Lanik Mueller is heir to one of the ruling families on a planet called Treason. His family grows extra body parts to sell off- world. I found the story to be offensive at first, but it develops into an ok story. Certainly not an "Ender's Game" by any stretch.
The third book in The First Formic War trilogy. I did not feel any emotion while reading this story, but it was a quick read after Robin Hobb's books! To summarize, after many setbacks Earth men kill all the bugs and capture the giant mother ship. Which turns out to not be the giant mother ship, but merely a giant scouting ship. The mother ship is on it's way.
Nice, Card, kill off the protagonist two-thirds of the way in! I enjoyed this tale of armed conflict between conservatives and those wacky leftists. I keed, I keed! Lots of clever quips to lighten things up a bit, too. Kind of unresolved at the end, is there going to be a sequel?
Words I Had To Look Up:
flouted and flaunted (pg. 193)-- The text takes exception to a misuse. The dictionary (Merriam-Webster OnLine) says they are different, with examples, but for the life of me I can't tell the difference!
Armand Hammer (pg. 241) -- I didn't get it, all these years. "Arm and Hammer". Ha ha.
Quote:
Isn't this good ice cream? My secret is lots of hydrogenated fat. I buy it in large lots from doctors who do liposuction. (pg. 163)
Most Important Quote:
Or maybe, we can just calm down and stop thinking that our own ideas are so precious that we must never give an inch to accomodate the heartfelt beliefs of others.
How can we accomplish that? It begins by scorning the voices of extremism from the camp we are aligned with. Democrats and Republicans must renounce the screamers and haters from their own side instead of continuing to embrace them and denouncing onthe the screamers from the opposing camp. We must moderate ourselves instead of insisting on moderating the other guy while keeping our own fanaticism alive. (Afterword, pg. 347) THIS!
University people were always so proud of being readers instead of television watchers, but what was the difference, really? It was a one-way transmission. I read, but it made no difference to the writer. He never knew. And when I'm dead, what will it matter the books I read? My memory is where the book ends up, just like the TV show, and when I'm dead, that memory is gone from the world.--p. 303
I can't believe no one else has used that title... Very reminiscent of Crichton's Andromeda Strain. Certainly no Ender's Game. One of the characters, a neurodoctor or something, displays a skill at lock picking so he can access the restricted building roof and jump off, so as to commit suicide. WTH?
Space ship travels from Earth to distant planet to colonize, splits into nineteen more ships(or total, I was confused, sometimes). A boy on a planet can see the "paths" of where people and animals have traveled. Good story, seems to be first of a series. Some pretty funny dialog, too!
Words I Had To Look Up:
causality -- The relation between a cause and its effect or between regularly correlated events or phenomena.
Sequel to Pathfinder. I was so confused, I didn't remember much from the first book, I guess. This one was ok. I hope I remember more when the next book comes out!
Story of Sarah and Abraham, you know, from the Bible. Interesting to read, since I'm not real familiar with the story. Not a "grabber", but I intend to read the next two books in the series.