Based on previous books, I expected to be be taken to a techno-projected world. Instead all I got was psycho-babble of a puerile mind. Obscene waste of time.

A few months back, this book was being advertised as a novel featuring the teachers and the Battle School. I was honestly excited— Graff, Dimak, and Anderson are some of my favorite characters. Except this book has nothing to do with any of those characters. (I mean, Graff is here, but his character has somehow morphed into yet another unlikable, flashy smart-mouth, so, not really) The book stars a genius prodigy child who gets into space school, and must fight through authority’s neglect and apathy for their work and their students. Sound familiar? That’s right, this is the same plot as Ender’s Game! Except the protagonist is completely unlikable, the environment is vague, the authorities have no actual reason to risk lives (besides their gambling issues, I suppose), and lots of plot holes so big I could fit my hand through them. It even has the same power-structure-lesson-in-an-airplane scene. The “plot twist” near the end would fit better in a soap opera, and would take a thousand out-of-character moments to actually happen. Which doesn’t mean much, because all the characters’ personalities seem to be flexible anyways. And if these things weren’t confusing enough, the actual character arc is shallow and lazy. It’s hard to believe that the protagonist has gotten over his narcissism when the entire plot actually DOES revolve around him. The only other use of characters is apparently to give him the occasional pep-talk. Hundreds of children and a billion dollar satellite is risked for, what, some sort of test of character? The last thirty or so pages is just shoving in your face how “heroic” this protagonist is. So much for learning to be humble. Somewhere along the line, Card lost his respect for his audience. Or maybe just lost his editors. Not sure.

Set in the familiar Ender universe, Orion Scott Card creates a stand alone novel that is fast paced and entertaining. I’m admittedly biased as I’ve read and enjoyed much of his work over his career, but this was a very good book that made me believe the characters, a story that engaged me and left me wanting more (in a good way). This is a great read and I will undoubtedly reread it in the future, the fate of the best books that I buy. Card doesn’t seem to agonize over his writings, it just seems to flow, effortlessly, and yet I know that’s not how this works, but I’ll say his perceived comfort level is very high