enders game and other books by orson scott card

Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:01 pm

i loved enders game, but i especially liked the follow-up books that he did following the story of Bean and the other battle school kids.

however i found the bit in the other followup book to enders game where they stake that guy out for the trees creepy, i don't know, it really disturbed me for some reason.

so what did you think? like/hate/love or felt differently about different bits?

edit: title spelling better?

Last edited by autechre on Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:54 pm

I absolutely love the Ender series, despite that fact it is best not to read them in chronological order they are excelent, they contain lots of indepth ideas about politics and life (though some get a bit odd).

Oh. And the person that saved us from the orginal bugger invasion was a New Zealander

Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:07 pm

Psst, it's Orson, not Oscar.

Anyhow, he has to be one of my all-time favorite authors, even though I've only read a few of the books. The plots are so well-thought out with great twists, the characterizations are spot-on, and the basic premises of all the books are great too. *wishes to be able to write like that* And as a side note, almost all of the books I've read have ended up with me crying my eyes out at one point or another.

I have to say that while I loved Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, my favorite's Speaker for The Dead. It's just very well-crafted.

I also like this one other book, called Pastwatch, which is set in the future, and the world is going all wrong, so a group of time-travelers go back in time to change Christopher Columbus' voyage, obliterating all of what has happened in the process. It's really thought-provoking.

Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:04 am

*super blush* whoopsies!

i guess its been that long since i've looked at the cover of a book

and christopher, why do you think they have to be read out of order?

Mon Oct 18, 2004 3:01 pm

I loved those books...I think it's the most money I've spent on books over the shortest amount of time...I bought the entire Ender series (including the Ender's Shadow ones) (except for Shadow Puppets 'cause I'm cheap) within about a week and a half. THAT hurt. =P

Really, though, there's not much about them that I don't like.

Hmmm....Pastwatch sounds quite interesting...don't suppose you'd like to send it my way, would you? =P

Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:20 pm

autechre wrote:*super blush* whoopsies! i guess its been that long since i've looked at the cover of a book

and christopher, why do you think they have to be read out of order?

I read them in the order they were published, if you read them chronologically its sorta bad considering you have no idea who the people are and whats going on.

Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:33 pm

Christopher wrote:I read them in the order they were published, if you read them chronologically its sorta bad considering you have no idea who the people are and whats going on.

Hmm...contrast the two orders for me, please? =P

Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:34 am

Cassi wrote:
Christopher wrote:I read them in the order they were published, if you read them chronologically its sorta bad considering you have no idea who the people are and whats going on.

Hmm...contrast the two orders for me, please? =P

I am now going to do this for you. I will one day come back for a favour.

Released:

. Ender's Game (1985)
. Speaker for the Dead (1985)
. Xenocide (1991)
. Children of the Mind (1996)
. Ender's Shadow (1999)
. Shadow of the Hegemon (2000)
. Shadow Puppets (2002)
. First Meetings: Four Stories from the Enderverse (2002)
. Shadow of the Giant (2004)

Chronological

. First Meetings: Four Stories from the Enderverse (2002)
. Ender's Game (1985)
. Ender's Shadow (1999)
. Shadow of the Hegemon (2000)
. Shadow Puppets (2002)
. Shadow of the Giant (2004)
. Speaker for the Dead (1985)
. Xenocide (1991)
. Children of the Mind (1996)

The problems with reading them book-chronologicalwise is that the first one, the first meetings details the past of characters of enders game, you would perhaps have no idea whats was going on. Secondly, the Shadow series about Bean cuts in the middle of the Ender books.

I suppose its ok to read them chronologically, but I read them bookwise, thusly you must too

Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:42 am

There's another one after Shadow Puppets(!?)

Why didn't I know this?

*plots to acquire*

Tue Oct 19, 2004 6:32 am

Starchaser wrote:There's another one after Shadow Puppets(!?)
Why didn't I know this?

*plots to acquire*

...What she said!

OK, that makes sense. That's how I read them too...and it wouldn't really make much sense if you stuck those Bean ones in between the Ender ones.

And yes, now I owe you a favour...but you can remember that, 'cause I won't. =P

Sat Oct 23, 2004 12:10 am

I haven't read the Ender series, but I have read The Worthing Saga. I really liked that one. (Justice and Mercy)