Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card's newest addition to the Ender series, claimed to be a direct sequel. I would have to disagree with this claim due to the details given and left out of this book. There were many instances where the impact of his words would have been lost on me had I not read the rest of the series previous to reading this new installment.
It was very well-written, and I was giddy with the number of Shakespearean references and parallels. I had been yearning for this branch of the story to come about. I had always been curious about Ender's life directly after Battle School and the end to the Formic Wars. Despite having this information, however, I still think there's room for another book set directly after this one. I hope Orson Scott Card has another masterpiece in the works.
Ender's time on the ship was very well done, but I would have liked more of his time on Shakespeare to have been fleshed out more. The last part seemed to be over much too quickly. There had to have been more for him to say about that time of Ender's life. Though, I supposed due to his extensive travels throughout his lifetime, a two-year stint on Shakespeare may prove less significant than his other stays on the planets he visits in the other novels.
I am not yet sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that the storyline that stuck most in my head was the interactions between Alessandra and her mother.
