Ender in Exile

[keely_graesser]

So, who's read it? What did everyone think?

Personally I think the plot wasn't OSC's best but was still very engaging.  Overall the book felt to me like a family reunion of my favorite characters, so I was very pleased.  What's everyone else's thoughts?

Comments

[hanakomatsuki]

I read Ender in Exile the night that I got it, staying up late to read it. I looked forward to finding out about those "lost years" before Speaker, which was my favorite book until this one took its place.

In Exile, Ender read like Ender, in that he was the perfect mix between the character he was in Game and who he will become in Speaker. That was definitely my favorite part of the book, that Card still had a handle on this character who I've come to know as a real person.

Unfortunately, this book seemed to want to cover a lot in terms of plot. The plot of the space ship, what happens on the colony worlds before and after Ender arrives on each one, the Hive Queen being known as a book with power, and the near-end of Petra's story. (There might be other things that I've missed. Only read the book once and am slowly going through it again a second time.) Some parts that I wanted to see expanded on, like Ender's time on Ganges which was said to be the main plot of the book. Yet, the story of the book is still on of my favorites.

And yes, I do agree with kleenexcow that Card's thoughts of "breed first, love later" (which I believe was actually mentioned by a character in the book that that was how a few marriages were done on the colony. I'm willing to be corrected) turned me off a bit from the book. But that's just the way Card is.

[keely_graesser]

I agree that the Ender character was perfectly portrayed here! One of my favorite things about this book was being able to truly see events from Ender's eyes - especially when he spoke to Peter to write Hegemon.

I, too, wanted more time spent on Ganges and felt that it was almost tacked on. I was also disappointed that many of the chapters were exact replicas of the short stories that OSC had released in IGMS, which I'd paid $2.50 an issue just to read. I think nearly a 1/4 of the book was that. I didn't mind terribly though because I tend to re-read the Ender books anyway, but I was surprised such a large portion was that way.

I agree with you about the plot too. If someone asked me what this book was about I think I'd be at a loss to describe it simply. I'd probably have to say just: "people".