Ender in Exile

#265
Title: Ender in Exile
Author: Orson Scott Card
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2008
380 pages

A non-stand-alone novel that slots into the end of Ender's Game, this is enjoyable enough for Ender fans and irrelevant for anyone else. At a structural level, I enjoy the idea that a whole novel can be hidden in the interstices of another. I appreciated the detail on Ender's missing years, especially because I got bored with following Bean in the "Shadow" series (another way to hide a novel in a novel: Retell events from a collateral perspective). For people who haven't read the "Shadow" books, there's enough clunky exposition to fill you in.

The emotional tone was flat for this series, and  overall the book seemed a little perfunctory. However, it was still a pleasant diversion.