Children of the Mind (Ender, Book 4) | Orson Scott Card

Children of the Mind (Ender, Book 4) | Orson Scott Card | This is above average but not the best

books:

Children of the Mi...

	Children of the Mind (Ender, Book 4) Orson Scott Card Tor Science Fiction, 1997 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 203 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos; a large colony of humans; and the Hive Queen, brought there by Ender. But once against the human race has grown fearful; the Starways Congress has gathered a fleet to destroy Lusitania.Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, can save the three sentient races of Lusitania. She has learned how to move ships outside the universe, and then instantly back to a different world, abolishing the light-speed limit. But it takes all the processing power available to her, and the Starways Congress is shutting down the Net, world by world.Soon Jane will not be able to move the ships. Ender's children must save her if they are to save themselves.

for more information click here

Only book that has made me cry

This is the only book that has made me cry. I cried when Ender died, (although he didn't die his aiua passed on to Peter) the character of Ender died. Through the series I have gotten so attatched to his character unlike any other character in any series. Through his guilt of xenocide, and hard life it was hard to read sometimess. Especially, when he had problems with Novinha in Xenocide, losing her for the time being but gaining her back in COTM. His funeral was very touching, and probably the best part in the book. The whole book was good, and had a satisfying ending. The philotes were a bit confusing, but oh well. Ender's Game is being made into a movie, and I doubt it's going to be very good, but they can make it good if they go into the emotions of the characters, not just the battles. The thing that I liked best about the series was the characterization, especially the character of Ender. After a life full of guilt he can live a new life. Farewell, Ender Wiggin "the candle burned out long before the legend ever did."

for more information click here

This is above average but not the best

"She worked her toes into the sand, feeling the tiny delicious pain of the friction of tiny chips of silicon against the tender flesh between her toes. That's life. It hurts, it's dirty, and it feels very, very good."

"Children of the Mind", by Orson Scott Card, is a science-fiction novel that takes place in Lusitania during the year 5040.

The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos; a large colony of humans; and the Hive Queen, brought there by Ender. But once again the human race has grown fearful; the Stairways Congress has gathered a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, can save the three sentient races of Lusitania. The Stairways Congress is shutting down the Net, world by world. Soon Jane will not be able to move the ships. Ender's children must save her if they are to save themselves.

The theme of this book is the life and death of civilization. "If the purpose of life was just to continue into the future, then none of it would have meaning, because it would be all anticipation and preparation. There's the happiness we've already had. The happiness of each moment. The end of our lives, even if there's no forward continuation, no progeny at all, the end of our lives doesn't erase the beginning."

The important charactors in this book are Peter and Wang Mu who grow closer together as the book progresses, Jane who takes control of a human body and experiences human feelings for the first time, Ender, who loses interest in himself and literally crumbles into dust and then re-appears in Peter's body, and Malu, who develops a crush on "Young Valentine" and then has to say that she is worthless so that she will give up her body so that Jane can live in the body.

As for what I think of this book, I actually think this was the weakest in the series. I have read "Ender's Game", "Ender's Shadow", and "The Speaker of the Dead" and I think this is has the weakest plot. Probably more then half the book is drama rather then science fiction. An example of a spar conversation is "So that's power to you", said Quara. "A chance to push other people around and act like the queen". "You really can't do it can you?" said Jane. "Can't what?", said Quara. "Can't bow down and kiss your feet?" "Can't shut up to save you own life." Pgs. 270-271. This goes on for about five pages.

I recommend that everyone should read Ender's Game before reading this book.

If you are a fan of the Ender's series, you have to read this book!

for more information click here

I Hated This Book So Much I Couldn't Give It 1 Star

About halfway through "Children of the Mind" I realized that I hated it. With a passion. Anything that evokes so much passion can't be worthless. That's why I'm giving it 3 stars. If you loved the first three books as much as I did, you may similarly feel a strong emotion when you read this one. It's not exactly boring. I just felt like I was in another universe trying to understand what in the world Card was doing.

Why do I hate it so much? Because the characters are all varying degrees of unsympathetic, and all of the major action surrounds Card's weird new mysticism, rather than the intense ethical dilemmas of the previous books. This book is like the opposite of the other books and I couldn't understand why. No one is rational, no one is wise, no one has any empathy at all. The spirit of Ender Wiggin doesn't exist in this book.

No, Ender isn't really present in this book. Card would like you to believe that he is, in the form of Peter and Valentine, Ender's "children of the mind", but I found those characters frustrating and unbelievable and not at all like any side of Ender. Interestingly, they could be viable characters on their own, but Card insists on treating them as if they are not real people and we should not care what happens to them (especially Young Valentine who is subjected to extreme emotional torture but we're not supposed to care about her feelings, she's just an "empty vessel").

No strong characters rise up to replace the absence of Ender. Card tries, with Miro (who becomes loathsome in my opinion)and Peter (all the fun sociopathy drained out of him). With the exception of Wang-Mu, all of the female characters come off looking really bad. You'll wonder why Ender married Novinha, as awful, self-centered and destructive as she is. You'll wonder why you didn't realize (Old) Valentine was such a self-righteous prig before. You'll wonder when Jane became so extraordinarily selfish and annoying.

Far too much time is spent on the planet Pacifica, a planet apparently inhabited by self-righteous and rude religious nuts. The chief one being a holy man who doesn't "believe in ceremony" yet insists any roof he eats under be burned because he is oh so holy. And did I tell you that we are supposed to love these Pacifican nuts? That they are supposedly so wise and above everyone else that main characters are reduced to tears and supplication?

If you want to know how the situation with the Lusitanian fleet is resolved and what happens to Ender and the gang, then go ahead and read this book. I thought everything that happened was backwards and wrong but hey, that's just me.

for more information click here