Ender's Game (The Ender Quintet)
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Community Reviews
A thought-provoking read. No. Actually, it was a cruel read. But that was its intent.
The plot line is centered around a fragmentary, frightened Earth, where humans are in the middle of a war with "the buggers," families are only allowed to have two children due to overpopulation, and children are monitored for their potential as future heads of the military. It is a cold, all too probable idea of the world's future.
*SPOILERS*
What I did like about this story was that it felt very real. The way the Internet was portrayed (where children could masquerade as adults and voices in the crowd could sway entire countries), the little details about space travel, the slightly differentiated lingo of the boys in the school, and lots of other things that just felt right and helped make the story feel complete. I also really liked the ending. There was a beautiful understanding at the end between Ender and the Buggers. The whole "speaker for the dead" was a creative and lovely idea.
What I didn't like was also substantial. I didn't like the portrayal of children. However, this was a personal preference. It worked with the story. The children were completely mistreated, manhandled, forced to grow up years before their time, and were subjected to the worst training methods possible. It made me sick. I regularly work with children, as well, so it upset me more than I'd like to admit thinking about any of the kids I know being put through that. The children don't even sound like children, though. It made the idea that they were in the same positions as adults more believable, but it made you forget what they were. The narration had to keep reminding the audience how old most of the characters were, which at times felt very forced. The last thing I really didn't like was "the buggers". I am kinda getting sick of bad guys who are bad guys just because the people in power need a bad guy, and there's no real reasoning behind it. I understand that that's kind of the point (e.g. why are they even fighting this war), but it was way too "let's-make-the-Nazis-the-bad-guys-oops-now-it's-Commies-oops-now-its-terrorists". Maybe it's just my perspective as an American who has watched a lot of silly, unrealistic action-adventure movies. Maybe I just wanted the depth at the end to come closer to the beginning. Maybe I just don't appreciate that type of storytelling.
My overall feeling from this book, though, is that it was a good one. I had originally started reading it in high school. I remember thinking it brutal. I stopped because of time constraints, no real other reason, and didn't get back to it for the same time constraint reasons. My husband and I got it on audiobook for a short road trip, and it was the perfect length. Plus, listening to it made it a little more palatable in terms of the gruesome bits and the blatant brutality.
It was a good read. Definitely one of those classic pieces of sci-fi that is required reading for a nice, broad literature background. I may even check out the sequel.
The plot line is centered around a fragmentary, frightened Earth, where humans are in the middle of a war with "the buggers," families are only allowed to have two children due to overpopulation, and children are monitored for their potential as future heads of the military. It is a cold, all too probable idea of the world's future.
*SPOILERS*
What I did like about this story was that it felt very real. The way the Internet was portrayed (where children could masquerade as adults and voices in the crowd could sway entire countries), the little details about space travel, the slightly differentiated lingo of the boys in the school, and lots of other things that just felt right and helped make the story feel complete. I also really liked the ending. There was a beautiful understanding at the end between Ender and the Buggers. The whole "speaker for the dead" was a creative and lovely idea.
What I didn't like was also substantial. I didn't like the portrayal of children. However, this was a personal preference. It worked with the story. The children were completely mistreated, manhandled, forced to grow up years before their time, and were subjected to the worst training methods possible. It made me sick. I regularly work with children, as well, so it upset me more than I'd like to admit thinking about any of the kids I know being put through that. The children don't even sound like children, though. It made the idea that they were in the same positions as adults more believable, but it made you forget what they were. The narration had to keep reminding the audience how old most of the characters were, which at times felt very forced. The last thing I really didn't like was "the buggers". I am kinda getting sick of bad guys who are bad guys just because the people in power need a bad guy, and there's no real reasoning behind it. I understand that that's kind of the point (e.g. why are they even fighting this war), but it was way too "let's-make-the-Nazis-the-bad-guys-oops-now-it's-Commies-oops-now-its-terrorists". Maybe it's just my perspective as an American who has watched a lot of silly, unrealistic action-adventure movies. Maybe I just wanted the depth at the end to come closer to the beginning. Maybe I just don't appreciate that type of storytelling.
My overall feeling from this book, though, is that it was a good one. I had originally started reading it in high school. I remember thinking it brutal. I stopped because of time constraints, no real other reason, and didn't get back to it for the same time constraint reasons. My husband and I got it on audiobook for a short road trip, and it was the perfect length. Plus, listening to it made it a little more palatable in terms of the gruesome bits and the blatant brutality.
It was a good read. Definitely one of those classic pieces of sci-fi that is required reading for a nice, broad literature background. I may even check out the sequel.
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