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Summary: Sci Fi for people who think they hate sci-fi
Review: The premise: In humanity's first encounter with an alien race, all the humans were wiped out. Since then, human society has been centered on producing military leaders capable of defeating the aliens in our next encounter. Ender Wiggin is seen as the child who may have the capability of leading humans to victory. The book chonicles his experiences in Battle School, where he and other kids train for the impending confrontation. While this plot is the superstructure, it's the substructure of the book that makes it great: young kids bearing enormous responsibility, in a hyper-competititive environment, being used for purposes they do not entirely comprehend. (SPOLIER WARNING: the next sentence contains information about the ending!)For anyone who's ever put everything they had into some goal or objective and been disasterously surprised by getting what they want, the ending of this book will resonate strongly. I am not much of a science fiction fan, but this is a great book.
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Summary: not really for adults
Review: if you are older than a teenager you will find the direction of the story pretty obvious. Children are the main characters and adults are to be "mistrusted." The aliens are a back-story to the "drama" of kids working togther as team. Card really needs to tackle deeper topics before he can be taken seriously. He compares himself to Asimov in the new introduction which leaves me speechless.I cannot believe the number of 5 star reviews this novel gets -- please read Neuromancer instead if you are looking for speculative insights about the near-future. Or maybe Snow Crash, but avoid this silly novel about kids who learn how to be "team-players"
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Summary: Main character I could relate with
Review: If I truly enjoy a piece of fiction it is always because I can relate with the characters somehow. No matter how good the plot, how smooth the writing style, how creative the setting; if the characters aren't believeable, I can't enjoy the book. Ender Wiggins suffers ordeals that I could understand, and responds to them in an intelligent, believeable manner. Believeable, that it, for a child genius of unprecidented intellect. An adult genius would not behave the way Ender does. A child of average intellect would not behave the way Ender does. The thought process Ender uses to analyze social situations in this book are what I can relate to most, because they are what I believe a child with superior intellect yet limited social experience might follow. He sizes up situations based not on experience, but logical thought, and responds in a very extreme manner, not yet having learned moderation through life experiences. Those who say that he does not behave in a believeable manner either don't remember what it was like to be a child, or lack the intelligence to imagine how a child of such vast genius would respond to things such as being bullied or pushed beyond their physical limits. Children seek immediate solutions. Acceptance by their peers and family is their whole world. Really, this book to me was a fun journey into the world of Ender's mind, allowing me to imagine doing the sorts of things I wish I had been clever enough to think of when I was his age. There are aliens, yes, and war games too. Yet these elements were merely plot devices to bring out the fullness of the title character.
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Summary: one of the best books i have read
Review: we had been given a list of books to read and among about a hundred of books, I found Ender's Game most interesting. I recommend this book to all those who are bored, like me now, and would like a good read. And for the science fiction lover, this is a must
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Summary: OSC's timeless classic does not fade with age
Review: I first read this book when I was 15 years old. At that time I had never heard of Orson Scott Card, and I recall being somewhat skeptical because my mother had picked up "Ender's Game" and its sequel while visiting the LDS book chain, Seagull Books. I'm a proud member of the LDS church, but especially at that age, I was loathe to embark upon a sappy, sermonizing, or otherwise heavy-handed LDS-influenced morality play. OSC had a rep as "The Mormon science fiction author" and I was actually hoping more for a Clancy-in-space type techno thriller. Well, suffice to say, "Ender's Game" blew my socks off. This is a very adult novel, because its themes and setting are entirely adult, but the main characters are engrossing if only because I think any child, teenager, and most adults, can immediately empathize with Ender, or any of his cohorts. Card has an uncanny ability to put the reader into Ender's head and thus we see as he sees, hurt as he hurts, so that by the time the novel is under way we are already caught up in Ender's tragic struggle to extract love and survival from a harsh, war-ready world. I won't spoil the plot, but the only portion of the novel that dates is the Warsaw Pact. Keep in mind that this book was written in a time when the Soviet era seemed like it would drag on forever, and you can understand Card's employ of this traditional monolithic bad guy. But even so, the Warsaw Pact is simply a sideshow compared to the built-up horror of the Buggers, who we do not truly come to know until the final chapter or two of the novel. I recently re-read "Ender's Game" after picking up the Bean-centered parallel novels "Ender's Shadow" and "Shadow of the Hegemon". I wanted to refresh myself on OSC's future history and the characters that dwell within it, before inserting myself into the Bean novels. I'm 28 now and have joined the military, and I am stunned once again at OSC's gripping prose, the sharpness of Ender's journey through the Battle School, the grim necessities of real war, and the remarkable currency of the International Fleet's pre-emptive strike against Earth's enemy. OSC is a masterfull writer, and "Ender's Game" is probably his finest work, even after all these years. I would especially recommend it as a terrific starter novel for kids between 10 and 15 years of age, especially if they enjoy science fiction programs such as Farscape, Star Trek, or motion pictures like the Star Wars saga. Parents especially might appreciate the fact that the tale is free from needless sex, profanity, and violence. "Ender's Game" is a terrific piece of SF literature, yet new readers and younger SF fans won't have any trouble plugging into Ender's world, and the drama within it.
