Published in August of 1986, An Alien Affair is the 4th book in the Mission Earth series. Nothing seems to work out for Sultan Gris and Heller continues to try and save the environment.
I think I liked Heller a lot better before the Countess Krak came into the picture.
This book was OK. A little rough in places but OK on the whole.
Published in May of 1996, The Enemy Within is the 3rd book in the Mission Earth series. This book sees Heller renamed “The Whiz Kid” by the press and he attempts to demonstrate his new fuel in an endurance race. Too bad everyone is out to get him.
Yet again Sultan Gris keeps on getting the short end of the stick and he just can’t keep up with Heller. It’s getting a little formulaic. The story is still pretty fun and moves along ok. However, there are some surprisingly brutal parts.
I intend to see the end of the series but I would have likely stopped here.
Published in March of 1986, Black Genesis is the 2nd book in the Mission Earth series which sees Jethro Heller and Sultan Gris making it to Earth.
This book takes more than a few swings at psychology, government, and so on. It is still a lot of fun as you see things fall into place for Jethro and not so much for the good Sultan.
I find myself looking for deeper meaning in this books as the story moves along. Jethro Heller is a little overpowered but he truly is a “good guy”. He cares for everyone, even those who are trying to do him harm. Sultan Gris constantly expects the worst to happen from Heller’s acts of kindness and decency but they always work out for Heller. People end up being loyal and kind in return rather than be vengeful and cruel. Perhaps the book is just pandering to what sells but it certainly works on me.
A fun read but start at the beginning.
Published in October of 1985 by L. Ron Hubbard, The Invaders Plan is the first book of the “Mission Earth” series. This book talks about the invasion of Earth from the alien’s point of view. They have some concerns if it is worth the effort since we are destroying our environment. It also sets up the circumstances to get Jethro Heller to Earth with Sultan Gris’s schemes following in his wake.
This was another fun book from my childhood. I remember reading it several times when my brothers would finish with it. I hadn’t thought of it in years but I was asked for a recommendation from my son and the series sprung to mind.
I was surprised how quickly it went as I was reading. I was disappointed I had to reserve both the 2nd and 3rd so I will have to wait to continue…
Great book and a lot of fun.
Published in November of 2020, “Ready Player Two” is a science fiction novel written by Ernest Cline and serves as a sequel to his 2011 bestseller, “Ready Player One”. The story takes place in a near-future world where virtual reality technology has become even more advanced, and the line between the real world and the digital realm has become increasingly blurred. The story follows Wade Watts, the protagonist from the first book, as he discovers a new technological breakthrough that promises to change everything. However, as Wade and his friends delve deeper into this new world, they find themselves facing new dangers and challenges that threaten to upend everything they thought they knew.
Unfortunately the quality of this book was down from the last. I really enjoyed Ready Player One but that may be it hit me perfectly as nostalgic for the 80s. This book felt tacked on.
Skip this one!
Published in March of 2005, Shadow of the Giant is the fourth book in the “Shadow” series by Orson Scott Card. These books continue and deepen the story found in the “Ender’s Game” series.
This book finds Bean as an ever growing giant and watches the critical stages of Peter as he is trying to unite earth and end war forever. However, the question keeps coming up, “What to do with the Battle-school graduates?” They just keep stirring up trouble.
This book closed up a bunch of gaps and brought some good closure to the series. There is another book so I will read it but this would have been a good stopping place for me.
Pretty good. Worth the time.
Published in August of 2002, Shadow Puppets is the third book in the Orson Scott Card’s Shadow Series. This installment follows Bean and Petra through their marriage and sees the resolution of their conflict with Achilles.
Not a bad book but again it seems to give so much power to Achilles were it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Peter Wiggin continues to be more understandable and we see continued redemption of the Wiggin parents. All made the characters more human and therefore more likeable. Well done!
Good book
Published in December of 2000, Shadow of the Hegemon is the second book in Orson Scott Card’s Shadow series. While we know the Hegemon will be Peter Wiggin (older and more aggressive brother of Ender Wiggin) the book primarily follows Bean and Petra through their lives after the great battle of Ender’s Game. It raises the specter of war on Earth after we ran out of others to fight.
While it made sense the nation-states would fall back into war, I was surprised the main villain turned out to be Achilles who grew up on the streets with Bean. I just didn’t see him as that much of a character. Peter Wiggin becomes more reasonable now that he is overmatched and knows it. Also, we finally see the Wiggin parents weren’t quite the 2-dimensional characters they were made out to be.
Not a bad read
Published in August of 1996, Children of the Mind is the final book in the Ender’s Game series. It finishes the tale of Ender Wiggin and shows what happened to the 4 sentient life forms they knew about. Is there another?
It was well written and I enjoyed the experience. Some of the ideas presented were one’s I hadn’t really thought about before (e.g. communicating via ingestion). All of which is fun enough. However, there was something about this book that was tugging at me and I haven’t been able to really put a finger on it. I don’t believe I will read it again though I will likely read Ender’s Game a few more time as least. Perhaps I will revisit this at another time.
On the fence. It was worth closing out the series but it left me wanting.
Published in 1992, it is book 3 of the Ender’s Game series and was originally a larger story. However, the second half of Xenocide was split into another book published in 1996. This book brings in the story of another world called “Path” that was originally populated by people from China. However, they become pivotal to the fate of Lustitania and the 100 colonies.
I’m confused about the cover-art as the ship on the cover and the setting it is in doesn’t really come up in the book. Oh well, it was the same with the last book. This was an interesting book. I liked the narration between the hive queen and Rooter. That was a fun literary device to push us to another perspective.
I was an enjoyable read but left me wanting.