Mar 29 2009
Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card, a review
I was so excited to learn that Orson Scott Card had a new book out and so I made sure to read it, because I am a huge fan of the Ender and Shadow books. This was published in November of 2008. It is supposed to occur, time -wise, between Ender’s Game and Speaker For the Dead. It takes place one year after the Battle School kids have killed the Formics and all are on their way home, except for Ender. Since Ender could not return home, he was offered and accepted the governorship of the new colony, known as the Shakespeare Colony. Valentine, Ender’s sister, accompanies him in the hopes of reconciling with Ender and escaping their brother Peter. During the two year long flight to the colony, Ender becomes obsessed with the Formics and absorbs all that he can about them during the journey. Valentine begins her prolific writings of the histories that eventually become the seminal works on the wars and the colonies (she’s my hero really!). During their stay in Shakespeare Colony, Ender explores the surrounding areas in the hopes of establishing a new site for a fifth settlement on the planet. During this search, Ender finds a live pupa of a Hive Queen, ready for breeding once she has matured and he returns with her to the ship. As a result of his contact with the new Hive Queen, Ender writes a work of his own on the Hive Queen, which becomes very widely read.
Ender’s growth is the focus of this novel and, for that purpose, it did absolutely fine. I love Card and how he uses Ender and the rest of his characters to critique society - something that I, as a reader, generally always appreciate, even if I may not always agree with the critiques that are issued. The characters are also really good, strong and well developed characters. In all of the Ender and Shadow books, Card doesn’t disappoint when he writes his characters.
For the person that is new to the Ender series, I would read Ender’s Game and the Shadow books (Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, etc.) before you delve into this one because there are a lot of references that Ender in Exile has that you just won’t get unless you’ve read those books first. You can find the list of books here.
Great read!
Book 13/100
