I really enjoyed this. Retelling of a fairy tale, yackity yackity...

A few irritants though. Card gets a little preachy through his characters' thoughts. I normally don't mind some preachiness. Clearly you've got something to say or you wouldn't be writing, so by all means, say it. It just kind of bludgeons you over the head in this book, though. I mostly agree with what he has to say and it still grates on me.

Also, and I think this may be a continuing problem for Card, all the characters sound to some extent like Card himself. If you've ever read his "Reviews Everything" column online, you're THIS close to knowing Ivan... and Katerina... and Ivan's parents.