I hate the name of Shakespeare for a planet. forgot to get that out there.
dumb. Ganges is a good planet name, Shakespeare is not.
At the risk of digging up an ancient topic, (but is it really a good idea to start a new topic?) i pretty much agree with your point of view about Ender in Exile. I was deeply disappointed by it and really hoped it would be better. Several things that drove me up a tree about it was most of these new characters and situations just weren't needed. It felt too much like the new versions of the old Star Wars movies. Do we really need extra special effects and details and Hayden Christensen or whatever his name is CGIed in with the original version was perfectly FINE? No...
It was as if he was using old and new characters alike, pretty much ALL of the characters to push his conservative point of view. Valentine is just OSC as a girl. She nags Ender for hours, it's a wonder he didn't make her go into stasis.
The whole plot involving Alessandra Toscano and Dorabella Toscano was pretty irritating. It was, AND THIS WILL BE A SPOILER, gross how she made her daughter try to seduce Ender. Icky, gross, Icky.
The captain was aggravating. I don't understand why Dorabella BOTHERED to try to make him love her, as if that is even possible. The way he screamed on Ender, I don't really think he'd make a good dad. But the book is a hammer that has, "Heterosexual monogamous marriages are ALWAYS better for children even when the parents are kind of warped and are somewhat dysfunctional." It is constantly being wacked on my head from EVERY character. Why was that scene with the woman trying to come on to that other scientist even NECESSARY? Who but a zombie says, "I want your braaaaaaains." I lack experience, but I doubt I'd try to seduce a guy like that! It's not very romantic or even very sexy.
I know the whole get married and have babies thing is a part of OSC's current shtick these days, but it's driving me crazy. It makes me want to ignore him, which is rude, and curl up with American Gods or something by Neil Gaiman instead where I know I won't get a lecture but a solid entertaining story instead. It's depressing when a young adult book is better than a book by one of your favourite authors. It would be annoying even if a hyper liberal did it. It's like his political lecturing and nagging is to LKH constant never-ending sex scenes.
Plus the Shakespeare colony didn't sound like a very fun place to live in terms of a reproduction lottery and marrying off teenage girls, not to mention all of the frustrated celibate men...
I really ought to try to ignore these later Ender books, but I keep hoping they'll be as good as the original, or even as good as a book like Lost Boys that makes me cry at the end, but it is a true let down.
*awaits tomatoes*