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Ender's Game (The Ender Saga, 1)
From New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game--adapted to film starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford--is the classic Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction novel of a young boy's recruitment into the midst of an interstellar war.
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
Ender's Game / Ender in Exile / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind Ender's Shadow series
Ender's Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight Children of the Fleet The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
Earth Unaware / Earth Afire / Earth Awakens The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston)
The Swarm /The Hive Ender novellas
A War of Gifts /First Meetings
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Community Reviews
It's a powerful book for all ages. As an adult you get all the little symbolisms and if a youngster reads it (my child did) they get it as if its' a war game and he was just tired of playing.
I may try the second book: Speaker for the Dead but i feel it's too Sci-Fi for me.
Really powerful book.
I may try the second book: Speaker for the Dead but i feel it's too Sci-Fi for me.
Really powerful book.
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.
This book is wonderful. It subtly makes a HUGE point about the world while being completely entertaining. I couldn't put the book down. If you like sci-fi,this is definitely a great book for you to read.
Card has set up a dystopia that puts agism on its ear. Ender is a 6 year old genius who is being groomed to be the commander of the interspace army. I don't much care for battle descriptions generally, but these weren't endless play by plays, so I was good with that. What was really intriguing to me was the psychological machinations that Ender suffers through trying to figure out who to trust and how hard to try. Those are decisions we all make every day genius or not, and it made him a truly endearing character.
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