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Xenocide
(Ender's Saga #3)
by
The war for survival of the planet Lusitania will be fought in the heart 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 hu ...more
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 hu ...more
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Mass Market Paperback, 592 pages
Published
July 15th 1996
by Tor Books
(first published August 1991)
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Start your review of Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3)

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. ...more
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. ...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 Tolstoy and Dickens (barely) that can justifiably write 600 or more pages of novel. Yes I'm aware I'm including Dostoyevsky in this statement (sorry Karamazov-lovers). Card could hav ...more
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 Tolstoy and Dickens (barely) that can justifiably write 600 or more pages of novel. Yes I'm aware I'm including Dostoyevsky in this statement (sorry Karamazov-lovers). Card could hav ...more

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

This is one of the most profoundly philosophical science fiction books ever written.
Humans have colonized the planet they call Lusitania, home to the "piggies," intelligent mammal-like animals with no technology. Then Ender Wiggin arrives, with the Hive Queen, the last remaining member of her high-tech species. Now three intelligent species must cohabit one world -- for if they leave it, they will take with them the ultimate biological weapon, the descolada virus.
Human contact with not one but t ...more
Humans have colonized the planet they call Lusitania, home to the "piggies," intelligent mammal-like animals with no technology. Then Ender Wiggin arrives, with the Hive Queen, the last remaining member of her high-tech species. Now three intelligent species must cohabit one world -- for if they leave it, they will take with them the ultimate biological weapon, the descolada virus.
Human contact with not one but t ...more

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

Oct 04, 2007
Samantha Leigh
rated it
really liked it
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 private airplane
and as they flew over the winter mountains
the engines ...more
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 private airplane
and as they flew over the winter mountains
the engines ...more

5.0 stars. I was amazed by how good this book is. Speaker for the Dead is one of my all time favorite books and this book picks up right where Speaker left off. Superb characters, amazingly orginal concepts of life and the universe and intense ethical debate (Card's strong suit) highlight this exceptional novel. Highly recommended.
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1992)
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1992) ...more
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1992)
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (1992) ...more

Xenocide (Ender's Saga #3), Orson Scott Card
Xenocide (1991) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, the third book in the Ender's Game series. On Lusitania, Ender finds a world where humans and pequeninos (Portuguese for "Little Ones") and the Hive Queen could all live together. However, Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequeninos require in order to become adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effects of t ...more
Xenocide (1991) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, the third book in the Ender's Game series. On Lusitania, Ender finds a world where humans and pequeninos (Portuguese for "Little Ones") and the Hive Queen could all live together. However, Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequeninos require in order to become adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effects of t ...more

I can't say that I enjoyed this as much as the other two.
I found the characters bland. There wasn't one that I could connect with among them, other than Jane, and perhaps Valentine. The women were all ridiculously emotional, leading to foolish and irrational decisions that made me want to scream. (Quara, GloriouslyBoring Bright, Novinha) The only redeeming factor was a "female" computer and Valentine, as the other women just opened their mouths and made more problems or spent the entire book ta
...more
I found the characters bland. There wasn't one that I could connect with among them, other than Jane, and perhaps Valentine. The women were all ridiculously emotional, leading to foolish and irrational decisions that made me want to scream. (Quara, Gloriously

I keep taking away stars. I am cruel. The problem with this book is the use of stereotypes and isn't it sort of, I don't know, unsettling to people how monochromatic these worlds are? A world where everyone is Chinese or Japanese or Brazilian. Where would someone like me fit in? Just because you're in a world full of people like you ethnically or religiously doesn't mean you will fit in.
This is sort of the same problem in Children of the Mind too, where you have whole worlds were most of the pe ...more
This is sort of the same problem in Children of the Mind too, where you have whole worlds were most of the pe ...more

Ender’s series has long been one of my favorite in the sci-fi genre and that is why I am slowly working through the series long after I have moved on from most of my childhood favorites. There was something about Ender’s world - even for a reader who was most at home with the most elaborate of high fantasy and sci-fi, the subdued world of Ender had a different sort of fascination. It did not try to sell a fancy world or any fancy technology or an advanced race of humans - none of the regular tro ...more

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

It’s Getting Complicated
Xenocide, the third book of the Ender’s Game series, continues the story from Speaker For the Dead. It is a far more difficult story to follow as it is filled with philosophy, physics, religion, and strategy, much more than action and could perhaps have risked some editing. As it is, though some might find it obtuse, others will find its moral quandaries illuminating and rewarding.
Things are happening in the far-off planet where several intelligent species are co-existi ...more
Xenocide, the third book of the Ender’s Game series, continues the story from Speaker For the Dead. It is a far more difficult story to follow as it is filled with philosophy, physics, religion, and strategy, much more than action and could perhaps have risked some editing. As it is, though some might find it obtuse, others will find its moral quandaries illuminating and rewarding.
Things are happening in the far-off planet where several intelligent species are co-existi ...more

Xenocide is the third book in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Saga series. It picks up where Speaker For The Dead left off, with Lusitania struggling to survive the Descolada and The Little Doctor.
It's hard to corral my thoughts about Xenocide, because there are so many things going on. We have threads of solving the Descolada AND Path viruses, multiple family dramas, solving FTL travel, the nature of the soul, intricacies of inter-species relations, first contact, the frivolity and wastefulness of i ...more
It's hard to corral my thoughts about Xenocide, because there are so many things going on. We have threads of solving the Descolada AND Path viruses, multiple family dramas, solving FTL travel, the nature of the soul, intricacies of inter-species relations, first contact, the frivolity and wastefulness of i ...more

