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Xenocide (Ender's Saga #4)

by Orson Scott Card

3.67 · rating details · 31,239 ratings · 988 reviews

The war for survival of the planet Lusitania will be fought in the hearts of a child named Gloriously Bright.

On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequininos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought.

Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all h...more

Paperback, 592 pages

Published August 15th 1992 by Tor Books (first published 1991)

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Oct 04, 2007

Samantha Leigh rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone.

Shelves: personalfavorites

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 23, 2011

blake rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror

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 n...moreTOO 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 bizarre 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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May 08, 2011

Ezra rated it

· review of another edition

This xkcd web comic makes for the best review of this book. http://xkcd.com/304/

I didn't hate it. The philosophy and science annoyingly reminded me of Tom Clancy's later stuff where he rambles on and on over minutia no one but him and his 7 true fans really enjoy. The rest of us start skimming hoping to find something to make continuing to read worth it. Only to depressingly read the last sentence wondering why successful authors stop using editors.

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Sep 26, 2011

Jeremy Johnson rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. How many stars do you give a book that starts off good, wanders around dully in the middle, and then becomes offensively horrible at the end? Do you average 5, 3, and 1 star? Do you give it 2 because of the overall picture? Do you give it 1 because it's doubly bad to start out promising and then mislead the reader?

I'm in the last category.

I'm 90% finished, and I think I'm not going to make it much further. I loved the first two books, but this one is sort of awful. It st...more

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Feb 08, 2009

Sarah rated it

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Shelves: fantasy, fiction, ya

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 initial ...more

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Jul 31, 2008

Courtney rated it

· review of another edition

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 another edition

Recommends it for: science fiction fans

Shelves: sciencefiction

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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Mar 12, 2008

Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, adult

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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Aug 29, 2011

April the Cheshire Meow Gavey rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites, metafiction

I adore the Ender series. This is really part one of a two book set in the series. On to the Children of the Mind next which will finish what was started in Xenocide. There are a lot of ideas in the story as everything related to the psychology and philosophy of prejudice is explored in a dramatic speculative fiction setting. Religion and politics, as well as basic species survival imperatives come into play throughout the complete Ender series. Generally the book is very realistic and true to h...more

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Apr 06, 2009

Kate rated it

· review of another edition

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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Aug 02, 2010

BJ Rose rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, fantasy, futuristic, young-adult

A weak 4* but deserves more than 3*. There were several disappointments in this book, but the main one is that so much of the book was spent on detailing the OCD actions of the 'godspoken', that the author decided to write a part 2 Children of the Mind rather than dealing now with resolving the problems of Jane's survival and the splintering of Ender's adopted family - in fact, those problems just kept getting bigger! And I'm not sure i'm optimistic enough to want to read the 4th book of what sh...more

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Aug 09, 2011

Jen added it

I began reading this series because my boyfriend said my philosophy of human connection resembles Card's philotes. I enjoyed Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, but I was impatiently waiting for philotic connections to be described. Xenocide finally delivered, and I will never forget the AHA! moment when I read that passage.

Xenocide's fully-developed characters seem real because they act in response to deeply-felt emotions. In particular, I was surprised by Card's sensitivity toward Novinha....more

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Mar 13, 2011

Peter added it · review of another edition

A wealth of emotional, scientific and philosophical conflict: Third in Orson Scott Card's "Ender" cycle, "Xenocide" charts the events on the planet of Lusitania, home to all three sentient species in existence, two of which are not represented anywhere else in the universe. All living things on Lusitania are subject to a virus, the Descolada, which attacks and modifies the genetic information of the host and is evolving rapidly to the extend that combating it requires constan...more

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Mar 03, 2009

Ashley rated it

Shelves: sci-fi

"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 ...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

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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Jan 22, 2012

Lisa Taylor rated it

· review of another edition

The first thing I noticed about Xenocide, book three in the series, is that it was much longer than the first two. Almost twice as long actually. As a testament to how good it was, it didn’t take me much longer to read.

At the beginning of Xenocide we are introduced to another planet, a colony called Path. Path is a world developed from Chinese culture. Some citizens of path, when they are children, show the traits of being Godspoken; the need to clean their hands until they bleed, othe...moreThe first thing I noticed about Xenocide, book three in the series, is that it was much longer than the first two. Almost twice as long actually. As a testament to how good it was, it didn’t take me much longer to read.

