However, this book also benefits from wrapping up the saga of Ender Wiggins, the greatest character in this fictional universe. This book truthfully had all of the same problems as “Xenocide.” Namely, it was bloated, padded and heavily featured a storyline (Han Quin-jao’s) that always dragged the book to a halt. That being said, this book did a nice job of telling a story that felt totally different from anything else in the saga with lower stakes and a more human core. I might have liked this story better if I didn’t already hate Bean by the end of Shadow of the Giant. Earth AfireĪ fairly average invasion book that continues the plot directly from “Earth Unaware,” but lacks the originality of its predecessor.

The characters are making their way toward pomposity, but they are not yet insufferable. This book is the turning point in the shadow series, as it continues the plot from “Shadow of the Hegemon” but does not feel entirely recycled yet. Sadly, the prequel trilogy follows that pattern with this lackluster conclusion. If there’s one consistent with the Ender’s series, it’s that the longer the series goes the more likely diminishing returns are to be expected.

If you are a fan of Petra, I imagine you will hate this book.Īfter two excellent chapters in the Ender’s Game series, Xenocide feels like a story that was stretched way beyond its original idea into a meandering, endless book of filler. The penultimate chapter to the Shadow saga, this book continued all of the worst qualities of the Shadow saga (characters that think they know everything, a terrible villain, oversimplified political intrigue) and capped it all off with the most patronizing ending imaginable.

Note: This does not include any short stories included in the Ender Univere. The Series:Įnder’s Game Series by Orson Scott Card. For those readers that aren’t turned off by jumping around (I don’t know how you do it) or for those that just enjoy ranking things, this is for you. In this feature, I take a look at a series that I’ve either finished or I am caught up through, and rank the books in order of worst to best.

Enders game book series