Children of the Mind
by Orson Scott Card: This final book in the Ender Quartet spends most of its time tying up loose ends from Xenocide than moving the story along. The fleet still threatens the planet Lusitania, Jane still faces imminent destruction, Miro is still angstful about his love life, and Ender’s still going a bit mad. Everything is tied up neatly at the end, but by and large these latter two novels – Xenocide and Children of the Mind – feel superfluous. I admire Card for his amazing SF ideas, especially the development of the Piggies, but there wasn’t much point in putting all the aiua business in the Ender universe. But that’s okay. Now I know how it ends, and if I care to reread the series in the future, I’ll simply stop after Speaker for the Dead.
Also posted on BookCrossing.
For me, this one’s worth it for the Jane-is-dying scene, when “Peter” is trying to comfort her on Pacifica. And I like that it wraps up most of the loose ends. (Though there’s still the question of the Science Vessel that started for Lusitania in Speaker.)
Have you read the Shadow series? It’s also excellent, although different in tone. I actually like the Shadow series better, even though Speaker is my favorite of the Ender books.
BTW, love your blog name. I’ve often used the term randominity, and it’s nice to see others making up words.