Day: June 4, 2006

I watched X2: X-Men United mid-week on DVD. The impetus was the release of the third X-Men movie. Although box office numbers have been great for the one in theaters now, I don’t want to see it without having seen both of the previous films.

Pretty solid film. Magneto (Ian McKellen) is quite a villain, and the plastic prison (which we saw briefly in the first film) is well executed. I don’t think I missed anything by seeing it at home versus the theater, though. Metacritic score of 68, although users were much higher, at 83.

During Memorial Day weekend, I finished Orson Scott Card’s final novel in the Ender series, Shadow of the Giant. Ender himself is almost nowhere in this novel, as Bean is once more the lead character. The spotlight is shared with Peter (the Hegemon) as post-alien war Earth continues to shake out. As an exercise in geo-political possibilities, Shadow of the Giant shouldn’t be dismissed.

Card doesn’t always hit home runs, but after reading all eight of the Ender novels, I’d say that five or six are definitely worth the time, with one all-time classic. Card has written dozens more… I may dip in later.

The Ender novels

Focusing on Bean and (to a lesser degree) Peter:

• Ender’s Shadow (First close look at Bean, and his upbringing. Almost as compelling a character as Ender himself.)
• Shadow of the Hegemon (Close look at Peter, Ender’s older brother.)
• Shadow Puppets (The end game begins for post-alien-war Earth.)
• Shadow of the Giant (final book of the eight)

Focusing on Ender:

• Ender’s Game (The must read epic which started it all. I’ve read it three times.)
• Speaker for the Dead (Ender’s post battle life begins.)
• Xenocide (Following Ender further.)
• Children of the Mind (Skip it.)

(Thanks, Vin, for the loan.)