View source for Xenocide

{{About|the book|the computer video game|Xenocide (video game)}}
{{use mdy dates|date = July 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date = July 2024}}
{{Short description|1991 novel by Orson Scott Card}}
{{Infobox book|<!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name = Xenocide
| title_orig = 
| translator = 
| image = Xenocide cover.jpg
| caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
| author = [[Orson Scott Card]]
| cover_artist = [[John Harris (artist)|John Harris]]<ref> Harris, John. Illustrator. Xenocide. By Orson Scott Card. Tor, 1991.</ref>
| country = United States
| language = English
| series = [[Ender's Game (series)|Ender's Game series]]
| genre = [[Science fiction]]
| published = 1991 ([[Legend]]), 1992 ([[Tor Books]])
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]], [[Paperback]] & [[ebook]])
| pages = 592
| dewey = 813/.54 20
| congress = PS3553.A655 X46 1991
| preceded_by = [[Speaker for the Dead]]
| followed_by = [[Children of the Mind]]
}}

'''''Xenocide''''' (first published in 1991) is the third book in the [[Ender's Game (series)|Ender's Game series]], a [[science fiction]] series by the American author [[Orson Scott Card]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The New York Times: Book Review Search Article |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/reviews/clarke-rama.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> It was first published during a period of increasing globalization and heightened awareness of cultural differences, and the writing reflects this in its techniques, mood, and emotive effect on the reader. ''Xenocide'' explores themes of [[communication]], [[xenophobia]], and the potential dangers of advanced technology. 

''Xenocide'' was nominated for both the [[Hugo Award]] and [[Locus Award for Best Novel|Locus Awards for Best Novel]] in 1992.<ref name="WWE-1992"></ref> 

==Background==
Card incorporated elements from his earlier publication, ''[[Gloriously Bright]]'', from the January 1991 issue of ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact]]'', into the novel''.'' 

''Xenocide'' refers to the "killing or attempted killing of an entire alien species."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | author = Prucher, Jeff | date = 2024 | orig-date = 2006 | title = The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction | chapter = Xenocide | location = Oxford, England | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 9780199891405 | doi = 10.1093/acref/9780195305678.001.0001 | url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195305678.001.0001/acref-9780195305678-e-876?rskey=0OIoV9&result=886 | access-date = 21 July 2024 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> 

'[[wikt:xeno-|''Xeno-'']]' comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word for "stranger, foreigner, or host;"<ref>{{cite web | author = Harper, Douglas & Etymonline Staff | date = 2024 | title = xeno- | work = [[Etymology Online]] | url = https://www.etymonline.com/word/xeno-#etymonline_v_40260 | access-date = 21 July 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = OED Staff | date = 2024 | title = xeno- | work = [[OED.com]] | location = Oxford, England | publisher = Oxford University Press | url = https://www.oed.com/dictionary/xeno_combform? | access-date = 21 July 2024 | url-access = subscription}}</ref> 

'''-cide''<nowiki/>' is a word-forming element meaning "killing." From [[French language|French]] ''-cide'' and [[Latin]] ''-cidium'' meaning "a cutting, a killing."<ref>{{cite web | author = Harper, Douglas & Etymonline Staff | date = 2024 | title = -cide | work = [[Etymology Online]] | url = https://www.etymonline.com/word/-cide#etymonline_v_27128 | access-date = 21 July 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = OED Staff | date = 2024 | title = -cide | work = [[OED.com]] | location = Oxford, England | publisher = Oxford University Press | url = https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=-cide | access-date = 21 July 2024 | url-access = subscription}}</ref> 

==Plot summary==
In ''Xenocide'', the third book in Orson Scott Card's ''Ender's Game'' series, the planet Lusitania faces annihilation as the Starways Congress sends a fleet armed with the deadly "Molecular Disruption Device" to destroy it. Home to the alien species Pequeninos, the sentient insect Hive Queen, and humans—including Ender Wiggin and his family—the planet's inhabitants race to find solutions to their existential threats. Meanwhile, the genetically engineered inhabitants of the planet Path grapple with their religious devotion and mental conditioning as they uncover the secrets of their oppression. As the Lusitanians work to neutralize the Descolada virus—vital to the planet's ecosystem but deadly to humans—they also uncover the nature of faster-than-light travel using the mysterious force known as the "Outside." Through this discovery, they transport the endangered species and themselves to safety, thwarting the Congress's fleet and preserving their world.

==Reception==
''Xenocide'' received recognition in the science fiction community with nominations for the [[Hugo Award]] and the [[Locus Award]] for Best Novel in 1992.<ref name="WWE-1992">{{cite web |author=WWE Staff |date=21 July 2024 |title=1992 Award Winners & Nominees |url=http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814201626/http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1992 |archive-date=2009-08-14 |access-date=2009-07-15 |work=Worlds Without End |publisher=Tres Barbas, LLC |location=}}</ref>

The [[The New York Times Book Review|New York Times Book Review]] offered a mixed assessment of ''Xenocide'' in 1991. The review recognized the novel's ambitious philosophical themes but also criticized its pacing and dialogue, suggesting that the complex ideas could have been more impactful in a more concise format.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[List of Ender's Game characters|List of ''Ender's Game'' characters]]
* [[Orson Scott Card bibliography]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/xenocide/xenocide.shtml About the novel ''Xenocide'' from Card's website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518215101/http://www.hatrack.com/osc/books/xenocide/xenocide.shtml |date=May 18, 2008 }}
* {{isfdb title|id=775|title=Xenocide}}

{{Orson Scott Card |enderstate=expanded}}

[[Category:1991 American novels]]
[[Category:1991 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:American science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Ender's Game series books]]
[[Category:Tor Books books]]
[[Category:Fiction set in the 6th millennium]]
[[Category:Novels about obsessive–compulsive disorder]]