Xenocide (1991)

The last time I read this book I remember walking away from it with such awe. I loved the ideas that Card presented regarding the lives of the aliens and the philosophical struggles that were encountered.

This time however, I was a little disappointed. I knew what to expect and I knew I loved it, but it just wasn't the same. Maybe it was because of how the science behind the most important plot points were explained but I was disappointed.

Another thing that bothered me was the two random story lines of Ender and the people of Path. It seemed that there were two separate stories period. And as it turns out there were. Card confessed that he had the idea of Path already set to be a different story but then decided to write another Ender book and so used what he had... So that was disappointing.

Anywho, this is still a good book and definitely worth a read. Just don't expect to be fooled by the science and do expect to have your personal philosophical ideals tested. ( )

I have been reading the Ender and Bean series because I started them long ago and I am a completeist. I finished the Bean series and then I read Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide, so I'd be reading in terms of internal chronology. The Bean series I liked just fine as what they are--action sci-fi. The Ender series are something else entirely. I love Ender's Game. I've read it several times and each time I have the same emotional response to it. It's a book I'm happy to say is a favorite. But the sad truth is, the series as a whole suffers from what I have dubbed "Amber Spyglass syndrome". You know, the first book is amazing, and you can't wait to read the rest of the series. And then the second book isn't exactly what you expected, and you're not sure you entirely trust where the author is going, but surely the third book will be great. And then you read the third book and you are totally disappointed and a little bit stabby because good GRIEF, it's nothing but opinions and philosophy with a very thin veneer of story over it and moreover, the characters you've grown to love are just gone. *takes a deep breath* So that's what I see going on with Xenocide. Card has substituted philosophy for story and the result is an odd and unsatisfying book. I appreciate the difficulties Card is facing in terms of trying to write science fiction as a person of faith. But as someone who is also religious, I also really dislike what he does here, just as much as I dislike what Pullman does in Amber Spyglass. It's not even good science fiction--the solution to the problem is some alchemical combination of magic and religion and philosophy. It's a solution to f-t-l travel, and so it takes on a classic sci-fi problem, but in a way that I--not at all a scientist--found both aggravating and suspect. Moreover, I felt distanced from Ender, which I never have before. I never necessarily liked or agreed with all his actions and stances, but I always cared for him. Xenocide's Ender is not the Ender I cared about. The characters even refer to him mostly as Andrew, which doesn't help. So it's frustrating and I now have to decide whether to go on, if I should finish the series or give the whole thing up as a bad job. It's a tough call and I haven't made it yet. But I know that I'm annoyed with the moralizing and philosophy masquerading as story. Book source: public library Book information: 1996, Tor; adult science fiction (YA crossover) ( )

This was a good continuation of the Ender series. Fortunately, Card employs the recap function of many series writers, something I usually hate, but because it has been a few years since I read the previous book, I wasn't too lost.

Overall it was pretty slow. There is some action, but it's very philosophically based. While I like that, there comes a point where I get tired of hearing character's thoughts and would much rather they interacted with each other more. I have the show me don't tell me syndrome. I'm also now very used to Heinlein's style of writing, which is almost exclusively dialogue.

The end made very little sense to me. Without putting any spoilers in here I thought the ending was far less self-containing. I suppose I forgot there was another one after it. On to Children of the Mind! ( )

In my memory, this stands out as being the most poorly edited finished book I have ever read. It's an unfortunate distinction. Xenocide is so riddled with typos, internal contradictions, and mangled sentences that I couldn't concentrate on the plot. I ended up getting out a marker and correcting as I went, and when I was finished, I threw out the book. In the trash. With great satisfaction.
( )

well... to answer the questions below:

- Going back to Speaker for the Dead, why did Jane cut the communications between Lusitania Fleet and Congress, if she knew - or couldn't possibly ignore - that this act would ultimately lead to her own destruction?
-She did know that this act would lead to her being "Found" by someone. She had a long conversation with Val, Ender, and Miro about this act and she determined that it was the only course of action that might save the planet and piggies. Then Starways Congress actually sent the kill order to the fleet to use the MD device on the planet, she had to cut off communications before the fleet received this message.

- Why doesn't Jane, this all-knowing, practically almighty IA, just hire a serial killer to get rid of Qing-jao? Why doesn't she take control of any computer-controlled device (cars, university equipment, whatever) to make her death pass as an accident? Why, at least, doesn't she alter slightly the message sent by Qing-jao to Congress, so that neither she nor Congress would ever detect the fraud?
-Jane explained, in chapter 5, that she doesn't know anything about human nature, she can only see what is entered into a computer. If you ask her about someone, she will give you the vitals of that person, she doesn't understand how each person in the hundred worlds acts and thinks. So how can she even find a "Serial Killer", its not like they post on computer networks that they killed 15 people and are looking for a new one to kill. She cannot find a killer.

- And why, more fundamentally, doesn't Jane just blow up this bloody Lusitania Fleet? Causing an accident by tampering in the computer of a few ships cruising near light speed should not be THAT difficult, nor forging a false report pretending there was an insurrection on board or whatever - did not Ockham's Razor law command to explore those possibilities, instead of concentrating so much energy on the unlikely attempt to discover a way to travel faster than light?
-Jane stated in the beginning of the book that she has no control over machine, she is not "IN" machines she is the "COMMUNICATION" between all machines. Therefore, she cannot cause the destruction of the star fleet.

- Finally, knowing how dangerous the "new" Peter is, why doesn't Ender just get rid of him, instead of allowing him to wander freely in the universe and institute himself as a new Hegemon? For a man having committed xenocide twice (buggers & descolada), is the killing of only ONE pseudo-clone so difficult? And why doesn't Jane, arguably so wise and having had all the time the study the life of the real Peter, see the danger which represents his new avatar?
-Ender cannot just get rid of the new Peter. Ender will for the rest of his life feel as though the Xenocide of the Buggers was his fault, therefore he refuses to take another life or cause the death of a life. He had to be forced to take the life of Human (the piggie) and he only did it so that Human could pass into the third life. Ender will never again cause the destruction of any life form no matter how evil they are. ( )