Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.179-209 Cycle-26

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.179-209

Summary:

In this part of the book, I left you off right before they entered the Hive Queens chamber. So now, as they enter the chamber, they see the queen for the first time in their lives. As they, all deal with the first sight of a descendent of the original Hive Queen that once terrorized earth, at least that’s what the propaganda said it would do. Anyways valentine has a hard time trying to overcome here fear of the hive queen only seeming it as the thing that put the earth and her family under so much pressure, especially taking Ender away when he was a child. As they enter, ender explains that that the Hive queen communicates through phiolotic rays, just like the ansible, except your head is the ansible. To put it into perspective, the book compares it to having thought in your head that are created by the Hive Queen and put there, and the same happens when you talk to her. Therefore, the Hive queen talks about her ancestors in the war and how they tried to communicate and take over Ender, but his mind was independence and resisted the Hive queen. So then, they decided to get to Ender by going through Valentine, but she was also too strong. It’s okay if this doesn’t make a lot of sense because this is all referring to the very first book Ender’s Game, it you haven’t read it go read it now. Back to Xenocide, they find out the intentions of the Hive queen to build spaceships to escape the Xenocide of her species and another for the Pequenios so they ca escape too and she can’t be persuade otherwise. Then they leave with their newfound information. Now the book goes into Mire’s perspective and what he was. In a monologue of Valentine’s she talks about how Miro was casualty in love, but then he found out his lover was actually somehow related to him and left him in light of this new knowledge and not cause she didn’t love him. Now to Miro, he goes to church, although he doesn’t believe in god. His lover comes while he is watching the service and tries to talk to him and he makes a scene and leaves. Then in an emotional scene where Miro is sitting by rooter who was a friend to him before his trip, he then talks to his brother. His brother is now a priest of the pequenios and is a great deal concerned about Miro; they fight about religion and how God could let Miro be paralyzed like Job a character in the bible who is deprived of everything and then is later rewarded twofold for his faithfulness. After this, he prays for Miro and tells him of the trouble in the forest. He says that some of the tribes think that the Descolada virus is the Apocalypse and that it cleanses to land of unworthy creature such as the humans. They then go into the woods to try to clear this up.

Vocabulary:

· Carapace

o Animal Shell

o Self-Protectiveness

· Brainpan

o Parts of the Skull Containing Brain

· Quirk

o Odd Event

o Odd Mannerism

o Groove

· Palsied

o Inability to move

o Same as palsy-walsy

§ Palsy-walsy

· Friendly

· Ovipositors

o Tubular egg-laying organ

Response:

Again I’d like to try to reform all these issues in the book, first of all you have the Descolada the talking virus, which is an ethical because it keep the Pequenios alive and in itself dangerous. Second you have the fleet with the Dr. Device that would destroy the entire planet, killing all of the species their, it is not certain whether it will keep the humans alive though, this is also an ethical problem wiping out 2 species 3 including the virus. Then you have the pequeos maybe on the borderline of war and will spread the virus with the help of the Hive Queen, and then you have the Hive Queen, which poses the same dilemmas, but is reasonable, but doesn’t have a good reputation with the humans since the war. This reminds me of a lot of thing in real life, like the Dr. Device clearly a parallel to the atom bomb, and the virus connected to the avian flu, or SARS, or the Swine flu. This book raises very ethical and moral dilemmas, in a certain situation. With all these problems stacked and interconnected, like the web of life where everything is interdependent, I wonder how the author will answer or fix these problems in the book.

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.149-179 Cycle-25

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.149-179

Summary:

In this part of the book we find ourselves picking up right after the father of Qing-Jao explains that even though the god’s cause the disappearances, he wants to figure out by what methods did the gods use to cause the disappearances. Her purpose if farther developed by her connecting the dots, and realizing that her father’s godhood and carriers is being waited by her success or failure. Then the book moves back to Miro and Valentine. When they arrive they are greeted by Ender and his family, as they get accustomed to each other, family issues arise like how it’s hard to go 30 yrs in the past and see your older dead brother. In addition, Valentine is trouble by how Ender seems to be drained and sad, and she realizes that he hasn’t had a break from humanity like during the bugger wars where he got detached and was able to rest from such a dire situation, she doesn’t determine this to be the cause but she defiantly knows that something is wrong. Ender then fills them in on the current situation, and how the hive queen and the Pequenios want to leave when the Lusitania fleet comes to blow the planet up, but then that will lead to the death of the humanity by the Descolada virus. In addition, it is now certain that the message from the Stargaze congress has been sent to destroy the planet up. The situation is dire.

Vocabulary:

· Dilating

o Expand

o To talk or Write at Length

· Assimilate

o Integrate

o Absorb information’s or nutrients

· Theological

o About Theology

o Dealing with Theology

o Theology

§ Study of Religion

Response:

One interesting thing I noticed in the book is a parallel between Qing-Jao world, where every thing is based upon religion, and Lusitania, where everything is based upon science. Both have these rituals where Qing-Jao wishes to clean herself of un-worthiness, and the scientist constantly are testing and thinking. Also both places have nearly impossible dilemmas, Qing-Jao and the improbable of the truth and how it would be really hard to conclude to, and ender and the Descolada virus, both task will either mean utter success or hapless failure, whether it be becoming one with the gods or preventing Xenocide.

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.133-149 Cycle-24

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.133-149

Summary:

This part of the book, Qing-Jao finds herself a secret maid, and she confides in her as a friend and in private, they treat each other as equals. This shows Qing-Jao wishes to be normal. She is faced with a very harsh reality when she gets so frustrated with her research and ritual cleaning, that she comes to renouncing the gods. Then for reasons unknown she is struck with weakness and sickness, she thinks she is being humble by the gods so she goes prays for forgiveness and is released, she immediately goes to tell her father her conclusion, that the Gods were the reason for the disappearance of the fleet. The father when hearing the news accepts it, but he say she needs to find what the gods did to cause it, like by what means did the gods accomplish it.

