Children of the Mind

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein

Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos, a large colony of humans, and the Hive Queen, who was brought there by Ender Wiggin. But now, once again, the human race has grown fearful; the Starways Congress has gathered a fleet to destroy Lusitania. Ender's oldest friend, Jane, an evolved computer intelligence, can save the three sentient species 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 network of computers in which she lives, 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.

Children of the Mind is the fourth book in Orson Scott Card's The Ender Saga.

Browse more titles in the Ender Wiggin series.

©1996 Orson Scott Card (P)2004 Audio Renaissance

Critic reviews

"This is a worthy ending to what might be styled a saga of the ethical evolution of humanity, a concept seldom attempted before and never realized with the success Card achieves here." (Booklist)

"Card's prose is powerful." (Publishers Weekly)

Mixed feelings

As a philosophical exploration, this was intriguing. I'm not sure how I feel about the stories ending. I wasn't disappointed exactly, but I thought it could have been better.

"The journey goes on without him"

One question left unanswered, but a beautifully written closure to most of the open issues.

A book about gods, us and souls

Interesting moral issues, some of the solvings are simple and funny, could accept the soul movements. A nice book , a must for all Enders fans.

I'm addicted to the ender's books.

I've listened to these 4 books so many times I could probably quote it. I have started the shadow series, and I just can't get enough. This book brought a close to everything, and really answered a few questions I had after xenocide.

one of the best books I've ever read

this book not only entertained me, but shaped me as a person. it helped make me who I am today.

Great performance, interesting philosophy

This was a great performance by the readers, and the author weaved an intriguing tale that I very much enjoyed.

Wish I Could Like This

It seems the writer has diverted from a science fiction tale of Ender and his associates to full scale Catholicism in this story and the one before. I wasn't sure if it was a criticism of the church or a fevor of the religion. The book is crammed so full of this strict belief and it's opposition to other beliefs as well as sex there was little of the actual story to follow. I wanted to enjoy this book and the one prior (Xenocide) as I did the first two, but just couldn't...

Hmm

OK look, this book AND Xenocide must be read/listened to together; they are essentially one book. So if you cannot make it through Xenocide then there is no real reason why you should continue on through Children of The Mind, even though C.o.T.M. IS a better book. It would be stretching the truth if someone said these two were solely about Ender. Yes, Ender is in them and he plays a very pivotal role but it's also about his family. (A Very VERY dysfunctional family) There are some VERY useless characters these two books, in fact the whole Chinese thing in Xenocide could be axed completely.

The whole point of these two books is for Card to relate and discuss philosophy. Why are we here, who are we, etc. IF YOU'RE NOT PREPARED OR MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE THIS MUCH DEEP THOUGHT IN PHILOSOPHY THEN THESE ARE NOT THE BOOKS FOR YOU. If you're just reading these books to finish the Ender story you WILL be disappointed in the story but you will be satisfied in knowing what becomes of Ender. I listened to these books to finish the story and found myself wondering why useless characters were arguing over silly subjects; A LOT! Until you take a step back and accept the philosophical discussions that take place you will have a hard time continuing through the books.

Realize this, Card wrote Xenocide in '91 and Children of the Mind in '96 and states in his audio version of Children that there will be another book that will tie in to the Shadow series and wrap this up. Expect a wait.

As for the Audio presentations for both Xeno and Children, the voice actors were EXCELLENT. The only problem I had was the randomness of musical interludes in Xeno and the randomness of who was reading in Children. Although I very much appreciated the spacing out of sections read, even though they weren't tied to chapters. It felt like they read enough for someone driving to and from work.

I loved the ending and Children was a very redeeming book compared to Xenocide.

That fake Chinese accent is the one bad thing here

Wonderful story. -1 Overall star because of that reader with the awful fake Chinese accent

A bit over the top

I loved all the ender books. However, this one was a little bit too "new age". If you want to hang out for the end of ender it is fun to listen to.