Ender's Game

Ender's Game was first published in August 1977 as a novelette in Analog magazine. Card later expanded that short story into a full-length book, which is now his best known novel. Ender's Game is a vision of the future in which gifted children are used to fight in an adult war against alien invaders. It will challenge your assumptions of reality.

While written with YA readers in mind, Ender's Game can be enjoyed by readers of any age from 12 on up. The book is clearly Science Fiction yet is not so technical that it can't be understood easily. There's enough room to imgaine yourself in Ender's world - which makes this a wonderful escape from the pressures of everyday life. At the end of the story, most readers are hungry for more, which the author has provided. This was the first but is most definitely not the last novel starring Ender and his friends.

If you like Science Fiction, this is clearly a book you should read.

Have you ever had the feeling when you were drawn into a book? Have you ever felt like you were hooked and loved reading it? I hoped my experience reading Ender's Game would be like this. I went to a book store to pick out this book that was on a list of possible books to read over the summer. I needed to chose one to read. This book is LONG with SMALL print. It's 300+ pages! I had 3 weeks before school started. My dad and the store clerk told me stories of people saying "My teenager won't read, but then when he picked up this book, he couldn't stop reading." I got convinced and put down a book that I was going to get since it was less than 200 pages. I was convinced I would enjoy reading a book that was longer, but "more interesting". I chose Ender's Game. I read and kept waiting for the moment where I would be "drawn into the book". I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting...Guess What...THAT MOMENT NEVER CAME. I never had the feeling I was drawn into the book. It was still good, but nothing special. I gave it two stars since when I look back on it, it wasn't too bad of a reading experience. But I had very little time to finish the book, and it was 300+ pages of stuff that didn't interest me. I have had past experiences of being "drawn into the book", I enjoy those, it makes reading more fun, even if it's for school (which reading for school usually isn't as fun). I hoped that it would happen with this book, but it didn't. Me and my dad have learned to think harder before assuming I will get drawn into the book. So overall, this book is LONG. 300+ pages of SMALL print. If you really enjoy stuff about battling and wars, you may like this book. I like that stuff, but I didn't like the details on it this book explained. Overall, it wasn't a good match for me. Think hard before committing to reading this. Also, since this is a long book, I would recommend reading it for fun, not for a school assignment (unless you absolutely have to).

It has been a while since I've read a book that was momentous, that you knew was something great as you were reading it, something that stood for something more than simply the storyline. Usually it is found in fiction, such as Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!, Morrison's Paradise and Steinbeck's East of Eden. Tolkien in fantasy did it. But I've never come across a book in science fiction that could evoke such a feeling. To this point I've loved science fiction for entertainment, for a fun and interesting and different genre to read. With Ender's Game I was finally introduced to all of that, plus the great writing and true and deep story that made the above mentioned books so great. I didn't think sci fi could do it, but Card certainly did it.

There isn't anything awe inspiring, earth shattering, or fly by the seat of your pants action. What Card does is inspire the characters, gives them a human feel, and then puts them in impossible situations that they can exceed in. Little Ender was the best of the best, and he continually accomplished everything he put his mind to. Card doesn't trivialize this or hide it. In fact it is made clear from the beginning. What makes this so believable is the emotions that little Ender Wiggin goes through that makes him so great. This was what Card excelled at, in giving Ender a human face that the reader could sympathize with, could laugh with, could cheer on and believe in. Add to that a fluid storyline that had nary a hiccup, and you have one amazing science fiction novel.

I particularly liked how each chapter started with a third person omniscience, letting the reader spy on the overseers of the children, spy on the commanders and leaders of Earth. Their insights helped guide the novel, yet not diminish what was happening. A literary device that added flavor and character to the story itself.

I can't say enough about this book. I am sad that it took me this long to finally get around to reading it. Ender's Game is an absolute gem of a book that any sci fi lover should read, and, dare I say, others not interested in sci fi should read as well. A definite recommend for the book and the author.

5 stars.

This is my favorite sci-fi book of all time. I highly recommend it.
Ian Sassoon

Imagine a futuristic earth-world where buggers and astronauts has replaced cowboys and Indians as children's make-believe game of choice, space travel has replaced automobiles, and the planet's citizens' primary concern is to defeat an alien race before it can annihilate them.

After the powers that be decide that his too cruel brother, Peter, and too mild sister, Valentine, don't have what it takes, a third Wiggin child, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, is created in hopes that his intelligence, abilities and temperament will prove to be just right for his sole purpose in life: to become an officer in the International Fleet capable of defeating the enemy. Constantly watched (through the use of a device implanted in his brain) and tested, at age six, he is strong-armed into choosing to attend Battle School, where, they tell him, (p 24) "It's like playing buggers and astronauts-except that you have weapons that work, and fellow soldiers fighting beside you, and your whole future and the future of the human race depends on how well you learn, how well you fight." And where he won't be eligible for his first leave until he is twelve-years old. Might one small boy have what it takes to survive the rigorous training, defeat the buggers, and save the human race?

Ender's Game, especially in the detail and visual descriptions of the battle scenes, is a wonderful sci-fi story about a brave little boy who holds the future of the human race in his hands. With a relatively high incidence of profanity (illegitimate male, the hot place), violence (including death), and enough references to flatulence to tire even the silliest of children, the suggested age of "10 and up" might be a bit in the low side. Also good: The Giver by Lois Lowery, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (though sexist), and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.