The series does tend to follow the law of diminishing returns. Speaker For The Dead feels more mature and literary, but was less fun to read. Xenocide and Child

The series does tend to follow the law of diminishing returns. Speaker For The Dead feels more mature and literary, but was less fun to read. Xenocide and Children of the Mind, in turn, are scarcely worth getting through, and the payoff at the end isn't worth the suspension of disbelief or, indeed, the trouble.