Customer Reviews

Beyond Ender's Game: Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I hate reviews that don't tell you that this is a collection of 3 books: books 2-4 in the Ender's Series. So if you buy this, don't buy them twice as "Speaker For the Dead", "Xenocide", and "Children of the Mind". Now that I've got the most important info I look for in the reviews section out of the way, I might as well review it.

First off, I like the bundled collection method of publishing older books in a series... omnibus paperback editions tend to fall apart on the first reading.

First time Ender's series readers may prefer to skip these. Going from Ender's Game to Ender's Shadow and continuing the Shadow series (the newer books) probably works as an alternate series path to follow the main action.

That said, addicts need to have the full Ender's experience, and will eventually have to read these books. And they will regret reading them out of order if they skip over the slower paced books in the series (this collection) to get to the more exciting books (pretty much all the rest ), so get this collection and save the headache of trying to find the individual books.

As for the content of the books in this collection, check out the reviews on the individual books themselves.

I also read Ender's Game in 8th grade (i'm now 16) and was astonished by the clear and quick writing and action packed story. The following summer i picked up Speaker for the Dead and started off rather disappointed by the slow, pensive prose that proved difficult to sit through, at first. After accepting it for what it was, I realized that Card's writing was slower, but nonetheless incredible. In these three books, which read like a trilogy more than sequals to an original, are packed with social commentaries and modern references that really make you think about our society as we experience it. Though it takes a while to get going, these novels have a deep, rich, suspenseful story line that keep the pages turning. Ender's game reads like an action movie, play by play, blow by blow, all linear and in order. These novels have recurring themes, changing ideas, plot lines and characters that come and go and all come to a climax in the end of Children of the Mind. Trust me, if you just suck it up and deal with the technical writing of Speaker for the Dead and the dense analytical philosophy of Xenocide (both of which i appreciated and enjoyed, but were rather slow going) Children of the Mind really brings it all together. If you skip these three, you'll be sorry you did.

Don't be fooled, these sequels have little to do with "Ender's Game," despite the marketing hook into Card's early work that remains his opus magnum. They are literal sequels and center on the same main character of Ender, but other than that have as little to do with "Ender's Game" as possible: they happen on another planet decades after the original, with only one other overlapping character. However, they take the intriguing step of asking, after the hero saves the day, then what? Ender saved humanity in the first installment - where does anyone go from there to live happily ever after? The second through fourth novels explore Ender's quest to live a life that means something more than merely saving the world - by meaning something to the people around him. The best one is Xenocide. By the end of Children of the Mind, it seems like the author has run out of steam - as witnessed by a highly contrived magical return of Ender's siblings, while minor characters flip-flop on their motivation in a way that uncomfortably seems like the author himself considers it arbitrary by this point. It's no wonder that Card found greater inspiration by going back to the setting of the original Ender's Game to start a new thread of novels with the Shadow series. Still, Card's novels are the greatest and most human of any living sci-fi writer, and with few exceptions, he's never in better form than here.

Contrary to what people say. This set of book has much to do with Ender's Game. Not only does Ender's Game give insight into Ender for the next books but it also shows the way humanity reacted to a threat to their race. The whole saga is about the evolution of humanity. In Ender's Game the human race reacts violently against the aliens even without a perfect understanding of them but what had to be done was done. The next 3 books show how people after the bugger wars react to a similar situation. Ender is more like the role model of humanity's goal. All humans despise Ender for what he did in the Bugger wars but then a threat of a similar nature comes around and history starts to repeat itself. All in all, The Ender Saga is a look into the human mind and a look at humanity's evolution over the course of 3000 years. It was very well written and always interesting and exciting. Probably the best books i've ever read or will read.

I've seen a few reviews that state that none of the ender books are as good as the first one. This really surprised me. As far as I am concerned this series represents the only series I can think of where the books get better and better. The ideas become so much more complex but you completely fall in love with the characters and the plot is good throughout the first 6 books. The spin offs that follow are not quite as good. They are more action oriented like Ender's Game and they are worth reading but it's the philosophy that really amazes me.

