Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card, read by a cast of several,

unabridged audiobook, 32 kbps, 22 kHz, about 13.5 hrs.

Amazon.com
Children of the Mind, fourth in the Ender series, is the conclusion of the story
begun in the third book, Xenocide. The author unravels Ender's life and reweave
s the threads into unexpected new patterns, including an apparent reincarnation
of his threatening older brother, Peter, not to mention another "sister" Valenti
ne. Multiple storylines entwine, as the threat of the Lusitania-bound fleet loom
s ever nearer. The self-aware computer, Jane, who has always been more than she
seemed, faces death at human hands even as she approaches godhood. At the same t
ime, the characters hurry to investigate the origins of the descolada virus befo
re they lose their ability to travel instantaneously between the stars. There is
plenty of action and romance to season the text's analyses of Japanese culture
and the flux and ebb of civilizations. But does the author really mean to imply
that Ender's wife literally bores him to death? --Brooks Peck
From Publishers Weekly
The first two volumes of Card's Ender saga, Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dea
d, each won the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel. This adept fifth volume i
n the series (after Xenocide, 1991) continues the story of Ender Wiggin, hero, s
ocial conscience and unwitting mass murderer. Here, however, Ender, feeling the
weight of his years, plays only a limited role in the desperate attempt to avert
the destruction by the Starways Congress of the planet Lusitania and its three
intelligent races. Foremost among those at center stage are Peter and Young Vale
ntine, Ender's children of the mind, copies of his brother and sister whom he ac
cidentally created on his trip Outside the universe in Xenocide. Also central is
Jane, the prickly Artificial Intelligence whose unique ability to use the Outsi
de to transcend the light-speed barrier is key to all attempts to save Ender's a
dopted world. Peter, Val, Jane and their companions must crisscross the galaxy t
o find new planets for Lusitania's refugees while trying to influence the politi
cians and philosophers who have the power to stop the Congress's approaching war
fleet. Readers unfamiliar with earlier Ender novels may have trouble picking up
some plot threads. But Card's prose is powerful here, as is his consideration o
f mystical and quasi-religious themes. Though billed as the final Ender novel, t
his story leaves enough mysteries unexplored to justify another entry; and Card
fans should find that possibility, like this novel, very welcome indeed. Major a
d/promo; 200-copy limited leather-bound edition, $200, ISBN 0-312-86191-5.