At the beginning of Xenocide we are introduced to another planet, a colony called Path. Path is a world developed from Chinese culture. Some citizens of path, when they are children, show the traits of being Godspoken; the need to clean their hands until they bleed, other strange compulsions, and extremely high intelligence. If they do in fact prove to be Godspoken they are educated and become part of the elite that rules the people of this planet. The Godspoken are supposed to hear the voices of the Gods, and whenever they do or think something unworthy, they must cleanse themselves. At first the reader is led to believe that sixteen year old godspoken woman Qing Jao is going to play a major part in the story, but really it turns out to be her personal servant, Si Wang-mu. I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say that these traits that show a person to be godspoken are more than they seem, and the entire belief system of Path is about to be turned upside down.

Until the two worlds begin communicating, Xenocide jumps back and forth between the storyline on path and the story that continues from Speaker for the Dead. The fleet from the previous book, armed with a device capable of destroying entire planets, is still en route and Ender, Ela, Grego, Miro and all the other characters from Speaker for the Dead are desperately working to solve all the different problems that threaten them and the other two intelligent species now living on Lusitania.

This was really a book of philosophy, which is what pushed me from giving it four stars to giving it five. Much of the book is spent delving into the nature of reality itself. The characters are facing huge problems, like solving faster than light travel, the need to stop a devastating, semi-intelligent virus while keeping all of its traits that provide life to the Piggies, and the quest to save Jane, the intelligence that has been born in the huge complex web of information constantly passing between worlds. The interesting thing is that they often solve these problems by telling their ideas to intelligent, but uneducated people; specifically Si Wang Mu. Her questions, though they sound simple, often provide insights that lead the characters to not only discovering the most basic elements of nature, but also the very nature of consciousness and where it comes from. It explores questions of the soul, what it is made of, where it comes from, and what types of life can have it. The book stresses intelligence over education, creativity over compliance, and sacrifice for a greater good.

It’s not all learning. It is a fun book to read and there’s plenty of personal drama, such as the constant fight between Grego and Quara, the strained relationship between Ender and Novinha, and more than one terrible death.

As with the other books, Card’s writing keeps a reader interested even when there is no action. Over all it was an extremely interesting book, well-written, and hard to put down. I especially recommend it to anyone who enjoys thinking about moral and philosophical concepts.(less)

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Dec 19, 2011

Ronschae4 rated it

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Shelves: sf

[spoiler alert]

A great almost-ending to the Ender Wiggins series (Ender's Game & Speaker for the Dead). I really thought that this book would tie everything up in the Ender Series, but at it's end, there are still some very big events that are as-yet incomplete at the end of this novel (namely, the survival/decimation of Lusitania and it's dependent life-forms when the Fleet arrives).

That disappointment aside, this is yet another GREAT novel from Mr. Card! I marvel at how ...more

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Oct 28, 2011

Josh Hopping rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Three months ago I was introduced to Orson Scott Card through his book “Ender’s Game.” Seeing how awesome his envisioning of modern technology (a lot of which have come true since the book was published) and study of human nature was, I eagerly jumped into the second book of the series, “Speaker for the Dead.”

This book was even better!!

True, it was not as action backed as “Ender’s Game” but nonetheless it was an amazing book that dove deep into the human behavior. How does on...moreThree months ago I was introduced to Orson Scott Card through his book “Ender’s Game.” Seeing how awesome his envisioning of modern technology (a lot of which have come true since the book was published) and study of human nature was, I eagerly jumped into the second book of the series, “Speaker for the Dead.”

This book was even better!!

True, it was not as action backed as “Ender’s Game” but nonetheless it was an amazing book that dove deep into the human behavior. How does one treat an alien race that is different than one’s own? How about a human who is reacting out of guilt and secrecy? Can you learn to understand someone, even when they are ‘evil’ and do bad things?

It was with great joy that I picked up the third book in the series, “Xenocide” (especially since book two ended before everything was resolved).

Sadly enough, I have to report that “Xenocide” failed to uphold the same standard as the first two… =(

Well, kind of… the first three-fourth of the book was fairly good as Card tried hard to explore how one could live side-by-side with aliens, who by their very existence, places your life in danger. He also explores the nature of life and what it means to be alive.

I grant you that these are not easy questions/topics to explore…so some grace must be given to Card for tackling such concepts. However I must say that Card ended up backing himself into a corner with tons of major problems for his characters that could not be solved easily…

So instead of letting them die or having them fail, he jumps the shark and solves 95% of the problems with one action.

[Spoiler Alert!]

Normally I let an author get away with as there are times when something has to give…yet… when Card has his characters recreating their bodies, figuring out faster-than-light travel, bring 3,000 year old dead people to life, and developing new forms of a virus by simply wishing for it… sorry, I can’t go there… that is a tad much for me.

True, he develops a huge ‘scientific’ theory/argument for such wishing…but no…can’t buy it. =?

