"He’s not the boy we knew. . .when your child goes off to war, you will never get him back. Not as he was, not
the same boy."
This haunting statement from Andrew Wiggin’s father sums up the painful reality facing many of the characters
in Ender in Exile. Taking place in the "lost years" after Card’s Hugo and Nebula-winning
Ender’s Game (1985), this
novel follows Andrew, known as Ender, on his journey of exile to the far-flung colonies. In this intense and somber
novel, the characters who are within Ender’s sphere of influence experience the ramifications of Ender’s time as a
12-year-old military genius who defeated alien enemies. This is particularly true of his connection, tenuous at
best, with his family, which is the core of the novel.
Ender in Exile shows Ender from the perspective of key people he, out of duty, has to keep at arm’s
length. His parents cope (with varying degrees of success) with allowing their special child to be the hero that
the human race needs, never to truly be their son. His sister, Valentine (also gifted and isolated from others, but
at least able to live at home), both loves and hates her brother for who he has become, and who he must be for the
future; she later joins him in the Colonies out of love and subservience to something she will never fully
comprehend.
The author’s introduction of Alessandra as a love interest for Ender adds a new complication for the hero. Like
Ender, Alessandra faces a similar dilemma of having to put aside her own aspirations in service to others. Now a
fifteen-year-old, Ender is attracted to Alessandra, but he sacrifices his own feelings for her to his "higher"
calling.
This sacrifice, among others, gives Ender in Exile a tragic tone. Ender becomes the governor of a new
colony, but his thoughts on his role in the deaths of thousands of humans and aliens as "The Great Weapon" weighs
heavily on his mind. In the next traditional Ender novel,
Speaker for the Dead, Ender
will come to believe it was a mistake to wipe out an entire alien civilization. But that is for the future, and
the author uses foreshadowing to good effect.
Without a doubt, Ender in Exile is more of a philosophical outing than a physical one. For the legions
of fans of the Ender saga, this tells the story of the "wilderness years" that probably has been the source of
great speculation for nearly two decades. The story is serious with little action, however, and readers unfamiliar
with the series will feel the existential and moral weightiness. Card is a thoughtful storyteller, however, who is
in a class by himself when it comes to science fiction. With Ender in Exile, a worthy addition to the saga,
readers will experience a moving, yet worthwhile, journey.