>Must be an interesting person to know. Years ago I went on a jag of reading his stuff and rather enjoyed a lot of it. Think I started with "Enders Game"

Me too... but got cold feet somewhere halfway the Homecoming series. The first guy I know to describe a functional matriarchate, only to set it as a stage to be torn down in the second book... and then about halfway through the second book I saw what he's doing (everything is a plot device, and the plot has to put the main character into a situation where he has to decide...). By the third and forth book I was already well on guessing the next chapter or next plot device, or seeing one event I'd know how it'll end etc.

Thumbs up for the worlds and technique, though - few are those who got me to read more than three of their books, and among them maybe three others with a better score (i.e. took me six books until I was able to guess what's next and which way will the plot go).