I adore the Ender series. 'Xenocide' by Orson Scott Card is really part one of a two-book set in the Ender series, and it's book 3 if reading in order. On to 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
...more

I really enjoyed this. In all honesty, stick Ender Wiggin in any book and I'll probably love it. Unlike the last book which was basically a 300+ page ethnography, Xenocide went into the looming threats of the descolada virus, the growing threat of war between piggy and human, and the survival of every race in the galaxy. On the negative side, this book could have gone through some editing, as parts seemed to be long winded and overly drawn out. But overall, I really liked it.
...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’t 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 spe ...more
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 spe ...more

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

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

This was on it way to being a middle of the road - didnt love it or hate sci-fi novel, when a sermon broke out. I spent a number of hours getting preached at, and I didnt care for it.
It didnt even feel like the well-intentioned if ham fisted style of RAH trying to dole out advice / his world view - it was literally a sermon.
Jesus save the aliens, and in the end, just wishing (and a self-aware super-computer) can make miracles. It was a pretty bad excuse for fiction. And the ending resolved very ...more
It didnt even feel like the well-intentioned if ham fisted style of RAH trying to dole out advice / his world view - it was literally a sermon.
Jesus save the aliens, and in the end, just wishing (and a self-aware super-computer) can make miracles. It was a pretty bad excuse for fiction. And the ending resolved very ...more

When I first started this series I was afraid that the first book would be good and then the quality would slowly start to dip, because the goodreads rating did so and you have to trust user ratings, right? I was so wrong. Not only was Speaker for the Dead so much better than Ender's Game, but now, Xenocide is EVEN BETTER than Speaker for the Dead. The character of Han Qing-jao was probably the best thing in this book, and probably the best storyline this series had to offer (I reserve the right
...more

Ender's Game was one of the best modern novels I've ever read, especially in this genre. It surprised, delighted, and asked ethical and epistemological questions I hadn't thought to ask up until having read it (not to mention some fascinating universe-wide questions of pneumatology, psychology, and hamartiology). Speaker for the Dead was better and did the same, though in an almost entirely different genre — that book changed how I offer eulogies forever, changed the nature of funerals in my min
...more

Sep 13, 2007
Debbie
rated it
liked it
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 bring t
...more

The fleet is coming to destroy planet Lusitania! The piggies may counter by releasing the Descolada virus to destroy all humanity! No matter what Ender decides, an intelligent life form may be annihilated! Holy ethical dilemma, Batman! Let's talk freshman philosophy.
Speaker for the Dead was about what it is to be human. This one raises the stakes, and it's mostly about what it is to be a god. And here, Card basically goes a bit heavy handed on the Mormon theology. A true god would want to make p ...more
Speaker for the Dead was about what it is to be human. This one raises the stakes, and it's mostly about what it is to be a god. And here, Card basically goes a bit heavy handed on the Mormon theology. A true god would want to make p ...more

This book is masterful and I'm extremely mad at myself for not finishing this series so much sooner....but then again, maybe it's good I waited.
My story with the Enders Game books seems to have a long history. I started Enders Game in high school. Ended up buying the audio for my wife years later. Then after she finished, we listened to Speaker for the Dead. And now, finally, another full set of years later, I'm finally finished with Xenocide.
To be honest it might be a good thing I waited. If I ...more
My story with the Enders Game books seems to have a long history. I started Enders Game in high school. Ended up buying the audio for my wife years later. Then after she finished, we listened to Speaker for the Dead. And now, finally, another full set of years later, I'm finally finished with Xenocide.
To be honest it might be a good thing I waited. If I ...more

Short off topic review - I often wonder when someone does something legendary did they know what they were doing was going to be epic, or did they just fluke it?
After reading this, Enders game seems more of a fluke to me, then something OSC knew would be legendary. Even more so when you hear his vile homophobic remarks and his wild conspiracies about Obama. I don't know at what point OSC came to Jesus, but this level of Christianity in this book is overwhelming, and no real counter argument is e ...more
After reading this, Enders game seems more of a fluke to me, then something OSC knew would be legendary. Even more so when you hear his vile homophobic remarks and his wild conspiracies about Obama. I don't know at what point OSC came to Jesus, but this level of Christianity in this book is overwhelming, and no real counter argument is e ...more

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

I went from really enjoying Ender's Game to absolutely loving Speaker for the Dead and here I am feeling quite lukewarm about Xenocide. I knew what others felt about this installment but I decided to take my chances especially considering how much I enjoyed Speaker for the Dead.
What it comes down to is that the book was just entirely too long. If a quarter or so of the book was shaved off I think that my enjoyment would have increased quite a bit. There were several aspects that just felt unnec ...more
What it comes down to is that the book was just entirely too long. If a quarter or so of the book was shaved off I think that my enjoyment would have increased quite a bit. There were several aspects that just felt unnec ...more

The short-version review for this book comes in the form of an image I’d like to plant in your head.
Imagine yourself standing in a large, densely populated area. Think Grand Central Terminal, Times Square or the floor at Comic Con on a Saturday. You’re standing there, head tilted back, eyes squeezed shut, hands clenched into fists at your side as you scream out every ounce of anger, frustration, confusion, and disappointment that you’ve ever experienced in your lifetime, from the depths of your ...more
Imagine yourself standing in a large, densely populated area. Think Grand Central Terminal, Times Square or the floor at Comic Con on a Saturday. You’re standing there, head tilted back, eyes squeezed shut, hands clenched into fists at your side as you scream out every ounce of anger, frustration, confusion, and disappointment that you’ve ever experienced in your lifetime, from the depths of your ...more
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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 series Th ...more
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 series Th ...more
Other books in the series
Ender's Saga
(6 books)
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