Gregg Nicholas

An enthralling tale. The technological and biological advances that are predicted by this novel seem fantastical and unbelievable, but after the story, the author tries to explain how each miraculous device or enhancement isn't that much of a stretch of imagination. Even this section of the book is worth reading.

The blurb for this book led me to believe it was a YA sci-fi novel based on the trope of anti-gravity - and it is. Nevertheless, I decided to read it because the pen name of the author is derived from a story that I enjoyed in my youth. The author kept my interest despite the impossibility of the science.

This series of books has often annoyed me by the amount of repetition employed by the author. Perhaps inflating the word count is good for the author's pocketbook, but it's tiresome for the reader. This particular book is largely made up of stories that have already been told in other books of the series.

This book has almost nothing in common with the main story line of the series. It takes place entirely outside of the County, with only 2 characters from the previous books - and they aren't the focus of this book. The creatures and rules of magic in this book are different. It's almost as if the author got tired of the world he had created and wanted to take a break with something completely different.

A boy being trained to deal with witches, ghosts, and similar things from the horror genre. The writing was okay, but YA and horror aren't my favorite categories.

What if artificial intelligence could be achieved by modelling a child's brain and then ‘raising' it? In this story, the author tries that approach. The result is a mildly humorous tale that doesn't pay much attention to accuracy or how authorities would actually respond.

Some parts of this book get bogged down in the minutiae of Silicon Valley start-up culture, but overall it's an interesting yarn about the first Artificial Intelligence.

The science imagined in this near-future story is incredible. In addition to the imagined technology advances, the environmental, social and political changes are thought provoking. The biggest problem that I had with the story is that I couldn't believe the way that Otto affected the people he met.

A few sci-fi, short stories with very little entertainment value. The best thing that I can say about them is that they are based in the near future using technology that is mostly believable. The stories are separated by lengthy essays about the stories.

This book has very little science in the fiction. Too much mysticism and religion. When space travel works by wishing, how is that different than myths and magic?

This story occurs years before some of the previously published works in this series - and the author uses some rather silly logic to explain why the secrets revealed in this book never impacted the events that happen in the other books.

Toward the end of this story, several crises are resolved. Unfortunately, the ‘science' that resolves these problems is completely unbelievable and unscientific. It's almost as if the author painted himself into a corner - and decided to fix technological problems by allowing a genie in a lamp to pop up. Quite disappointing.

When I started reading this book, I was prepared to simply tolerate it - as one piece of the series that so many people have enjoyed. I've read many of the books in the series, and haven't appreciated them very much, but this book contains the type of speculation that I consider fundamental to good science fiction. What If we encounter other types of life that are not only alien in psychology, and biology, but basic understandings of life? What If the very existence of one biosphere has the possibility for contaminating and destroying every biosphere it comes in contact with? What If . . . well, I may have already said too much. Enjoy the book. I hope it makes you think.

In my opinion, this book has too much politics and war, and too little science fiction . . . but maybe that's the type of book you want. Frankly, the idea that children could be genius commanders in war is not really believable.

The military and politics in this book are a bit tedious. At times, it seems like a history book - rather than entertainment.

The same basic events as in Ender's Game - from the viewpoint of a different kid. This novel seems darker than the original short story.

This novel is somewhat different than his short story that I read many years ago. There seem to be a few discrepancies with the science/technology/biology in the prequels, but they're so minor that it might be my faulty memory. The scenes in this story are a horrific depiction of cruelty between children and military cruelty to soldiers when they believe the ends justify the means. Usually when the protagonists are exceptional children, it's easy for the story to devolve into the Disney-esque style where children run circles around the adults who are depicted as stodgy, inept bunglers. This novel avoids that trap.

This story has more religion than science fiction.

An interesting book for any major fan of this world - but unsatisfying for anyone who is looking for a real story. This book is a collection of 4 short stories that might fill in a few details, but are only pieces of the overall Ender's universe. The stories are from widely different time periods, and will probably lack context for anyone who hasn't already read many of the other books.

When reading this book, don't look too closely at the science. Like many science fiction authors, “nano-technology” is used as a magic wand to violate many physical rules. I was intrigued by the timing of space travel. The long travel times in cramped quarters are hard to imagine.

Beneath the surface of this story, the author seems to be saying that One World Government is a desirable thing. Another message from this book is that the established governments and corporations are corrupt, things can only be accomplished by breaking the rules and being young enough to think differently.

The target audience for this series is probably teenagers and young adults. Most of the central characters are in that age group and even younger.

This book introduces us to story lines that are involved in a first contact with aliens.

This book concludes the trilogy. At times, I found it to be tedious with many characters and details. Some of the religious quotations made me uncomfortable - while other passages described sexuality so explicitly that I was uncomfortable in a completely different way. As with many fantasy books, the author starts with rules for magic - but later in the story the rules are broken. This causes inconsistencies in the story that we're supposed to ignore.

This is an entertaining story, despite the fact that the main characters are assassins, thugs, prostitutes, and leaders in the criminal underworld.