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Title: Completes the downward spiral of Ender begun in Xenocide
Review: Card's preaching in his most recent works (see Pastwatch) has precluded character development. Ender Wiggins becomes a one-dimensional character even if you include the "personalities" of young Val and Peter. The rest of the characters fare even worse. The plot progresses at a glacial pace until the last few pages and the resolution is only sleight of hand.After the disappointment of Xenocide, I hoped for a return to the vitality of Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. What we got was more "magic" solutions to problems faced by whining, self-absorbed characters. (Yes, I'm aware that technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced, but there were too many rabbits pulled from the same hat to generate a coherent, much less enjoyable, story.) Even though I am a fan of Card's work, I can't recommend this book to anyone other than an unrepentent SciFi diehard (or similarly afflicted ramen)
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