Sorry, Mr. Card, but you lost me.(less)

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Oct 20, 2011

Trent Crable rated it

· review of another edition

Part three of the Ender series and my least favorite by a large margin. It seemed to me like it really suffered from lack of a good, stern editor. It was too long (and I hear that part IV, Children of the Mind, was actually part of Xenocide, but they split it into two books, and that it rehashes many of the discussions in the earlier books--good lord). Some of the philosophical arguments were incredibly tedious (do we have free will? what, exactly, are you?)--they were like being stuck in a room...more

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Oct 09, 2011

Meg rated it

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Much like Speaker for the Dead, I was excited to read more about Ender, but this book left me feeling slightly disappointed. I still tore through it, wondering what the heck Orson Scott Card was going to come up with next, and I certainly have to say I couldn't see any of it coming beforehand. What I didn't like about this book is that while Speaker for the Dead was starting to get complex, this book got completely out of hand.

In my opinion, there were far too many characters accompan...more

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Aug 16, 2011

Flew Flewelling rated it

· review of another edition

The first book in this series was outstanding! Card does a great job weaving philosophy and psychology into a story about a boy who saves the world. But, what is one of his greatest assets in the first book quickly becomes the worst problem in this third book.

Instead of being succinct, everything is overkill. Instead of just having a handful of main characters now, we're following all of Ender's adoptive family, a Chinese descendent (and her father and her servant), a sentient com...more

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Jul 29, 2011

Adam rated it

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From the looks of it many didn't really have the patience to delve into the deep exposition of the story, because there is so much dialogue and explanation. It is surely a psychological exercise in the best way possible. It brings up almost every facet of the human experience, the life experience of any sentient thing, the existence of god and quantum physics, and manages to give proper respect to all of them without giving up the author's own actual postion overtly.

I mean -- I thi...more

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Mar 27, 2011

Andreas rated it

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Technically this is the second sequel to Ender’s Game, but in actuality Ender’s Game is pretty much a singleton with a spin-off. Xenocide picks up directly where Speaker for the Dead left off. The Lusitania fleet is still bearing down on our heroes, and the question of how to ensure the survival of Pequeninos, Buggers and humans dominates the book. The secondary plot on the planet Path could have been skipped altogether from a story point of view, but psychology is never boring with Card, and so...more

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Mar 14, 2011

Scribbler King rated it

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Short Review: I really liked the book. I have only a small reason for not making it five stars, and that's because of the way my mind is made. It's very philosophical, so be warned, but I enjoyed those parts most.

Longer Review: The only reason XENOCIDE doesn't have five stars is because THE ENDER SAGA, aside from ENDER'S GAME, isn't as good as Bean's story. To me. I've recently discovered that a HINT of politics in a book makes me wild to read it. It's possible that THE ENDER SA...more

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Feb 26, 2011

Eric Sundquist rated it

Sometimes I can be embarrassed to admit that I'm reading a fiction book, especially one that is mostly popular among teenagers, and ESPECIALLY one that is a 600 page science fiction book in the middle of a series. They just don't seem like appropriate reading material fpr intellectually well-rounded people.

But I have to say that this series--and Xenocide in particular--would be appropriate for those who are looking for a good discussion of ethics and human nature.

Humanity bel...more

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Feb 17, 2011

Anika Knudsen rated it

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What if a whole new species was found living on a completely different planet? In the book Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, there is a planet called Lusitania that holds a human colony, but humans aren’t the only creatures that live on this planet. There is a native species, known as pequininos that thrive there as well. They are highly intelligent, and learn human languages very quickly. A virus that is fatal to the humans happens to be the virus that the pequininos need to survive. The numbe...moreWhat if a whole new species was found living on a completely different planet? In the book Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, there is a planet called Lusitania that holds a human colony, but humans aren’t the only creatures that live on this planet. There is a native species, known as pequininos that thrive there as well. They are highly intelligent, and learn human languages very quickly. A virus that is fatal to the humans happens to be the virus that the pequininos need to survive. The numbers of humans that are living on the colony are barely avoiding death by this terrible disease, and when Starways Congress hears about the descolada, they decide to destroy all life on Lusitania to avoid letting the disease get free and wipe out all of humanity. The ships are on their way, and those on Lusitania have little time to plan a way off of the planet.
I found this book very enjoyable. It is a sequel to the “Ender” series, and was written by a very well known author that has written many bestselling science fiction novels before writing this one. I liked this book because it shows the consequences of when a situation is judged without looking further into it. I also enjoyed it because it has several scientific theories that were very interesting to think about. For example, the scientists in the book believe that there is something even smaller than an atom. They call it a philote. To them, the entire universe consists of philotes. Some scientists even think that the philotes are what make up our individual will. This is one of the best and most interesting books I have ever read. It has many twists and different approaches that I would have never thought of before. This book is also an exciting page turner that I could not put down. Discovery after discovery kept me reading on, and new questions were constantly coming up, and by the end of the book, there were so many questions that I never even considered, much less came up with answers for.
This book has given me ideas that I would have never thought of myself. It is different from most other books, and that is what makes it so interesting. This book I especially recommend to those who are into science fiction, but anyone that prefers simply fiction can enjoy this novel as well. This book can teach people problems that we find in our everyday lives, such as discrimination, violence, and even teamwork. This book is very thought provoking and can be viewed in so many different ways, that it is truly amazing. I absolutely loved this book, and I usually don’t reread books, but I would be glad to read this book again.(less)

