Ethan Poole

I'm glad that I finally picked up this last “official” Butler novel (“official” meaning excluding Survivor). I kept putting it off because I'm not into vampires. Butler though delivers an interesting and unique take on the subgenre. Typical Butlerian themes: maternalism, race, survival.

Outside my academic work, I almost never read nonfiction, so I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The essays were interesting and funny. I enjoy DFW's writing style—it's unlike anything else. “Authority and American Usage” was my favorite of the essays, despite categorically disagreeing with some of the arguments re linguistics. Both “Up, Simba” and “Host”, which concern American politics in the early 2000s, are—unfortunately—eerily prophetic.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a very different kind of book from [b:Ender's Game 375802 Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1) Orson Scott Card https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408303130s/375802.jpg 2422333]. In many ways, I think that it is better, even if it lacks the action and suspense that made Ender's Game a page-turner. The character development is richer, and the story full of more mystery. The incorporation of Brazilian Portuguese and Catholicism gave the story an anchoring to the present and made the characters feel more tactile.

I listened to the audiobook version. This book was so engrossing that I actually looked forward to my commute where I could listen undisturbed. In many ways, it felt like watching a (good) movie. I really enjoyed the characters of Ender and Valentine. The ending is superb. However, conquering the world via blogging is a little silly, but I'm willing to accept it as having been believable in 1994. Having read [b:Speaker for the Dead 7967 Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2) Orson Scott Card https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1295660894s/7967.jpg 2327777], I can see that everything in this book is necessary to build up to Speaker for the Dead, which is an even better novel.

Another fun and interesting collection of essays (which makes me think that maybe I like essays, even though I'm most often not in the mood for one). Favorites: "E Unibus Pluram" (of course), "Getting Away from Being Pretty Much Away from It All", and "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again".