Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
Author's Description:
“THE HUMAN RACE FACES ANNIHILATION
An alien threat is on the horizon, ready to strike. And if humanity is to be defended, the government must create the greatest military commander in history.
The brilliant young Ender Wiggin is their last hope. But first he must survive the rigours of a brutal military training program - to prove that he can be the leader of all leaders.
A saviour for mankind must be produced, through whatever means possible. But are they creating a hero or a monster?”
An alien threat is on the horizon, ready to strike. And if humanity is to be defended, the government must create the greatest military commander in history.
The brilliant young Ender Wiggin is their last hope. But first he must survive the rigours of a brutal military training program - to prove that he can be the leader of all leaders.
A saviour for mankind must be produced, through whatever means possible. But are they creating a hero or a monster?”
My Review - Rating - 8/10
I first read Ender’s Game in fifth grade. At the time, I didn’t fully understand the book, and so I put it down halfway through and it stayed on my shelf for years. I read it again in eighth grade, and I really enjoyed it - the conflicts present throughout the novel, Ender’s growth, and the social situation and pressures he was forced to navigate were all really interesting to me, although parts of the story were far darker than what I was used to. I came back to it again this year while on a break from school, and I’m surprised to see how much my perspective on the book has changed. The book’s basic premise - humanity needs to race against the clock and do anything necessary in a desperate race for survival against an alien enemy - is unoriginal, but the way in which the author approached the main character and his journey to facing this threat is totally new (readers beware, some moderate spoilers ahead - nothing to ruin the plot or any main events, but some things which the reader isn’t told at the start of the book). Ender, a six-year-old genius, is taken by a supranational body to a an academy for child geniuses, with the goal of producing the leaders who can take on the “buggers,” an alien race which humanity has narrowly survived two wars with. Card doesn’t really emphasize the threat facing Earth - it’s mentioned from day one, but only in references, occasionally used to justify the abuse Ender is put through but mostly used in dialogue as a curse or insult. There isn’t a great sense of the stakes, and never a real sense of urgency, at least not for the reader or Ender. I think I would have found the book a bit more interesting if there was a greater emphasis on the threat and stakes, but this wasn’t a significant issue, because the aspects of the book which Card actually focused on were excellent. Throughout the book, one of the main themes and points of conflict is Ender’s interaction with his peers. Throughout the book, he’s hated by his peers for being different and seen as better, and the ways in which Ender copes with this, tries to escape his social isolation, and interacts with his peers is a constant, recurring, and very interesting theme. The way in which the adult characters in this book exploit, abuse, and intimidate children in order to make them “better” commanders, tacticians, and killers, is deeply disturbing. The book is graphic in some places, and can definitely be hard to read. But the way in which Ender struggles against or is coerced by this horrible system is incredibly engaging and interesting to read. I found myself rooting for Ender in his social, physical, and academic struggles, and this dynamic was more than enough to make up for the lackluster alien menace. Towards the end of the book, this theme is played down and the author instead focuses on the alien menace and Ender’s race to improve and confront them, which was interesting, but nowhere near as engaging as the middle, main part of the book was. I found the ending, which (to avoid spoilers) I’ll only describe as an out-of-character and illogical deus ex machina, deeply unsatisfying, but I’d still recommend reading this book just for the earlier parts of the story. Overall, the author did a great job of developing Ender as a complex character, and chronicling his internal and external struggles, and that not only saved the book, but also made it into a highly entertaining story.
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