Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3)

by Orson Scott Card

Xenocide

by
Orson Scott Card

book data

15,281 ratings, 3.63 average rating, 530 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		20%
4		35%
3		32%
2		8%
1		2%

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published

July 1996 by Tandem Library (first published August 1991)

details

Library Binding

characters

Valentine Wiggin, Peter Wiggin, Hyrum Graff …more

literary awards

Hugo Award Nominee (1992)

isbn

1417646519 (isbn13: 9781417646517)

description

Orson Scott Card's Xenocide is a space opera with verve. In this continuation of Ender Wiggin's story, the Starways Congress has sent a fleet to immo…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 18,735)

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Oct 04, 2007

Samantha Leigh rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

bookshelves: personalfavorites

recommends it for: anyone.

Let me tell you the most beautiful story i know.
a man was given a dog, which he loved very much.
the dog went with him everywhere,
but the man could not teach it to do anything useful...
instead it regarded him with the same inscrutable expression.
"thats not a dog, its a wolf!" said the mans wife
"he alone is faithful to me" said the man
and his wife never discussed it with him again.
one day, the man took his dog with him onto his pr...more

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Jan 25, 2009

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 1593974787)

bookshelves: fantasy, fiction, ya

Read in January, 2009

Had this been a stand alone novel, rather than a continuation of the Ender Wiggins series, it probably wouldn’t have irritated me so much. In the interview with the author at the end of the CD, he pretty much verifies what I thought throughout the whole novel. The premises of this book is one that he had first thought of as an independent story line, but since Ender Wiggins was a ready made hit, rolled it into the trilogy instead. With each subsequent book, Card looses a bit more of the initia...more

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Jul 31, 2008

Courtney rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

This may be my favorite of the Ender series. The dynamic with all of the different forms of alien life and the debate about when and whether it is OK to destroy such life is facsinating to me. I think that part of the reason I enjoy science fiction so much is that, not only does it force me to use my brain, but it can address real life issues in a setting that, although comparable to real life, does not have quite the same affect on my while still making me think about real principles. I am n...more

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Sep 13, 2007

Debbie rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

bookshelves: sciencefiction

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: science fiction fans

Xenocide picks up Ender's story on Lusitania. With a starship on the way to destroy the planet, Ender and his family race to find a cure for the descolada, a virus integral to the life cycle of the pequeninos, but lethal to humans. Jane, a sentient being who came to life as a result of the bugger's attempt to contact Ender through the fantasy computer game, may die as a result of her efforts to help Ender stop the destruction of Lusitania. A faction of the pequeninos decides they want to brin...more

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Jun 18, 2007

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in March, 2008

Wow. It took me so long to finish this book after racing through the previous portion of this series. It's really too bad because Orson Scott Card's ideas are definitely worth exploring -- some of the most thought provoking and original of the ones that I have read in my limited science fiction repertoire. Card is truly one of the most brilliant writers I have had the pleasure of reading.

That said, certain portions of the book I just found to be tedious. I finally finished this only ...more

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Apr 06, 2009

Kate rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in February, 2009

Very good exploration of how others perceive your acts; you can actually save the world and be pegged a villan; but it helps the reader understand the self interest in demonizing others.

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Mar 03, 2009

Ashley rated it:

(review of isbn 0812509250)

bookshelves: sci-fi

Owns a copy — Read in February, 2008

"So let me tell you what I think about gods. I think a real god is not going to be so scared or angry that he tries to keep other people down . . . A real god doesn‚Äôt care about control. A real god already has control of everything that needs controlling. Real gods would want to teach you how to be just like them."

The third part of the Ender Quartet, the sequel to Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, which takes place on the Brazilian colony of Lusitania -- the habi...more "So let me tell you what I think about gods. I think a real god is not going to be so scared or angry that he tries to keep other people down . . . A real god doesn‚Äôt care about control. A real god already has control of everything that needs controlling. Real gods would want to teach you how to be just like them."

The third part of the Ender Quartet, the sequel to Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, which takes place on the Brazilian colony of Lusitania -- the habitat of all three known species in the universe: humans, pequeninos, and the Hive Queen's buggers -- and a planet called Path, a descendant colony of China whose inhabitants believe themselves to be "godspoken." The plot is concerned with three main issues: the development of a cure and an understanding of the descolada virus, which is threatening to wipe out all life it comes into contact with, but which is necessary for pequenino survival, and the existence of which has led Starways Congress to condemn the planet to destruction; the growing conflicts between species on all planets and the ethical, spiritual, and philosophical dilemmas that result; and finally, the quest of three individuals on Path to find out what happened to the Lusitania fleet which was sent by Starways Congress to destroy Lusitania -- a "godspoken," his daughter, and her servant -- all who will be instrumental in the shape of things to come.