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Jan 11, 2011

Jennifer (JC-S) rated it

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Recommended to Jennifer (JC-S) by: fionnabhair@bigpond.com

Shelves: librarybooks

‘I wasn’t sure if heroes still existed in the human race.’

In this, the third novel in the Ender series, the world of Lusitania is under threat. The planet is in rebellion, and the Starways Congress fears that if the descolada virus escapes from Lusitania all humanity will be at risk. The descolada virus kills all humans with which it comes into contact but the pequeninos (piggies) require it for the third stage of their life cycle. The human colonists on Lusitania eat food laced ...more‘I wasn’t sure if heroes still existed in the human race.’

In this, the third novel in the Ender series, the world of Lusitania is under threat. The planet is in rebellion, and the Starways Congress fears that if the descolada virus escapes from Lusitania all humanity will be at risk. The descolada virus kills all humans with which it comes into contact but the pequeninos (piggies) require it for the third stage of their life cycle. The human colonists on Lusitania eat food laced with inhibitors to keep the virus at bay. The Starways Congress has decided to destroy the planet: a fleet is on its way with the means to sterilize the planet.

If Lusitania is destroyed, then other sentient species will be destroyed. Andrew (Ender) Wiggins is working to prevent this, and the plot turns on whether Andrew, the members of his family and the leaders of the other species can work together to prevent this multiple xenocide. Research is undertaken in the hope that the descolada’s deadly components can be neutralised without destroying the virus.

But the ultimate fate of Lusitania may rest with the Chinese Taoist colony of Path, with Han Fei-Tzu and his daughter Qing-Jao (‘Gloriously Bright’). Gloriously Bright is able to discover various truths, but is unable to deal with some of the reality exposed.

‘There are many different purposes in this world, many different causes of everything.’

Xenocide is a long novel with multiple themes. The themes of duty and absolution that were so much a part of ‘Speaker for the Dead’ are continued, but there is also considerable reflection on the nature of life and the consequence of choice. Families are split apart as well during the battle to save or destroy Lusitania.

I liked this novel, and although in parts it moved very slowly because contemplation slowed action, I find myself lining up for the fourth instalment. I am intrigued by some of the questions raised, and keen to know what happens next. The worlds created are rich in detail and full of existential dilemma.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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Oct 24, 2010

Eric Windisch rated it

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Yes, this novel is at times wordy and more repetitive than its predecessors. No, it does not properly resolve the plots, the second half of this book having been split into its successor, Children of the Mind. Yet, this novel does do some things very well.

Personally, from the very first chapter, I questioned my ability to finish the novel. This was not from any fault of Card's, but because I immediate recognized the OCD in the characters. I made this realization because it was someth...more

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Oct 20, 2010

Timothy DePew rated it

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I liked this book. It brought up some of the ethical dilemas that Card is so famous for exploring. I give him a lot of credit in both his writing skill and intelligence. It's a pretty gutsy move to write about of species of genius people and have to write dialogue for all of the major characters. He pulls it off with believablity. The arguments that the Godspoken and the children of Novina were opposing and yet each well thought out. It was as if he could make one completely sound point and then...more

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Jul 03, 2010

Andrew rated it

· review of another edition

This was a very weakly written book. OSC has way too much dialogue without purpose, and weak characters, which is a sad way for Ender to have developed from the first book, Ideas and discussions and plot all meander throughout the novel, then OSC tries to wrap it up with a ridiculous deus ex machina that was frustrating to be asked to believe in. OSC's concept of gaiaology was another point of frustration. If you cannot include decent science in science fiction on a consistent basis, then do...more

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About Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy ser...more

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“Madness, and then illumination.” — 84 people liked it

“The wise are not wise because they make no mistakes. They are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them.” — 61 people liked it

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