I'm forcing myself to finish this, but only out of sheer stubbornness. If you love Orson Scott Card, stay away from this one. It's 350 pages of repetitive drivel and inane pseudo-philosophy. Not even in the same realm as the rest of the series. If you haven't tried Card yet, don't let this review discourage you! The rest of this series (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide) are fantastic.