Marcus Barker

17 years. It took 17 years for Orson Scott Card to finally swing back to “answer” questions that curious readers have been theorizing about this book and by god is this a let down. If you’re going into this hoping to find any answers to what has been the focal point of the series for the last 35 years then this book is going to leave you disappointed. It’s an absolute cop-out that still leaves the largest question of the entire franchise virtually unanswered. More time was spent on going into graphic detail of birds flying around and pooping on a child than the hand waved “good enough” explanation of the origin of the virus. It is absolutely unhinged and barely resembles even the latest works of Card’s. If you’re a fan of the series I wouldn’t recommend buying it. Look up summaries online and save yourself the hours and money. This book feels like Card was tired of the series and needed to write himself an out.