I enjoyed this book. As always, Card manages to make you care about his characters at the same time as making you think in ways you never have before about religion, philosophy, and the nature of life. Reading one of his books is like a religious experience; I always walk away after finishing one feeling as if I've really accomplished something, like I'm a better person for having done it. For this reason alone all of his stories are 'A' quality, but this one misses the mark (as does it's sequel, Children of the Mind) in terms of narrative structure and control. More on this below. Overall, though, this book is well worth your time, if only for the education of your soul (and the tying up of a few plotlines from Speaker for the Dead).

I love Jane -- so much. I also really enjoy all the ethical dilemmas that Card so brilliantly orchestrates. His creation of a planet full of people who believe themselves to have the ability to speak with the gods, but who have really been genetically manipulated into having a specific form of obsessive compulsive disorder, is frankly genius. But I think my favorite part about this book (and the rest of the Ender Quartet) is the way that they force you to examine the way that you see the world through the use of the pequeninos and the buggers. Everything looks different and a hell of a lot scarier when you don't understand it.

The thing that makes Speaker for the Dead such an A+(++++++) book, a masterpiece really, is the way that Card interweaves character, plotting, pacing, and action. Speaker for the Dead is the perfect length, with things being revealed at just the right pace, and tension perfectly distributed. The result of this is a feeling of perfect completion upon finishing. The narrative is also almost all self-contained. With the exception of several unresolved problems (how they're going to stop the Lusitania fleet, what will happen to Miro, etc.) the conflict of the story is perfectly resolved. This is where Xenocide suffers. Xenocide and Children of the Mind were originally supposed to have been one book, but the narrative became too long and Card was forced to separate the two. Unfortunately this hurts both stories. Xenocide feels incomplete in terms of theme, and Children of the Mind feels almost trite in comparison to its behemoth of a brother. Ultimately, it would have been a much more successful story with a good paring down, and combining the two into one, as Card originally intended. And, to end on a whine, Ender's fate was pretty upsetting and I'm not sure what exactly about it bothers me, other than I felt cheated. Intellectually, the decision to give his soul to the Peter-body was a good one. He can now live out his life without the immense burden of guilt of having committed xenocide, which has haunted him since Ender's Game. While I know this is good, I still can't help but feel cheated in some way. But I digress. Oh, and also, I really hate Qing-Jao.(less)

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Jan 18, 2009

Joy rated it:

(review of isbn 0812509250)

Read in December, 2008

recommends it for: Ender fans

The Congress fleet is on its way to destroy Lusitania. Their order was already sent to the fleet to disintegrate the planet. That's not just because of the rebellion of the Lusitanian humans, who have formed a community with the other species. It's also because the virus that transformed the biosphere of the planet will probably be fatal to all life forms in the Hundred Worlds.

Then the fleet disappears. The search of a brilliant girl on the planet Path for the missing fleet leads to...more

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Mar 15, 2010

Dlora rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

bookshelves: scifi

Read in March, 2010

Xenocide really is slow paced. Ender is trying to figure out how to save both the pequinino species, the Hive Queen and her workers that he has brought to this world to begin to live again, and Jane who is a singular entity that lives in the spaces between the ansible messages between the worlds. And then, are the descolado virus perhaps an intelligent species that needs to be protected too? This book was chock full of ideas and discussions and possibilities about instantaneous travel, free will...more

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Jan 24, 2010

Scott Thrift rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in January, 2010

A man was given a dog, which he loved very much. The dog went with him everywhere, but the man could not teach it to do anything useful... Instead it regarded him with the same inscrutable expression. "That's not a dog, it's a wolf!" said the man's wife "He alone is faithful to me" said the man and his wife never discussed it with him again. One day, the man took his dog with him onto his private airplane and as they flew over the winter mountains the engines failed and the a...more

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Nov 20, 2009

Andres Felipe Pabon Luna rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in November, 2009

This is what science fiction is all about, at least in my book. It's not so much about "future-tech", or even scientific debate: it's about the philosophy behind a "what would happen if..." series of questions.

