender series Xenocide doesn't really deliver on everything that I expected it too. In a way I suppose books rarely do, but in this case I felt it didn't defy my expectations in the best of ways. There's nothing of the satisfying semi-conclusions present in Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, it is instead left completely and rather infuriatingly open for the next book to clear up.

The book begins when Valentine meets up with Miro in transit to Lusitania , and rapidly carries on from there until the landing 30 years after the original ending of Speaker for the Dead. Ender, Novinha and the children have been carrying on their lives dealing with the Descolada and the two other sentient species present on the planet.

At the same time we learn about a world that contains 'Godspoken' individuals called Path, which is based on Chinese culture. We learn of Han fei-tzu and his daughter Qing-Jao and their communion with the gods of their world.

Xenocide was full of the philosophical and quite frankly mind-bending issues that I have come to expect from him and definitely does not disappoint on that. From the issues of Jane's "creation", to the investigation of the connection between the Hive Queen and Ender, it fascinates and boggles the mind how Card continually produces this outstanding material.

The book is an enjoyable read through and through, it's slow and in places and fast paced in others, as has come to be expected. I think the main problem with the book was that not all that much actually happened, beneath the morality issues and the philosophical and indeed religious discussions. The book simply didn't have enough substance to it to qualify for a higher rating. That and the ending as I've already discussed quite infuriated me. ( )

Wow. What a disappointment this book was. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and the second book was a good read too. This book had it's moments but on the whole was a waste of good reading time. This will probably be my last book in the series unless someone can convince me otherwise. The explanations and revelations at the ending left me groaning. I almost gave it 2 stars but other than the unlikely plot the book is written well. ( )