Xenocide (Ender, Book 3)

Ender is back, and still struggling to save the Pequininos, the Hive Queen, and the human inhabitants of his adopted world, Lusitani, from looming destruction by the Hundred Worlds’ Fleet. In order to save his home though, Ender must reach out for help from another world, and do nothing less than rewrite the rules of space travel and unravel the mysteries of the universe. In Xenocide, the 3rd book in the saga of Ender, Card takes the reader on a chaotic ride through universe, exploring human relationships, alien minds, politics, physics, and yes, even the source of the human soul. While a little slower paced than the first two novels in the series, Xenocide is much more intellectual and thought provoking. Definitely worth the read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Speaker for the Dead (Ender, Book 2)

Ender returns in Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead, the sequel to Card’s masterpiece, Ender’s Game. It is some twenty years later in Ender’s life, and because of the relativity of space travel, three thousand years have passed in the universe. In the aftermath of the destruction of an entire sentient species at the hands of Ender, now known as The Xenocide, Earth’s population has spread out across the galaxy, where, on the faraway planet of Lusitania, a new sentient species has been found. After years of peacefully studying the seemingly benevolant and intelligent species, the colonists are shocked when Pepo, the man who studies them, becomes the victim of a gruesome murder at their hands. While Ender’s Game was Card’s masterpiece, Speaker for the Dead was the book that Card truly wanted to write. In it, Card explores the question of how we really would react if we were given the opportunity to live side by side with another intelligent life form. It is an in depth critique of what really makes us human, and a must read, especially for fans of Ender.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Ender’s Game

In Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card shows us his vision of the future where, in the wake of alien attack, Earth’s future defense centers around the discovery of a young military genius who can lead the world’s forces successfully against a hostile race that we cannot possibly understand. At only 6 years old, young Ender is plucked from his family, and the world that he knows, and thrust into a world of training, learning, and competition meant to groom him into becoming that great leader of Earth’s military forces. Card’s most famous novel is a masterpiece of both science fiction and psychology. The path he leads Ender on is full of surprise, doubt, tragedy, and triumph, and in the end, contains valuable lessons for eveyone who reads it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Gran Torino [Theatrical Release]

Clint Eastwood couldn’t screw up a movie if he tried. Gran Torino begins as an in-your-face testimonial about bigotry in America that calls attention to how ridiculous racial preconceptions really are. By confronting these issues head on, Eastwood shows us that when intolerance is challenged with love and compassion, instead of hate and scorn, even a lifelong racist can find redemption and salvation among those he used to execrate. A roller-coaster of a movie, Gran Torino will make your sides hurt with laughter, and sting your cheeks with tears. It is a bittersweet lesson teaching us that words only have power over you when you let them, and simple friendship and acceptance can change lives.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Elves of Cintra (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 2)

Brooks’ writing formula takes a pretty mundane turn in The Elves of Cintra, the second book of his Genesis of Shannara trilogy. As I said before, I found the characters introduced in the first book to be just interesting enough to warrant continuing on in the series, but The Elves of Cintra does its very best to strain my resolve to learn the fate of these tragic characters. There are a couple of bright spots in the novel, such as Logan’s conflict with the renegade Knight of the Word, but overall, it was anticlimatic at best. The story never unfolds, it just goes from point A, to point B, and so on. Ultimately, it was no more than a bridge to the third book and couldn’t stand on its own if you gave it crutches.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [Theatrical Release]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a gut-wrenching journey through the twentieth century as seen through the eyes of the singularly unique Benjamin Button. Button, born with all the physical ailments of the elderly, leads a life in reverse, living his youth as an old man, his silver years as a young man, and then finally, his golden years as a child. His journey isn’t without peril, as he learns that even though his medical condition is unlike anyone else’s, his human condition isn’t. This is an amazingly conceived movie that can’t help but remind me of Piers Anthony’s Death Rides a Pale Horse. Benjamin is anything but immortal though, even if Roth’s vision of him is. A wonderful movie for everyone, but I have to warn you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Quantum of Solace [Theatrical Release]

Daniel Craig is the perfect young, brooding, tortured James Bond. In this follow up to the ‘reboot’ of the movie series inspired by Ian Fleming’s now infamous literations, Bond continues his single minded quest to ferret out those responsible for the corruption and death of Vesper Lynd. This was a riveting movie, with great action sequences, and, contrary to the opinion of many ‘professional’ critics, a great storyline. While there are a couple of needless forks in the story, overall, Quantum of Solace is a gripping movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the opening car chase until the credits roll.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Armageddon’s Children (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 1)

I mostly enjoyed it. It had a so-so plot that wasn’t necessarily gripping, but adequate. While Armageddon’s Children is definitely not on par with Brooks’ classic Sword of Shannara — and Hawk certainly isn’t as interesting of a character as Shea Ohmsford — Hawk, Logan, and Angel are interesting enough characters that were just developed enough to make me want to find out what happens to them. Not a deeply engaging read, but entertaining. I will probably pick up book 2.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars