Ender in Exile - Orson Scott Card

I have never considered myself a fan of the science-fiction - though admittedly, I like time-travel and teleporting. I am just not really big on space, physics, or unknown sentient life forms. But, in law school, Anh convinced me that I had to read this book called Ender's Game. I was skeptical. But, he said the main character was a small child, and I do love books with child narrators. Ender's Game is about a brilliant child from Earth, Ender, who is recuited to the International Battle School to train and fight the Formics - an insectoid alien race. Yes, I know, it sounds super-lame and geeky. Okay, maybe it is. But, it is also awesome. It's kind of like Harry Potter in space - just a bit more advanced. After I flew through Ender's Game, I moved directly on to the many other books by Orson Scott Card featuring Ender, his Battle School comrades, and his politically minded brother and sister. After I exhausted those books, I thought about moving on to Card's other series, but I just didn't have it in me. I don't love science- fiction. I love Ender! So, I was so thrilled to see Ender in Exile at the library last week - published in 2008, it is the direct sequel (in space time) to Ender's Game. It takes place just after the biggest battle of Ender's life (and that of the entire universe), and he is faced with returning to Earth or moving on to other worlds in the solar system. Ender struggles to accept his role in the destruction of the Formics, and to find happiness in a world in which he is so different from everyone around him. I did not find this novel as immediately engaging as prior books in the series, but I did like what Card did with the chacters. His Afterword was also quite interesting, as he discussed turning to his loyal Ender fan base when writing this novel - looking to them to help him resolve discrepencies - or to remind him of whether he had answered certain questions in previous books or not. Whether true or not, it really made Card appear so gracious to his readers - and probably explains his tremendous popularity in the science-fiction world. Knowing nothing about that world myself, I will say that I wholly endorse the Ender series - all you non-science fiction folks out there don't know what you're missing!