Book Review: Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
As a child, Ender commanded a warfleet that wiped out a planet. The triumph of his life could be his fight to stop it happening again. It might be his tragedy that he cannot.
Congress has sent a warfleet to Lusitania, home to Ender, his family, two alien species – and the deadliest virus ever known. The warfleet carries an order to destroy. To commit xenocide.
Ever since reading Ender’s Game, I have been impressed with Orson Scott Card’s ability to create a story that is not only entertaining on a surface level but can also take you to the depths of your beliefs should you let it do so. A friend of mine told me that Xenocide isn’t as good as the previous books, so I was worried about being disappointed while reading it. Having finished it, I’m not disappointed, but I can see why other people might be…
In each of the Ender’s Game books, Card explores a different area. In this book, he explores religion and the power of belief and the mind. Therein lies the reason some people might not like this book: Xenocide features a lot more talking, theory, explorations of what the Buggers truly are and so on.
Another wonderful ability Card has is that, though there is a lot of talk, you never get the impression that he is using the story to work through his own thoughts (a pet peeve I have with some authors); he has already worked things out. The impression is that he wants you to learn as much as you want to get out of the story, which I appreciated.
However, that’s not to say the story is without action! What happens to Ender towards the end… Well, I certainly thought there couldn’t be any more plot twists and yet that’s a huge one.
Yet again, Card has given us a book that will challenge your mind and your views about how the universe works – if you let it. If you’re not in for deep thinking, theory and contemplation, then you might find this book a bit boring for your tastes.
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