Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Xenocide: Volume Three of the Ender Saga (Ender Quintet Book 3)

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Exhilarating

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2017

This is the fourth of Card's Ender books I have read, and I think I like it best. It is not as focused as Ender's Game, but (almost) convincingly ties together a more complex story. Xenocide of species converges here: humans, Buggers, Piggies, intelligent virus, and Jane (a super-super-computer, of sorts)--all are at risk from one another (except for Jane, who is vulnerable but not a threat to anyone). Card is superb at rendering character (although Ender still eludes me), with considerable psychological insight. His writing is lucid and has the patina of believability, even when he discusses deep issues in genetics, ecology, physics and philosophy. I did find the denouement a bit contrived (the deus ex machina of instantaneous travel via something called "Outer" space, a transcendent dimension). Still, I was carried through a rich and complex story to a conclusion that ties up ALMOST all the loose ends.

6 people found this helpful

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Patrick F

Ender Has Lost His Way

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2020

It’s a shame that the follow up books pale in comparison to the original. Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow are brilliant. None of the other books in the universe--I’ve read them all--measure up. Oh, I mean in Card’s bibliographical universe. I mean I’ve read all his books and these two are the ones you should pay attention to. Sure, you’ll get some extended stories about Ender and Peter and Valentine and Bean. Some of these are occasionally tense or fun or sad, but they are lost in a sea of philosophy and politics. Ender’s Game works because it is story and character forward with just enough undercurrents of the deeper structures at work. Xenocide and subsequent iterations fail because they become preachy and whiny. It’s unfortunate, but in no way diminishes the greatness of Card’s two best books. If you want to know what happens to Ender and Bean, read the Wikipedia page and skip the books.

D+

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Patrick F

Ender Has Lost His Way

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2020

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8 people found this helpful

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Shawn C.

Would be better published as "Orson Scott Card's Dialogs"

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2014

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I loved Ender's game and really enjoyed Speaker for the Dead, however, as one reviewer eloquently stated, Xenocide 'jumped the shark.' This book goes further off any sort of logical path, and does it incredibly slowly. Card presents some interesting ethical dilemmas, but that's essentially all he does. The plot is hardly there and is only a verrrry loose framework for presenting what he sees as cool ideas. The central conflict (or one supposes) of the Lusitania fleet isn't even resolved in this book. It is more talking between characters and presenting issues ad naseum... Card uses 20 words where 4 will do, and the entire work suffers for it. Overall, the only parts that are of interest - the ethical dilemmas - can be summed up on some other online review or summary and do NOT require reading the whole book. Save yourself the time, and don't read this book.

3 people found this helpful

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deb_unlimited

Worm eating its tail

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2014

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I read the first book in the series and thought it was entertaining. Read the 2nd one and said, okay, maybe the next one is better. Wrong. The writing is quite good, the book is bad. The image that came to mind when I finished it was of the worm that eats its own tail. It is so wound up its self that it forgets there is an audience. There is too much repetition of the same themes. Really, we don't have to be beat over the head to remind us over and over again that Ender killed the buggers, that the piggies killed the two researchers, etc, etc. The characters are so self absorbed that they become nauseating. None of them are believable. Very disappointing. I won't be reading the next 2 books in the series and I won't be rereading the first 3 books.

2 people found this helpful

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Stretches Credulity Beyond The Limit

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2013

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Fantasy novels require a willingness to suspend disbelief and buy-in to the premise of the storyline. I think I'm a soft touch on this regard, if the characters are interesting and believable, and if the premise of the fantasy is treated in a consistent and even-handed manner then, usually, I'm in.

Unfortunately, I found the key supporting characters cliched and wooden. And, the resolution of the storyline, involving snap-of-the-fingers, technological wonders from characters that don't merit the achievements, was hard to swallow. A disappointing effort relative to the other Ender's Game novels.

One person found this helpful

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Ajax

Too much drama

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2013

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I read the first half of the book and nearly put it down for good. The constant conflict and melodrama, explanations, and philosophical deliberations became tedious. I did not particularly enjoy the godspoken, the piggies or Novihna and her children. For the second half, I read only select parts and skimmed over large portions. I started reading more at the end of the book when they were discovering what Jane was and imagining how to do faster than light travel. Overall, it was a unique story, but not nearly as good as the previous two books.

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Adam Fleisner

Dull and boring

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2015

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I loved Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead was a great follow up. Then there was Xenocide. It was too long. It didn't have a whole lot to keep you really interested. The concepts in the book were really cool, but I'm sorry, reading about them in full detail became boring and kind of hard to follow. I don't like being made to feel like I need a physics degree to follow along with the story. He almost completely wrote Novinha out of the book, along with some of the other children. The whole of this book seemed a little too forced to really fit in line with the series. I'm still a fan, I think Card is a very good author and I have just begun reading Children of the Mind, but I was just not thrilled with this one. And the ending? I was mad that it finished that way. Dull and boring.

3 people found this helpful

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M Edwards

It's alright

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2013

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The second and third books in the Ender Quintet have been disappointing. The first book was great. At first I was excited to read the rest of the series. However, it feels like these books are just playing on my desire to know the rest of Ender's story, and not that they are actually capturing my full interest. It started in the second book, but the story was still mildly interesting, and I wanted to know where the story was headed. After the third book, I just really don't care, I've lost any desire to read the fourth book.

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Robert A. Avila

Tough Going

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2013

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Looking back, I suppose I really enjoyed reading Ender's experiences in the Battle School. Even the ultimate fight with the Bugger's in the end of book I was a diminished read after the first portion.
The downhill slide only continued through book II. In Xenocide, the downhill momentum seems to have steamrolled. The religious themes are truly strange. It is clear O.S. Card is no fan of religion.

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BtcNorcal

I wish the editor had more power

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2019

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This book is twice as long as Ender’s Game but not half as good. I found Xenocide to be more peculiar than interesting. It was difficult to finish. Sorry. Just my take.

One person found this helpful

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Allen_TX_Reviewer

Well, I finished it anyway...

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2018

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So much religious and scientific mumbo jumbo dialogue! I had to skip over much of it. They "solved" the scientific dilemmas way, way too quick and ended up with very strange results. Didn't really care for it.

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Xenocide: Volume Three of the Ender Saga (Ender Quintet Book 3)

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