Children of the Mind

The seventh and final book of the ender series...I'm exceptionally glad I read it. Having tied together all arcs of the epic, giving a glorious end and a promising beginning the story is just as well put together as you get. Everything just fits; not in a neat little package, but rather in a grand, well-furnished castle. Card's theory of existence also jives well with Hinduism which is always a little bonus :-P One trick that I noticed Card uses is 'writing about writing'. Part of the story is a few books that Batman, i mean Ender wrote during his life. These books were crucial in changing the views of all humanity. It's neat how since Card can imagine these books he can write about them, and their effect without actually writing these super-books himself :-) A quick note on this audio book, it wasn't read by the same readers that did the other six books so I was a little disappointed. The other readers were able to use their voices to project the terrible, yet awesome power of the Hive Queen, to give Valentine the depth, wisdom and weariness of a super-empathic, 3,000 year old, hard-working essayist, to make you taste the Spanish flavor of the inhabitants of Milagre, and allow you to enjoy the playful, loving nature of the all-powerful being called Jane and the strict, strong, blind voice of the government; not to mention the rest. This reader did a pretty good job, but it just couldn't compare to the readers who had the experience of six other books. I tip my hat to Orson Scott Card for creating a Sci-Fi world that has little to do with Sci-Fi :-P

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