I understand that some young readers may be packaged with the story, it seems that for the old galactic backpackers it will not be necessarily the same. All long narrative of military initiation of a young prodigy is sometimes just a little long. The characters lent to very young children (even pre-teens) are quite unrealistic. The theme of childhood-initiation of young geniuses had already been treated by the same author in his novel "blackmailers" (which was not displeased when I was younger). The beetle threat is not so original that it borrows in part to the Enduring Haldemann War or even Starship Troopers. I acknowledge that Orson Scott Card good premonition about the impact of "network" in a globalized world, For against his references to the Warsaw Pact, which were already rather old fashioned in the mid 80s, and the underlying idea of USA world leader, feel a bit too warmed Cold War. The final fall is not so surprising, as to the last lines, they are downright hokey.
In summary, say that it reads well, it's not unpleasant, but then to talk about masterpiece of military science fiction, all this seems to me an exaggeration, it is far short of a cycle Dune or the Foundation.
