Philotic Web

I know. You love them all. OSC is divinely inspired, every word of the sagas is a gem, etc. Fine. I understand. Moving on from there...

Which is the book that, if you had to read them all over again except for one, you'd skip (NOT because you have it practically memorized. If there's a particular book you love so much you'd skip it because you've read it so much, pretend you have amnesia)?

For me, it's Shadow Puppets. Actually, I could live without either SP or SotG. Of the first four, it would be CotM. That book feels for me like the point where the series took a turn for the... different. The writing style is different, the story less compelling.

I'd have to say Shadow of the Hegemon. I can't remember why--all I know is that when I go back through and read the Shadow books, that one always just gets brushed over...

Why does it say "least favourite of the first 4" but it has all eight?

Shadow Puppets all the way

I don't have the attention span to read more than a few pages a sitting from Xenocide. I can see how thoroughness is necessary to believably turn philosiphy into science. But, and even OSC admits this, that is one talky freakin' book.

definately shadow puppets. i don't really care for the shadow series to begin with, but that one stands out the most.

heh, it took me awhile to get through xenocide too. it really IS talky... but it's a damned good book anyway.

Because I was originally going to do first four and then figured I'd go ahead and do all eight and forgot to change the poll title.

heh, it took me awhile to get through xenocide too. it really IS talky... but it's a damned good book anyway.

A good book but with such a terrible ending I'm tempted to say it's my least favourite.

heh, it took me awhile to get through xenocide too. it really IS talky... but it's a damned good book anyway.

Am I the only one who thinks it is good because of the talking, not in spite of it?

i didn't care for xenocide too much..... yawn......

and i loved shadow puppets

It's really hard for me to choose just one. Mostly because the Shadow series just runs together in one big, disgusting blob in my mind.

heh, it took me awhile to get through xenocide too. it really IS talky... but it's a damned good book anyway.

Am I the only one who thinks it is good because of the talking, not in spite of it?

Yes... Us manly men like to settle our disputes by bashing each other with clubs. Talking is for sissies

The shadow series was still amazing, even though it doesn't come close to speaker. Peter+Bean = still awesome

My favourites/least favourites change everytime a reread them, so my decision shall be postponed until after my next rereading before the end of the year.

And I know I'm the underdog, but I really liked Shadow Puppets. I suppose it is because I'm a hopeless romantic...or something.

I'm going to agree with some others and say that my least favorite is Xenocide. I like all the books (why else would I be here) but I read the others more than this one. I suppose it's because of the ideas; right now I haven't experienced enough of life to make them too interesting to me. Maybe in a decade or two I can relate to them more.

heh, it took me awhile to get through xenocide too. it really IS talky... but it's a damned good book anyway.

Am I the only one who thinks it is good because of the talking, not in spite of it?

As I said, the lengthy conversations were necessary. I also tended to find the various conclusions satisfying. But it seemed like so many ideas were being put forth in several pages of continuous dialog that by the time I reached the end of one rap session I'd have forgotten where it started. I haven't read Xenocide since last summer so I can't recall specifics. I just remember warning a friend about this before they got into the Speaker books.

I hated the Shadow series, too. Except since Peter is my favorite character then I like how he was a main character in them. Out of all four, I couldn't decide between SotH or SP. In the end, I chose SotH.

While I enjoyed the Speaker Series thoroughly, I have to say that Xenocide was way too my head could explode because the amount of information that was thrust at was overwealming. Not to say it wasn't a good book but I found somethings a bit much. Also I didn't like the character of Han Qing-Jao. She pissed me off. As well, the attitudes af Quara and Novinha pissed me off. Especially the attitude of Novinha during Ender's sickness and after his death in CotM. Its like she didn't even care. To be quite honest, I didn't like the way Plikt developed in the series etiehr. She went from being loyal disciple of Andrew Wiggin, to being vindictive bitch toward both Novinha, Andrew's wife, and Val, his sister. It just really bugged me.

I know I'm going to receive flak for this, but it's been so long since I read either series (a couple years), that I can't remember where one book ends and the next begins... except for the two Battle School books, of course. So, using my "impulse response" I went with CotM...

If this helps....

****SPOILERS****

Xenocide ends with that summary of what happens to Qing-jao for the rest of her life. (Basically, it ends with the whole thing regarding Path.) CotM starts with Wang-Mu and Peter in the ship that Jane moves around.

SP made me angry because of its ending, and it seemed like forever for the next book to come out. All the others I had read in a fairly short span of time, or they didn't have such heartwrenching endings for a mother. (that's all I'll say, just in case).

SARA

I still haven't voted. There isn't a one of these books that didn't change my life, except maybe SotG which I only read the one time at top speed.

Xenocide is difficult to get into, but I think it's very rewarding when you finish it. I loved it. Children of the Mind is different (much in the same vein as Xenocide though) but it concludes the Ender series (or at least it always will in my mind) and the ending is amazing. I loved it too, even more than Xenocide.

Shadow of the Hegemon got my vote. I really disliked it for being incredibly far fetched. For me the Shadow series delved too far into politics and less on characters. And the politics in Shadow of the Hegemon were just ridiculous.

Salaam

Shadow Puppets rocks because:

A.) Bean is such a badass in the showdown with Achilles.

B.) It was worth it just to see Achilles get shot through the eye(poetic justice!).

least favorite, i voted children of the mind. i love children of the mind, but it is my leats favorite out of them all.

hands down though, xenocide is my second favorite, followed by enders shadow, i love the science of it all.

kinda reminds me how michael chricton, in his books, took facts and twisted them a little to make a genuine philosophical science out of everything.

Shadow of the Hegemon--It took me so long to get through that book because all of the politic talk was boring.

i loved xenocide because it had lots of talking, i dont have a least favorite their good books to me.

That's a toss up between Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets. I didn't really care for either.

I was actually not looking forward to reading Xenocide because of all the negative reviews on Amazon and various other sites. After I finally did read it, however, I couldn't understand why it seems to be regarded as the worst in the series. But I guess each person has their own tastes.

I didn't pick a choice because, in fairness, I haven't finished all the books (I'm about 80 pages away from finishing SotG, so I'm close). Even though I'm not done, I don't know if I could pick a book as the worst because I liked them all so much.

I will say that I liked the Ender series much more than I'm liking the Shadow series. I'm really like the Shadow series, but the 3 Ender sequels were just beautiful. I've never had books bring me to tears as many times as they did.

Andorbal.

The shadow series entirely didn't really appeal to me, but its alright. Xenocide, which is one of the least popular, is one of my favourites. It's second to Speaker for the Dead.

Anyway, my least favourite is Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets. I like Ender's Shadow because it's like Ender's Game through another's eyes. Shadow of the Giant is just a cool ending, in that it leaves alot of imagination for the reader.

I would have to say shadow of the hegemon. I still haven't reall all of the ender books but i have read all the bean books.

intially I posted Xenocide. Not that it's not a good book but looking back it's the only one I ever asked myself how much more of this is there to read though now that I think about it some more I have to say what ever margin divides these books it changes on my mood and is so small its impossible for me to pick a favorite or least favorite.

I'd have to say Xenocide...It was good, but a bit dry.

For me, it's CoTM...I could barely get through the first chapter, not to mention reading the entire book. Drove me crazy.

I cant understand people who dont love the science and intricacies of Xenocide. Its probably my favourite out of them all (but i havnt read SotG yet, but i will soon). But my least favourite would have to be speaker for the dead. The way the reader was introduced to jane, i thought she was part of some comitee or something, and the whole book just seemed to take so long (longer than xenocide which is massive) to finish.