Xenocide

Volume Three of the Ender Saga

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Gabrielle de Cuir, Amanda Karr, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Xenocide is the third installment of the Ender series. On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequeninos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought. But Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus which kills all humans it infects, but which the pequeninos require in order to transform into adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effect of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire planet and all who live there. The Fleet is on its way and a second Xenocide seems inevitable, until the Fleet vanishes.

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©1991 Orson Scott Card (P)2000 Audio Renaissance

Critic reviews

"Thought-provoking, insightful, and powerfully written." (School Library Journal)
"As a storyteller, Card excels in portraying the quiet drama of wars fought not on battlefields but in the hearts and minds of his characters." (Library Journal)

Awesome

Loved it. Thrilling, intense reading keeping you spellbound. Wonderfully read, I enjoyed it very much.

What a great novel!

I couldn’t recommend this more. It was more philosophical then speaker for the dead and fit exactly where I thought this story was going.

Deserves a second listen.

This is one of those stories that will likely require a second listening to because of the many weird turns and twist that go into explaining the universe of Card. The narrators are, for the most part, really good at telling the story and helping differentiating the characters. I know Card is controversial but he does bring up interesting ideas to dealing with cultural differences and how to go about treating them. Not perfect but worth a discussion with open minded, friendly people.

Best of the series so far

Would you consider the audio edition of Xenocide to be better than the print version?

no

What did you like best about this story?

the conceptual intricacy

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

there were several narrators and the juxtaposition worked well

Any additional comments?

I really like the more philosophical fiction (as long as it doesn't get too didactic or preachy), and this is one of the best I've come across. I enjoyed the 2nd book a great deal, but this is another league entirely. really quite brilliant.

Great story, but narration problems

This is even talkier than Speaker For the Dead, but no less riveting for those who enjoy the Ender Wiggin series beyond just the boy soldier theme. It's compelling listening.

That is, until certain passages involving the people of the world of Path come in. How could a producer possibly not realize how offensive the Chinese accents are? The Mr. Moto and Charlie Chan actors of old might feel that the accents were a bit much. This isn't a matter of political correctness, it's a matter of bad choices, irritating accents and a bizarre need to overlay the story with a sometimes thick and insulting accent. Kind of an Enderverse Jar Jar Binks.

Not a reason to not listen to this one. I loved it... maybe some day they'll re-record those bad passages.

Xenocide...Yep Pretty Much

Would you be willing to try another book from Orson Scott Card? Why or why not?

This is the end for me in the series of Ender. The social, political, and religious context of the books that follow Ender's Game have moved too far away from what made Ender's Game such a wonderful read. This book was long and predictable. It was a good story, but at the end I was not drawn to quickly pick up the next book in the series. The way the story ended, one would think that I should be. I doubt there will be any movie rights sold for any books beyond Ender's Game.

Decent story with a little dash of racism

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The third title in the Ender series is a pretty good one. However, the absurdly stereotypical and slightly racist reading by the narrators of the people of the planet Path is a little tough to take. I see no reason for the characters to sound like ignorant mush-mouths., dropping syllables and letters. I had to fast forward through most of thoe parts.

Exhausting

I loved "Ender's Game", but this book is a philosophical beating. There is so much dialog and so little action in this book that I found it hard to pay attention while listening. Its well written and well read by the narrator, but I felt mentally exhausted trying to understand the obvious philosophical undertones. Some people enjoy that, but I found it boring.

Would have been better without "Path"

The whole world of Path, particularly "gloriously bright", was a struggle to get through. Never mind the awful fake Chinese accents, the characters were all insufferable. The book would have been much better off without that entire world.

Also, the book finishes with a huge reveal and a sort of resurrection of very important characters who should have huge impact, but then the book kind of just ends without giving any closure or really development at all. As Card admits, this definitely felt like a book that got too long and out of hand, so he clumsily lopped it in two without giving much thought to the ending, making it feel like it stopped suddenly in the middle.

Wonderful book for everyone

Orson Scott Card delves deep into philosophy & science, blending them into a great book.