Children of the Mind (Ender Saga, #4)

by Orson Scott Card

In the conclusion of the Ender saga, Ender Wiggin confronts his ultimate challenge when his adopted world, Lusitania, is threatened by his old planet-destroying weapon, and his ally, Jane, is about to be killed off by the Starways Congress.

• ISBN10: 0765304740
• ISBN13: 9780765304742
• Publish Date: 24 August 2002 (first published 1 August 1996)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 April 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tor Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

Just meh. I'm glad I finished the series but I would not have read this on its own. Each book made me just wish I had stopped at the previous one but I do enjoy closure.

[adamfortuna]

Never has a book been so good and so bad all at once. After finishing the first two in the Speaker series, I couldn't wait to read the conclusion. Although I did thoroughly enjoy the overall story, the pacing and focus was too spread out for me to enjoy this one in the same way.

[empressbrooke]

The general consensus seems to be that the Ender quartet takes a dip in quality beginning with [book: Xenocide], but I think that [book: Children of the Mind] quickly rebounds and delivers a much more compelling story. While Xenocide got stuck in place with its endless, boring scientific analysis of the descolada virus and philoctic twining, CotM focuses mostly on relationships between characters - especially Young Val/Miro and Peter/Wang Mu.

The quartet comes around full circle very nicely, and Peter even appropriates Ender's classic phrase when the going gets tough.

My only complaint, which leaks back to Xenocide as well, is that Plikt is such a useless, wasted character. She could have been completely removed without altering the story at all, and her absense would not have been felt. I kept expecting her to suddenly matter, and she never did.