Orson Scott Card has a new entry into the world he created with Ender’s Game. I truly loved Ender’s game, but it dawned me I’d read it a long time ago. In fact, it came out in 1977, and so it might have been 30 years ago, and was certainly at least 25 years ago. A peril of getting old. So I decided to start by refreshing my memory. Ender’s Game was as good as I remembered. In fact, I recommend re-reading Ender’s Game before you start Ender in Exile, since they are contiguous parts of the overall story.  Just skip the last chapter of Ender’s Game. Ender’s Game is satisfactorily finished at the end of Chapter 14 without any real need for 15
By the way, the science holds up well: the futurist in me is slightly in awe. Card essentially predicted blogs and the Internet and all sorts of things.Â
So on to Ender in Exile. I enjoyed it very much, and it nicely fills in some holes that existed in the universe (no I haven’t read them all, but I have read three or four of the others in the series). It’s good, classic science fiction, which hits me right at home for reader happiness. Space ships and colonies and good characters with real problems. Smart characters. A good read. A good bet, as well, for a holiday gift for a science fiction buff.
It was also very fun to read them back to back and see how Card has grown as a writer from what was essentially his break-out book to his current level of craft.
Thanks for the suggestion Brenda. I wondered if Card’s new one was worth the read. I had the same experience rereading Enders Game about five years ago – enjoyed it just as much. Another thing Card did a pretty good job of describing is how video gaming has evolved – not that gamers today are in actuality controlling vast space battles against alien species, but that the context of the game or the fabric of the world is being created by the gamers themselves. I’m thinking of WoW, Second Life, and some of what EA Games is trying to do with their latest generation of games that pull from the users creation and experience. Anyway, thanks again. I’ll pick up Exile when I’m done with what I’m reading now. SD