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)

great series one of my favorites. amazing narrator

love this book and all of them. well done on the author and narrators of this book. hope there is more

Apologetics for Mormonism, but a Rich Story

Card does well in this one and it is a nice transitional work bridging his former Shakespearean wit and style with his later style which can be described as modern. Each style is on full display here and in good form. For many the end of the Ender stories will be somewhere in the middle of Xenocide, but I felt rewarded by its sequel. The interplay between Peter and Si Wang Mu is good fun and the continuation of her character a great and pleasant joy. As for the story, I always felt unfulfilled at the end because of a rather outsize cliff hanger concerning a molecular development but was pleased to hear Card's afterward despite this.

Great Finish to the Tale.

these reveiws REQUIRE 15 words or they wont submit. the title says everything I need.

Endless talking, no action

i love OSC's writing style. but sadly these last two books increasingly felt like a bait and switch. The first book was a perfect balance of introspection, dialog, and action. This book is all dialog, cheesy romance, and no action. It DOES have some physics discussions that are worth noting, but this is certainly not a book i would recommend. Do yourself a favor: read the first book for sure, and pretty much stop there. Maybe read the second book. But this book... i would not recommend.

A nice closure

Although some of the female characters dialog was almost intolerable. And the family conflict tiresome, this is a nice closure to the series. I started some 25 years ago.

First Impression, it's good 👍

First time through, it's very good typical Mr. Card story. Very engaging, plausible characters and science within the established world. It will definitely be a brain candy go to for me.

Some of the background stories rubbed a raw chord and there's a few odd inconsistencies that may clear up on a second perusal. These do not detract from the main story, so overall very minor issues.

Do not like the lengthy dialogues

This book was about 48 minutes too long. The dialogue seems a bit pedantic and maudlin at times. I think that there could have been much better end scenario’s.

Philosophical masterpiece

The gender series has left me wanting more since the first book however as many questions get answered there remains more that needs answered. The pacing is great and the metal chess that’s played by the characters with each other is nothing less than entertaining. These books always leave me guessing if I’d have made the same decision in the characters shoes, while reading I tend to find out as much about myself as I do the characters! I can’t wait for the next book to be released!

So good

This is a great book full of endings, beginnings and musings. If you like the first three you’ll love this one.

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.