Vocabulary:

· Demurely

o Looking shyly modest

· Grimaced

o An Expression of disgust by one’s face

Response:

One interesting thing in this book is the presence of gods, this factor is very interesting see that this is a sci-fi book. In addition, how this presence of Gods contrast with the scientific aspect of Ender and his work to fix the Descolada virus. The I wonder is how will that author, will intertwine these to seemingly opposite stories together. This is also interesting that the presence of Gods and religion has survived into the future, which is also a real interesting concept; because religion is an explanation for the unknown, and in that future the number of things unknown is very small. In this future a world where most things can be explained religion still is able to exist.

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.85-133 Cycle-23

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.85-133

Summary:

In this part of the book Qing-Jao takes on the task of what happened to the Lusitania fleet. Jane realizes that it is inevitable that Qing-Jao will find out about her, and how she stopped ansible communication with the Lusitania fleet and Stargate Congress. This is because she is very precise and is looking at it from an outside and fresh respective, rather that the other government agencies looking for a clues leading to a person or what they want to find, but they have no knowledge of Jane so it is very unlikely they will find it. Mean while Qing-Jao is looking for the cause of al of this and is feeling unworthy for even trying because she feels she is not fast enough or smart enough for this task from the gods. All during this, she again is compulsively washing her hand to make her feel more worthy, and tracing wood grains for the same reason. Then we move to Lusitania to find ender, his wife, and stepchildren. They are all xenobiologist studying the ever-threatening desolate virus. They come up with some solutions like reprogramming a virus that still allows the specie that are dependant on lit to survive, while eliminating the part that adapts to and kills new species or reprogramming the virus. A new development is that they also fined out that the virus sent about darts to each other, and when decoded and put in their computers, that analysis show it the dart to contain information much like language would. If true these virus would be sentient, and killing them would be Xenocide making it an ethical dilemma but it could mean contacting the virus and making a peace accord. So far, Lusitania is threatened by the Lusitania fleet, the descolada virus, itself if news gets out to the common people and then they’d do something rash, and the possible war with the pequenos.

Vocabulary:

·x Xenophobia

o Fear of outsiders (like if you got scared every time you walked next to a guy with a turban, not exactly prejudice but more paranoia.)

· x Xenobiologist

o A biologist who studies outside, and unknown species.

· D Dissertation

o Long essay

o Formal discourse

Response:

One theme that constantly comes up it this book is when is something sentient. Like Jane, that computer being that lives in piloted rays. She is composed of these rays, and can talk and stuff, but you can’t even see her, or really be sure she’s alive, sort of like a ghost. She live in these faster than light rays and no one can see her, but she can access anything in a computer. However, no one would really find out she’s there, like I said sort of like a ghost. In addition, another being who is had to classify is the descolada virus. I mean is it alive because it can send information dart to each other, I mean hums can to that to, we send vibrations through the air and we have receptors on the side of our head that receives this messages. So, when is it alive or just a bunch of rays, or just a virus, does that abiity to talk, communicate, and remember make it unethical to kill?

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.1-85 Cycle-22

Orson Scott Card, Xenocide Pg.1-85

Summary:

This book is a continuation of “Ender’s Game” and “Speaker for the Dead”, “Ender’s Game” I have read, but I think some events that take place, are dependant on some events of “Speaker for the Dead”. In the beginning, we what seems a Chinese village, Han Fei-tzu and his wife Jiang-qing are talking about some religious path to divert them from Jinag-qing’s condition. Then he promises to teach their child about the Gods. Then the book moves to Valentine Wiggin, Peter, and Ender’s sister. She is on a ship to Lusitania with her Husband Jake. She is writing propaganda to try to stop star fleet congress from destroying Lusitania, where Ender left the Hive Queen. Then they talk to Miro, who has a connection with Ender, probably explained in “Speaker for the Dead”. Then Miro explains some things about the Piggish, and the Descolada. The Piggish, which are another species on Lusitania, and the Descolada the deadly virus that the Stairway Congress plans the Destroy by using the M D devise on Lusitania. Then the book moves back to the villages where the girl is tested and proved to hear the gods. Then she is asked by her father to do something with the Lusitania fleet. Then the book moves back to Miro and Valentine, who talk about philotes, the things that the ansibles, the fast as light communications system is based upon. In addition, about Jane, and computer program is stored in. In essence, the philote is the physical particle that a soul is made up of. Jane, although she is a computer program, she is very much human like and has strong relations with Miro, which cause many complications, because in order to stop the fleet she has to die or as the book calls it (because she is a computer program that has gained sentience) terminate, it's a very ethic question.

Vocabulary:

· Xenocide

o Not a real word, but for Genocide and Xenophobia, which –cide means, mass death and Xeno- meaning outsiders, or non-natives, it means the killing of non-natives (a.k.a. the destruction of the 3 species on Lusitania.)

Response:

While reading this part, I thought of a perfect song the fit the mood of Miro’s plight. The song M4 part 2 from “The Faunts” perfectly illustrates the colors of Miro and his thoughts. In accordance with the Sci-fi type of space opera genre of the book the song is like a blend of indeed, electronic rock. Using lots of synthesis to produce neat sounds and guitar distortions it is very much a conveyer of Miro disposition. Some of the lyrics, like, “I can’t make it on my own.” Expresses Miro’s pain and helplessness at the though of Jane, one of Miro’s only companion, gone forever.