“Xenocide (Ender’s Saga #3) ” by Orson Scott Card, 1991
The story takes place on two planets;
the Catholic colony world of Lusitania, home of the porcine indigenes known as
the pequeninos and the Chinese Taoist colony world of Path, home of genetically
modified humans. The human colonists on Lusitania are racing to find a solution
to the “descolada”, a virus necessary to the three-stage life cycle of the
pequeninos but fatal to human beings, before the Starways Congress fleet to
destroy Lusitania arrives.
The introduction of subatomic particles the author has invented called “philotes” links everything together and is utilized by the “ansibles” for faster than light communications in the Ender universe, gives rise to the question of faster than light travel. Within the “ansibles”, “philotes”, and computers of the “hundred worlds”, Jane an evolved artificial intelligence with whom Ender and the other aliens are in communication, comes to question her sentience and attempts to develop faster-than-light travel.
With help from the world of Path, the xenobiologists on Lusitania find the solution to the “descolada” and in part also discovering the solution to the “super obsessive-compulsive disorder gene” problem suffered on Path. And with the help of the other aliens, the buggers and the pequeninos, Jane develops faster than light travel; enabling the physical transport and exchange of the “solutions” between the worlds of Path and Lusitania before the arrival of the Starways Congress fleet.
While themes of duty and absolution pervade the novel, the question of the very nature of life itself is at the heart of the novel. Although Xenocide is long with frequent, irksome, and interminable theological/philosophical interludes and wrestles with fundamental questions of faith and free will, it was quite an enjoyable read.
The introduction of subatomic particles the author has invented called “philotes” links everything together and is utilized by the “ansibles” for faster than light communications in the Ender universe, gives rise to the question of faster than light travel. Within the “ansibles”, “philotes”, and computers of the “hundred worlds”, Jane an evolved artificial intelligence with whom Ender and the other aliens are in communication, comes to question her sentience and attempts to develop faster-than-light travel.
With help from the world of Path, the xenobiologists on Lusitania find the solution to the “descolada” and in part also discovering the solution to the “super obsessive-compulsive disorder gene” problem suffered on Path. And with the help of the other aliens, the buggers and the pequeninos, Jane develops faster than light travel; enabling the physical transport and exchange of the “solutions” between the worlds of Path and Lusitania before the arrival of the Starways Congress fleet.
While themes of duty and absolution pervade the novel, the question of the very nature of life itself is at the heart of the novel. Although Xenocide is long with frequent, irksome, and interminable theological/philosophical interludes and wrestles with fundamental questions of faith and free will, it was quite an enjoyable read.
My
rating: ★★★★★ (5
out of 5 stars)
Fan art:
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