Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card – Right amount of Philosophy

I finished reading Children of the Mind a couple nights ago.  Children of the Mind is one of the books in the Ender’s series by Orson Scott Card.  This was one of those sequel books that is a must read for closure.  Every now and then authors, especially those in the scifi category will write a book that wraps most things up in a nice neat bow.  It may or may not be the last book in the series, but it does cap things off at the time. 

You see this in the Foundation series by Asimov, the Methusaleh series from Heinlein, the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony and again in the Bio of a Space Tyrant by Piers Anthony (although I suspect that he had an end game in mind when he wrote books in the series of his universes excluding Xanth.) 

This one ends a series that came together in a bit of a haphazard way, but none-the-less is a very good series.  The thing that kind of makes this series capping book something equivalent to a classic is the fact that not only does it wrap up character plot line issues well, but it also wraps up the lingering philosophical questions created through out the entire series up until this point.

Now personally, I like philosophy, I like debates, I savor circular logic and discussions and that goes double when you mix it up with a good story, a scifi story if possible and maybe something with a little suspense thrown in.  I’ll take a good mystery or regular suspense book any day of the week too, but I do like to sink my teeth into something a little more substantial from time to time even if its fun at the same time.

I’m currently reading Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich as I write this article.  Both writers have a talent for dialogue, even though they developed their skills in different ways.  . . .  kind of

Next up on my plate after I finish Plum Lucky is The Lazarus Effect by Frank Herbert & Bill Ranson.  I have not yet read the book that comes before the Lazarus Effect which is called the Jesus Incident, but I’ll probably attempt to track that down also.

Then Ender’s Shadow which is a tangential book in the Ender’s Series covering some supporting characters from the first book.  Then I’ll probably read a little Dan Brown (Deception Point) after that.