Ender in Exile

Orson Scott Card

DO NO READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ENDER'S GAME.

Do you remember the old commercials? "Jane Doe, you've just won a gold medal! What are you going to do next?" "I'm going to Disney [Land] World!"

"Ender Wiggins, you've just defeated the buggers and saved the whole world! What are you going to do next?"

Ender is a 12-year-old hero. But he doesn't know what he can do next. His parents want him back, but don't tell him that. People on Earth would like him back, but he's dangerous. He might make things worse and start trouble, especially if he's aligned with one country like his home America. His training from age five on has been military training. He's a military leader, given the rank of rear admiral. But what else can he do? A year or so after the final battle against the Formics a decision is made.

Instead of returning to Earth, Ender is sent to the new colony Shakespeare to be their "governor". By the time he arrives two of his years later, 40 years will have passed on Earth. His sister Valentine decides to leave their parents and older brother, Peter, and join Ender. He needs some family around him and she's the one he relates to. They are on a colony ship, sending more settlers to Shakespeare. Once again, the adults around Ender plan to use him. Ender, though, has friends, his sister, are more skills than anticipated. Watch for him to find his way through the mines set for him by others who love, envy, or hate him.

Ender in Exile is another excellent book set in the "Enderverse". DO NO READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ENDER'S GAME. If you're smart, read the Ender's Shadow series as well. I had only read Ender's Shadow - I now have to read the others because much of them covers Earth's history in the 40 years while Ender is journeying to Shakespeare.

Orson Scott Card has answered the question of what happens to Ender after he has won the war. If you've reader the Ender's Shadow series, you already know he wasn't allowed to return to earth and what happpened to the other children from Battle School. Their stories compose much of the background of this book. But what happens to Ender and Valentine to turn them into the people in Speaker of the Dead? There are some inconsistencies, but Card has added an Afterword that deals with that. Many of his "help" wound him through the world he has created.

Card's work holds well in Ender in Exile. He is one of premiere science fiction writers alive and writing today. Enjoy this one as well as most of his work.

Notice:  Non-graphic violence

Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
First Meetings: Three Stories from the Enderverse
Shadow of the Giant
Ender in Exile

The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card