44. Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card.

Ender's Shadow is a parallel book to Ender's Game, dealing with his friend Bean's life before and at the Battle School. Bean grows up on the streets of Rotterdam, starving until he convinces a street crew how they can all get into the charity kitchens, found by a wandering nun, and tested for aptitude. Then he travels to the Battle School, and is faced with a new set of only slightly less terminal problems.

I liked this book just as much as I liked Ender's Game - more in some ways, because Bean is as extraordinary as Ender, but knows he also has to fit in with the rest. Some of the plot points seem a teensy bit contrived, but overall it was a really enjoyable read, and it fills out a little more of the story. It's written with the intention that you don't need to read Ender's Game to understand it though, and the author pulled that off really well. Both novels work well together, but are complete alone, too.

43. Brilliance Of The Moon, by Lian Hearn.

(Whoops - I forgot to do this one when I read the book, so I'm popping it in here)

Brilliance Of The Moon is the third book in the Tales of the Otori series. It deals with Takeo's and Kaede's battles with, and eventual triumph over, their varied enemies.

This was a really good conclusion to the trilogy, very climactic and exciting to see how things were managed. It does have a somewhat saved-by-God feel to it - I could never really bring myself to doubt the happy ending - but it's satisfying, in line with the other books through plot style and motivations, and is hefty without being weighty.

42. Children Of The Mind, by Orson Scott Card.

Children of the Mind finishes off the story started in Xenocide. The three ramen species on Lusitania are still trying to save Jane, their planet, and the rest of the human planets from myriad threats, while Ender is incapacitated by love for his wife and siblings, but lives on in the conjured bodies of Peter who is not himself, and the perfectly good Young Val. Very much with the philosophy, but also a great pulling-together-of-threads to reveal a coherent whole at the end.

I enjoyed this book very much. Although I may not like how some characters were treated, it was a realistic portrayal of their personalities as I imagine them, and I'm happy enough to accept that. I liked the instantaneous travel, and I thought that the emotions between some of the characters were pretty spot on.

41. Xenocide, by Orson Scott Card.

Xenocide is book three of the Ender's Game series, and is meant to be considered as part one of a two part book along with Children Of The Mind. It's centered around Qing-Jao, a Chinese girl on Path, beset by the speakings of the gods, and forced to purify herself daily, but also determined and intelligent. While Ender is on Lusitania, trying to prevent its destruction through fleets, viruses, and violence, she is discovering their secret ally, living amongst the ansible waves.

This book is very philosophical. It's really cool to see the dynamic of so many species learning to coexist, and to watch as the definition of 'sentient life' is expanded further and further. It's a bit heavy at times, but I'm still pretty impressed with the character development. Novinha's kids become pretty neat adults, and they're also pretty central to the plot. Both the Hive-Queen and the pequeninos are also developed really well.

40. Speaker For The Dead, Orson Scott Card.

This is the second book in the Ender's Game series. Ender is called upon to travel to Lusitania, a planet colonised by a limited population of Portugese Catholics, and inhabited by a new race, the pequeninos, who show sentience, but are being observed only, with very limited cultural or scientific influence. He is there to speak the death of Pipo, a xenologer who was studying them before his death at their hands. Ender has to determine whether the pequeninos are fundamentally capable of coexisting with humans (and whether humans can coexist with them).

This book is a lot more philosophical than Ender's Game, and a lot less action-packed. It's still very good, but not in the same fashion. It explores the concept of a hierarchy of closeness, going from 'the same species on the same planet', 'the same species on a different planet', 'a different species that we can nonetheless communicate and reason with', and 'a different species that we cannot communicate or reason with', with the idea that it's only morally correct to destroy beings of the last group, varelse, if the choice is to let them live to destroy other life, or destroy them first.

It also goes quite far into what family is, and what can make up a family, by studying a local woman, Novinha, and her children, who are all inextricably entangled with the pequeninos, and thus, Ender. Again, the interpersonal relationships are complex and satisfying, and the new characters are quickly just as dear as the older.

39. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.

Ok, so I was really meaning to read the last Otori book before I started something new, but these have been sitting on my shortlist for quite some time, and they were calling out to be read, or at least sampled. It was worth it, because I finished the whole series in just over a week.

