Akustrei

OH MY GOSHNESS. I might have cried at the end if this book was a little longer. D': BEANNNNNN COME BACKKKKKKKKK D:

But really, the book jacket was misleading. Very misleading. After all, it told me that "their ship's life support system begins to fail, and Bean's children must save themselves." WHAT A LIE. I would have said, "Then the children uncover a dark secret... you know... more Formics... XP"

Also, when they called Bean "The Giant" at the beginning, it seemed kind of weird. But it did let you know how the kids felt about their father. And I was so sad about Cincinnatus being so lonely, always longing for Bean's approval and never having an important job... DX

And at the beginning I really became "emotionally invested" in Ender. Probably because of his name ;) But then he beat up his poor brother, and I decided that he was one scary kid. Seriously.

Overall report
Character development: pretty good. Ender went from being "dormant to Cincinnatus's anger" to getting along pretty well, less arrogant, more involved. Cincinnatus went from an impatient and bossy six-year-old to a more mature, confident... six-year-old. And Carlotta went from being Valentine (loving Ender, but supporting the other) to being useful and a real genius. More than before, I mean. Overall, the kids outsmarted Bean in the end, although he wasn't in the best mental and physical state by that point. And Bean got to watch his adorable three kids grow up. And they all learned to get along and stop belittling each other.
Plot development: okay. I was a little disappointed that the book was so short and the setting was mostly on the Herodotus, but it was still pretty enjoyable and not as boring as expected.
Pacing: Pretty good. A good portion of the book shows what each of the children think of each other and Bean's thoughts about them and etc, but the actual physical action wasn't that much. There's just not that much to do on a starship that hasn't already been done, but I thought the venture into the Formics' ship was pretty exciting.
Beginning: Pretty interesting, but I think if I had just randomly picked this book up instead of waiting for it for a couple of months, I wouldn't have finished it in two days. Meh.
End: Awesome. Although I think Card could have come up with a better argument for moving the ansible, but well thought out.
Genius Meter: There were a lot of things in the book that made me go, Wow. They really are genius children. I also appreciated the way Card contrasted between their adult logic and childish reasoning.

Rating: 5 Stars