I am an Ender adict, and have read all of these many times over. I found that while the Bean series were action packed and fast paced, Speaker for the Dead was by far the best of them all. The continuation of the Ender series expanded on the last chapter in the novel and gave it somewhat more of an ending.
Speaker for the dead I stayed up all night to finish and immediatly went out to buy the next. Xenocide was the hardest to get through. I found it was slow going, but still fast enough to keep one interested. Children of the Mind was an interesting concept and I liked it through and through. All in all I think this is a great buy.

It's impossible to write a review on the "Beyond Ender's Game" Series, without including Ender's Game (or the books following Children of the Mind). Without Ender's Game, the rest could not exist, at least not in the same universe. Although it's been a while since my last read of the series, there are memorable moments. Picking up Ender's Game the first time. It was recommended by my Father-in-Law, a Raytheon rocket scientist. I had read a couple books by Card, and enjoyed them, and had developed a real liking for Card's talent and style. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop. I read through the night, at work, on the subway, walking down the street. Incredible background and character development. Sensational plot design and presentation. Speaker was bought as quickly as we could get to a bookstore. Same thing. My partner and I were passing the books on to each other, so as I finished Ender, he was finishing Speaker. Xenocide was "Coming Soon" when I finished Speaker. We bought it the day it was put on the shelves. We kept stealing it from each other, so in 2 days we bought a second copy. And so on.

Card has an incredibly versatile writing talent, and is one of the best story tellers ever. This ranks with Tolkien, both Asimov's Foundation and Robot series, and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles as the top series ever published. A must read for ANYONE who suspects they would enjoy a sci-fi story.

I have read the whole ender series, but with a strange sequence which may have affected the way I view the different books in the series. The first book I have read was the Shadow of the Hegemon, thanks to a tourist that had left it in the library of a hotel in Skiathos island. This book got me hooked, but it confused me also as I didn't know if I should start reading the next books or the previous ones.

The general pattern in the whole series is:
The beginning book is Ender's Game. Then we have two subcategories, one the Shadow series (which, with the exception of the first book, take place on earth and are more within military strategy) and one the Ender series (which take place in space and are more into new sci-fi ideas). Shadow series probably can be read from everyone, while I guess that the Ender series (especially from Speaker for the Dead onwards) would be read mainly from sci-fi fans.
Below are my comments for the books of the series, in the order I have read them and a marking (10 is the highest mark):

Shadow of the Hegemon: The first book I have read, and which I could not leave from my hands. I finished it in 2 days. It was fast paced action, very smart plot and after reading it I believed that Orson Scot Card (OSC) has invented/re-invented a new genre of literature. That of military strategy and adventure combined with brilliance/mind games and hidden portions of romance. Such books always existed but this seemed to be THE book. It was like the way Dan Brown re-invented books with trivials and puzzles, together with fast paced adventure. I strongly recommend it to everybody that likes such type of books. (mark: 10)

Shadow puppets: The sequel to the above. I found it interesting but somehow boring as the above story developed little and the focus was on the characters (maybe too much focus so that it seemed to me that it was slightly mumbling jumbling. Strategy, brilliance and adventure seemed to be very low here. I would not recommend it for anybody to read it in isolate, unfortunately you have to read it if you want to go to the next book. I really believe that OSC made a mistake here (deliberately or not) as this book should have been told in 50-60 pages and be included in the previous or the next book. (mark: 6 but you will read it because you will want to read Shadow of the Giant)

Shadow of the Giant: (see below)

Ender's game: A really great book to read, probably the best of the series, however, as I had read its sequels first, when I reached the 80% of this book, I had predicted the end. However, it's at the highest standards of sci-fi, military strategy, adventure, brilliant mind games and very good depth in the human aspect of the characters. In comparison to the shadow series, it is more "space" sci-fi, while shadow series have much lesser sci-fi elements and are more down to earth. (mark: 10)