Card manages to ask a lot of questions during his whole Ender saga, but it is here where he actually begins answering those questions (and bringing forth other, perhaps even tougher, questions). And, not only does he answers those doubts to his characters, b...more

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Aug 31, 2009

Kevin Greenlee rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in September, 2009

Xenocide is… odd. I am not, really, fully certain of what I think of the book. As anyone who’s read my reviews knows, I loved Ender’s Game and thought Speaker for the Dead was even better. Naturally, despite the fact that I’d heard it was not as good, I picked up the next book in the series and it is, frankly, rather average. This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the book, it had an interesting enough plot and still concerned the lives of characters that I had come to care about over...more

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Jan 20, 2009

Amanda Morris rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

This is book 3 of the incredible Ender's Game series. One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was all the philosophical thoughts swarming throughout this book. But it was never preachy. It put so many thoughts and questions into the brain.

From friendship and family, general human connection. Questions like 'who deserves to live if we all can't' to thoughts and questions about traveling faster than the speed of light through space. Thoughts and questions of free wi...more This is book 3 of the incredible Ender's Game series. One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was all the philosophical thoughts swarming throughout this book. But it was never preachy. It put so many thoughts and questions into the brain.

From friendship and family, general human connection. Questions like 'who deserves to live if we all can't' to thoughts and questions about traveling faster than the speed of light through space. Thoughts and questions of free will to even the question of what our soul really is, do we need a physical body to have a soul, and if not can a soul exist even if it has never had/has a body? Where do we come from and what exactly makes us who we are? Even religion and genetics are heavily discussed just for thought, not necessarily answer or bias. There are no judgments or preaching in this book's discussion on philosophical topics. As an agnostic, I really enjoyed all these thought processes and questions that were put in my mind.

All these thoughts and ideas and theories are all strung together throughout the book, many pieces of a giant puzzle and then they all just fit together in the most amazing way creating a complete and satisfying picture then comes together in absolute perfection.

And the characters, who we meet in the previous book, Speaker for the Dead, are here again in Xenocide. As much as I loved them in the last book, they become even more developed in this book. We get deeper and deeper into the hearts and souls of these people learning more and more about them. Every character in this book plays a very important part, a perfect role in moving the story forward.

In this story, there are times when I thought of the enemy's point of view, why is the enemy doing what they are doing. And as I thought of the enemy, I realized that there might be a point to what they are doing if you only see the story from their side. I love stories that make the enemy seem not quite so much the evil tyrant that does things for almost no purpose other than to be evil. Even though the enemy is in the wrong, they have a point based only on their point of view. This shows you that you must see ALL points of view to make a proper true decision.

At the end, whether or not you can hold the imagination and the belief in faster than light travel, you just can't help but jump up and scream "WHAT!!??" at what becomes of that incredible journey. Truly remarkable, worthy of the tears of joy, shock and amazement that poured down my cheeks. Yet another amazing story in this remarkable series. (less)

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Jun 28, 2009

blake rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

bookshelves: scifi-fantasy-horror

Read in June, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

TOO LONG. I grudgingly give this book a 3, based only on my affection for the characters and the creativity of the story. Most of the book suffers from overkill in one sense or another, which leads to its main problem of length. It´s impossible to deny that Card is brilliant, but I can think of no writers other than Dickens and presumably Tolstoy (although I have yet to read him) who can justifiably write 600 or more pages of novel. Card could have brought this one in at under 500 and lost ...more TOO LONG. I grudgingly give this book a 3, based only on my affection for the characters and the creativity of the story. Most of the book suffers from overkill in one sense or another, which leads to its main problem of length. It´s impossible to deny that Card is brilliant, but I can think of no writers other than Dickens and presumably Tolstoy (although I have yet to read him) who can justifiably write 600 or more pages of novel. Card could have brought this one in at under 500 and lost nothing while gaining much due to brevity.

Problems (where to start?):

Much of the length problem was due to tedious treatment of 3 of the main characters. Miro -- look, I get that he doesn´t like being paralyzed and that he´s wallowing in self-pity. You can cut at least 10 pages of his wallowing and I will still understand it. His transformation at the end will still be impactful.

Si Wang-Mu -- the introduction of Path and the gradual revelation of OCD was masterful. What I needed much less of was the hammering home of their inner turmoil over the gods. There´s a specific 5 page passage starting on 430 that as far as I can tell is used solely for Wang-Mu to ponder the nature of godhood. If you´re going to spend 5 pages on her, at least use it to develop the mind-boggling and completely inexplicable split-second decision she makes at the end to run off with New Peter.