Ender's Game is about Andrew (Ender) Wiggin, who is taken away from his family when he is six years old, with the intention of training him for battle against the vicious Buggers, an alien race threatening humanity. He has shown great potential to be the commander of the fleet they need, but will he work out?

I very much like this book, and reading it has boosted Orson Scott Card from 'interesting writer I haven't read anything by yet' to 'add all his books to my library NOW'. Ender is a very detailed character, and the relationships between people unfold naturally. I liked the idea of the simulators they train in, and Ender defeats some pretty long odds while he learns. It's definitely a book that will attract loner types, but it's a well-written, complex read that deals with some philosophic conundrums that were also interesting to reason out.

38. Grass For His Pillow, by Lian Hearn.

Book 2 of Tales of the Otori.

The story continues from Shigeru's betrayal and death, after Iida is killed and Takeo taken by the Tribe (his half-family) to continue his training. Kaede is released from her marriage obligations, albeit temporarily, and travels home to try to pull her shabby household into some semblance of order, as she is now the heir to a second large domain (and thus, now a very valuable trading piece). Takeo learns more about himself, his skills, and his limitations. More snap decisions are made with long lasting consequences.

Having read the prequel as well, it's clearer to me how the ripples of each action are spreading and affecting one another. Everything that any character does, influences actions by other characters later. The characters are getting a bit more depth to them as well, where in the first book, it was easy to discount especially Kaede as just another pretty thing. Both her and Takeo really develop in this book, even if they do still do silly things sometimes.

37. Across the Nightingale Floor, by Lian Hearn.

Book 1 of the Tales of the Otori books.

Across the Nightingale Floor tells the story of Takeo's upbringing, and Shigeru's fall from grace as they contend with their sudden loss of power in the struggles of the clans. Shigeru, now known as 'the farmer', has to wait patiently and appear weak in order to avoid annihilation at the hands of his enemies, or his own family, in order to further their own goals. Meanwhile, Takeo is learning to deal with his own mixed heritage, and must choose which side of himself he is going to embrace.

This book is quite passionate in some ways. Nothing is half-done, you screw up a battle - gotta go commit suicide. See a pretty girl - instantly fall in love forever and ever. The way it deals with women, though historically correct and accurately portrayed, nonetheless rankles a bit, given that their entire function is boiled down to trading piece and child-incubator. A good pace is kept up through the book, and it's complex enough to be interesting without drawing too many characters into the plot at any one time.

36. Heaven's Net Is Wide, by Lian Hearn.

Prequel to the Tales of the Otori books.
Heaven's Net Is Wide tells the story of Otori Shigeru and Maruyama Naomi, who are both clan rulers in early Japan, struggling to control a third power, Iida, from taking control of the middle country. It tells the story of Shigeru's early years, and sets the stage for his adoption of Otori Takeo, who is the star of the remaining books.

I've read the Tales of the Otori books before, but not this prequel. I would definitely recommend doing what I've done, and reading it first before continuing with the rest of the series, as that gives you more of the story in chronological order, and also helps you understand the relative positions of the clans and characters strategically,  historically, and helps show their motives for acting the way that they do. Also a good read in it's own right.

35. The Living Dead, by various authors, edited by John Joseph Adams.

Short stories are good to read when you're sick and have no attention span for complicated plots. These are all zombie themed, but are not necessarily all generic braaains zombie themed. One I rather liked involved a woman who is inadvertently brought back to life, who slowly mourns the fact that she can't really be a trophy wife any more since she's, er, leaking. Others are more generic zombie, but they're of a reasonably high caliber.

I enjoyed this book, but as always happens in short story collections, I really liked one or two stories, disliked one or two stories, and found the rest fairly mediocre.

34. Songs of Love and Death, by assorted authors, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

Book of short stories by assorted people, themed on people meeting and falling in love and then stuff happening to said people.

Some of the stories in here were markedly better than others. A few were pretty generic, one or two were great, and the rest were fairly mediocre. Love is a pretty hard topic to tackle without affronting SOMEONE, though, and none of these stories really made me hate life or anything.

Quick update...

I've been sick for about a week, so have fallen slightly behind with the updating. I'll get round to putting up the last 5 or so books in a little while.
(Still updating! Did not forget blog!)