Speaker for the dead: Another great book, but different style. Less adventure, more human aspect, more maturity. Brilliance yes, but not military, sci-fi yes (some great ideas) but not spaceship style. (Mark: 9)

Xenocide: A good sequel of the previous novel. In certain points more brilliant, in other sections more boring, however is again a very good sci-fi book. The only flaw in these series (Speker for the dead, Xenocide, Children of the mind) is the idea behind one of the alien species described which I found outrageously extreme, however if you ignore it becomes first class reading. (Mark: 9)

Children of the mind: I think that OSC has wrapped up his case pretty badly in that one. It's a fair book except the fact that I felt that OSC mumbles jumbles for one third of the novel not having decided how to end it. In other critiques I have found it described as nice approach to moral dilemmas, however, moral dilemma is when you describe it once and make your choice, while here the dilemma is repeated and repeated... I felt like I was watching a movie worth 10 oscars and the end did not worth to be included even in a cheap video movie. And again, many open ends at the end (for possible sequels). (Mark: 7 but you will read it as you will be hooked from the previous ones).

Ender's shadow: Having read Enders Game and Shadow of the Hegemon, I found this book probably the best of the series, which of course is my subjective preference. I could characterize it as probably the best book I have read ever! Not to repeat myself, it has all that Shadow of the Hegemon and Ender's Game have, and even more...(Mark: the absolute 10).

Shadow of the Giant: When I read shadow puppets, I said, "that's it, OSC has lost either his talent or his appetite for good writing...", so I was pretty unwilling to read it. Fortunately I decided to, as it proved to be a good one, were I believe that OSC has nicely wrapped up his story, with two small flaws.
* The one is described below (its end needed to be slightly more complete) and,
* The other is the fact that although he describes certain smart battles, he does not focus enough on them as it seems that he is in a hurry to wrap all things up. It had all elements to become a masterpiece but it ended up being a good to read book (Mark: 9)

In general, both series have three categories of good stuff:
1) Some great sci-fi ideas (battle room, battle games, fantasy game, ansible, aia, Jane, in/out travel, raman varelse etc)
2) Great military strategy, mind games etc combined with adventure
3) In certain books, depth of characters, moral dilemmas etc
And two main bad stuff:
1) Mumbling jumbling in certain books which was completely unnecessary (either OSC wanted just to produce and sell another title - see shadow puppets- or he could not decide how the story will continue-see last book of Ender series).
2) One of the alien species described in the Ender series was so too outrageous even for sci-fi that made it look ridiculous. The idea behind it was brilliant in sci-fi terms, but he could try a different living organism...
Finally, OSC has left open ends in both series (probably for next sequels), however I believe that there are two things missing. a) the story of the Hive Queen and the Hegemon, told in a metaphorical manner so it means much for humanity. b) In ancient theatre, a story should end in a way that brings "katharsis" to the story, and the souls of the readers. I believe that the end of the shadow of the giant may be smart for commercial purposes but it was very unfair to the reader as it did not bring full "katharsis".

Nice to see that Card and company packaged all the rest of the Ender Quarter into a box-set. The average customer saves about $7 and you can finish the entire series. However, price and convienence are not the only things that are great about this box set. Speaker For The Dead, Xenocide, and Children Of The Mind are all very different than Ender's Game, but very good reads to follow up the original with. Whether you are a casual fan of science fiction or a hard core fan of Card, all of the remaining books in this set will do well to quench the thirst of the reader. If you haven't read Ender's Game yet, then none of these books will make much sense even though Card meant for Speaker For The Dead is meant to be standalone. It really is better to start with Ender's Game, you won't be sorry after reading these 3 books + Ender's Game.

-Travis S.

The product is Beyond Ender's Game, which includes, as it states, Speaker For the Dead, Xenocide & Children Of The Mind.

They sent Ender's Game, Speaker For the Dead and Xenocide.

It is too late for Christmas (shipping wise) to return it and get the correct one so I am forced to but it new from the store.

I would not recommend this seller to anyone because they screwed up my order!