Quara -- I did not swallow this character for one instant. Besides the ridiculous lapse in logic that she´s prepared to wipe out 2 species (including her own) so as not to kill 1 species, I´m supposed to believe that she´s defending Descolada just to get back at her family? And this is the first sign of mental instability that she´s shown in 30 years? Ender couldn´t have "healed" her in all that time (Is he a demi-god with supernatural powers of healing as shown in Speaker for the Dead or isn´t he?)? And then in all the arguments they had with her, no one could have raised the point that a dying Piggy raises at the very end: even if Descolada is a sentient being, it is a murderous and tyrannous one, and we have the right to defend ourselves. This woman is simply insane, and I do not believe that she would have been allowed to affect so much of the goings-on if Card were trying to be at all realistic. She was used to create conflict in an already uber-conflictive book, and guess what -- not necessary! That´s almost 30 pages saved right there. Did anyone else catch the part where she was passing Ela´s defense work to the virus itself? Mentioned but never follwed up on.

My other objections are less grave. There´s the dialogue style, just as present in Speaker and to a lesser extent in Ender´s, where every character is constantly psychoanalyzing every other, and everything they say can be decoded to show a deep personal insight. Although it worked without overtly bothering me in the first two books it got to be too much in this one (perhaps due to the length). People don´t actually talk like this, or if they do I´ve never met them. It´s not natural and became intrusive to my reading experience. There was a bizaare narration sequence on page 100 where Card suddenly addresses the reader in the 2nd person -- jarring to say the least. Finally, there was the arrival of young Val and New Peter at the end, which I just thought was unnecessary. There was already PLENTY going on in this novel, why add more complication out of the blue?

This is one of my longest reviews because this book was very frustrating to me. It was frustrating because there were so many really good things about it (mainly plot and the ethical/geo-political dilemmas), but some really bad ones as well.(less)

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Jul 17, 2007

Steph rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

bookshelves: scifi-fantasy

Not my favorite in the series. This one did not keep my attention like the two previous. It is told as two separate tales that eventually intertwine, though I must say that I was most interested in the strand about a planet populated entirely by geniuses. This part tells about a girl born into this world, and shows the many, sometimes cruel and bitter factors that help to mold and shape her into the self-righteous young adult she eventually becomes.

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Mar 25, 2009

Janelle rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in March, 2009

In the middle of this book I was leaning over to my husband and saying, "This is brilliant. One of the smartest books ever written." But then the ending just fell apart for me, because it wasn't an ending. Clearly you must read Children of the Mind to get the whole story. Which I will.

Orson Scott Card should be an ethics teacher. He made me wish I was an ethics professor while reading Xenocide. The book brims with ethical suspence. I really love the use of religion in thes...more

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Jan 29, 2009

Ami rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in February, 2009

In this continuation of the Ender saga, Andrew Wiggen (Ender) and the people of Lucetania have the near impossible task of saving themselves from xenocide by congress and a disease, while protecting life native to their world.
While I gave "Enders Game" and "Speaker for the Dead" five stars, I could only give "Xenocide" four stars for a number of reasons.
Perhaps I am not intelligent enough in scientific matters, but I had trouble following parts of this ...more

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Nov 17, 2009

Gary rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

This is probably my second favorite book in the Ender Saga. The characters are unique, yet they exhibit the classic characteristics of great literature. There's the wife with blood in her veins, the son with the all seeing eyes, the native who sacrifices himself for the greater good. The story really gets the heart of a very relevant topic: fear of a foreign culture. And what's great is that this foreign culture is attached to a mysterious eco-system, so it hits on biologic, religious, and socio...more

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Feb 17, 2010

Richard rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in March, 2010

The book started out from where is ended in book 2, Speaker for the dead. The protagonists are now faced with multiple challenges: Invasion; incurable epidemic; denial to access of data, information and communication. The story revolves around resolving these issues which makes it quite easy to follow and understand. What makes the book meaningful are the discoveries that were made to resolve the issues.

Characters also respond to the moment of need or creation. The plot is as simple ...more

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Apr 30, 2009

Adam rated it:

(review of isbn 0312861877)

Read in May, 2009

If I could figure out some way to do it, I would give this book a 4.5/5. Either way, it's holding a high position in my list of favorites.

In some ways more profound and influential than the previous entry in the series, there's just this kind of weight I can't quite place that keeps it back. Well, that's partly true... I can say that I found myself less thrilled to get through the parts that took place on Path. One of those characters drove me mad anytime she--figuratively--opened he...more

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