What Mrs N's Been Reading - A War of Gifts

Stepped outside of the Fredricksen Teen collection for a bit and read Orson Scott Card's A War of Gifts. I love Card's older stuff - Ender's Game is probably my all time favorite book, and I couldn't believe how good Ender's Shadow is, considering that you know going in how it's going to end if you've read Ender's Game. I also really liked his Tales of Alvin Maker series. I used to say that Card could rewrite the phone book and make it compelling reading. I had been hearing from other Card fans however, that he's been slipping lately - losing continuity in series' and getting a little preachy. I was hoping they were wrong. A War of Gifts is a quick read (only 126 pages) and it does present some interesting points. Unfortunately, my sources are right about Card getting preachy. Maybe my expectations of Card are a little high, but I just didn't enjoy this one like I have others. My recommendation is to skip this one, but if you haven't read Ender's Game yet, you definitely need to! I'd also highly recommend Ender's Shadow, and First Meetings in the Enderverse, as well as the three books that are direct sequels to Ender's Game - Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind, as well as the totally unrelated, Pastwatch. Enjoy those! Take a pass on A War of Gifts.