laurak23's review against another edition
3.0
All the email addresses and constant narrator switching was a bit overwhelming. It made me lose track of the story at times. But it really wasn't bad. Can't decide if I want to read any more of the sequels.
tactiics's review against another edition
2.0
far from being one of the best in this series/universe, but still had its potently emotional moments. the beginning and the end drag but the middle is typical (in a good way). the best part about the ender/bean books is that all the manipulating and outwitting seem organic and not cheap or for the sake of a "gotcha" moment; that wasn't always the case here but i still enjoyed the further characterization of ender in the end.
niniane's review against another edition
4.0
The writing is beautiful, of course. This book paints pictures of how a leader may be revered by others but feel great angst internally. It also shows hyper-competent people doing their best to solve challenges, which is always fascinating to read. I finished it in just a few sittings, and it is a page-turner, of course. One would expect no less from Orson Scott Card.
I rated it 4 instead of 5 stars for two reasons.
One problem I have is that Ender Wiggin always seemed a bit wooden to me. There are times that he makes jokes, and then my heart softens and I think he would be fun to be around. The scene in the book where he feels desire toward a young girl is the only time when he exhibits human weakness and the desire to do something selfish, and that was the moment that I liked him the most. Because he was the most human at that moment. The rest of the time, he's just being perfectly selfless and perfectly strategizing and perfectly responsible and perfect perfect perfect. Card writes pages about how Ender is adored by his whole jeesh, and I feel like a cynic because I (the reader) do not adore him! I would take Bean over Ender any second! At a certain moments of the Shadow series, my heart ached and I felt deep grief. When Ender suffered in this book, I just feel like "Eh." He's too perfect!
The other issue is that one third of the book is about the problem caused by another admiral. From all I can tell, this other admiral was arbitrarily chosen by Graff, and his weaknesses were known before he was selected. Why did Graff not foresee this and just send a different admiral to begin with? Two years of Ender's life was spent perfectly strategizing how to deal with this foolish admiral. Bah.
The book was riveting and entertaining, but for me, it pales in comparison to the Shadow series. Long live the Shadow series! May life extension occur and Orson Scott Card live to 150 years old, so that he can write 60 more sequels to the Shadow series! He can write a book to go between Shadow 4 and 5, and Shadow 3 and 4, and then rewrite Shadow 5 with a new ending (since he's said he doesn't care about consistency) and then write dozens more Shadow sequels.
I do like Ender. But I love Bean.
I rated it 4 instead of 5 stars for two reasons.
One problem I have is that Ender Wiggin always seemed a bit wooden to me. There are times that he makes jokes, and then my heart softens and I think he would be fun to be around. The scene in the book where he feels desire toward a young girl is the only time when he exhibits human weakness and the desire to do something selfish, and that was the moment that I liked him the most. Because he was the most human at that moment. The rest of the time, he's just being perfectly selfless and perfectly strategizing and perfectly responsible and perfect perfect perfect. Card writes pages about how Ender is adored by his whole jeesh, and I feel like a cynic because I (the reader) do not adore him! I would take Bean over Ender any second! At a certain moments of the Shadow series, my heart ached and I felt deep grief. When Ender suffered in this book, I just feel like "Eh." He's too perfect!
The other issue is that one third of the book is about the problem caused by another admiral. From all I can tell, this other admiral was arbitrarily chosen by Graff, and his weaknesses were known before he was selected. Why did Graff not foresee this and just send a different admiral to begin with? Two years of Ender's life was spent perfectly strategizing how to deal with this foolish admiral. Bah.
The book was riveting and entertaining, but for me, it pales in comparison to the Shadow series. Long live the Shadow series! May life extension occur and Orson Scott Card live to 150 years old, so that he can write 60 more sequels to the Shadow series! He can write a book to go between Shadow 4 and 5, and Shadow 3 and 4, and then rewrite Shadow 5 with a new ending (since he's said he doesn't care about consistency) and then write dozens more Shadow sequels.
I do like Ender. But I love Bean.
davidbfox's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of fun getting way more backstory. After reading this, I went back and re-read Enders Game and fell in love with it all over again!
psydneigh's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
This is a direct sequel to Book 1, so I would read it as Book 2. It does give some spoilers for Bean’s series though so maybe read that series before this book?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic relationship
grimsvensson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Although I don't think it was necessary for the series, I really enjoyed this book. Didn't really like the few chapters where we didn't follow Ender.
ajordan60's review against another edition
2.0
Last book I will read from Ender. Truly touched by the author's unfortunate political perspective
hstapp's review against another edition
3.0
This book was good, but it didn't have the usual exciting spark or twist at the end that you get from the older books in the series. I was very disappointed with how Achilles the 2nd was handled. He didn't seem particularly intelligent, even in his own mind and was too easily resolved.
gray_ghost's review against another edition
Ender retakes his rightful place at the center of the Enderverse.
Card produces a novel that surpasses many of his others in quality. I hope that he continues to flesh out the "exile years" of Ender's life.
Card produces a novel that surpasses many of his others in quality. I hope that he continues to flesh out the "exile years" of Ender's life.
charlibirb's review against another edition
4.0
These definitely aren't as good as Ender's Game, but still fun to read.