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Summary: Insightful and Exciting!
Review: Orson Scott Card has quickly become one of my favorite authors, mostly because of his work with the Ender series. Card takes you on a four-book journey through the amazing life of a truly remarkable man. Ender's Game ends with Ender still in his teens, and in later books you are taken to the end of his life. Don't be fooled by the cover art. Spaceships and aliens play a relatively minor part in this story. Ender's Game is by far one of the best books I have ever read.
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Summary: not just for kids
Review: it's a book about kids (and specifically, one in particular), but the meaning, the truths, the larger ideas, go far beyond that of books written for kids. this is a novel that adults will enjoy just as much, and maybe more so, than kids will. because while it focuses on children, the concepts of the book include such "adult" themes as war, superior intelligence, social interaction, inner-turmoil, and moral confliction. "ender's game" is the story of ender wiggin, a child genius who, like so many other child geniuses, is raised and trained for one sole purpose: to defeat an alien species who would otherwise destroy earth and all of humanity. without going into too much plot detail (for this is a story that's best "discovered" as you read, and not to be given away at all), ender is one of thousands of children who are hand-picked as being the brightest children humanity has to offer. these children, at ages as young as five, are sent to the outer space battle school, where they spend several years training to weed out "just the best," so that the "best of the best" may continue their education to find the one who will someday become the supreme commander in the war against "the buggers." training consists of mock battles in a huge, zero gravity "battle room," where armies face off against each other. but this story is SO much more than kids and war games. ender wiggins is one of the most complex characters a book has been centered on. and he's a kid, for goodness sake! what is it about ender that makes him stand above his genius peers? what does he possess, that many others don't? and how will he fare when the administrators of the battle school, who see so much in him, put more responsibility on his shoulders than any human being, let alone one who's only a child, should ever have to endure? the writing is fantastic. the characters are fleshed out extremely well. multiple plot lines are given their due justice, and woven together in a way that advaces the central plot, and makes sense to the whole of the book. this is truly one of those books that's hard to put down- it just keeps climaxing and climaxing, and with a stellar, super-surprise ending, leaves you satisfied and wishing for more. "ender's game" is not just sci-fi. it's a study of human psychology. of war. of love and hate. of survival. it's an outstanding read that i can highly reccomend to anyone, regardless of age or reading interests. the best praise i can give this book is that, i feel i've just wasted 10 minutes of my life trying to review it, because words cannot do it justice... and one more thing: just read it. it is a fantastic story, and you WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED. this is definately one for the ages.
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Summary: My first Sci Fi novel.
Review: This book was truly amazing .Card understands the human condition as Gene Wolffe said ,and it's true .Card also has an extensive form of creativity ,which I truly enjoyed .He also has a different form war ,not good and evil ,but mere misunderstanding between races .However,it is very disturbing ,in many ways .Here is the basic plot :Earth as been raided twice by the buggers (aliens)and the second time the human race was nearly wiped out .The I.F.(international fleet) wants to prevent this as much as possible ,so they are training children in a battle school at the Asteroid Belt .Ender(Andrew)Wiggin has been observed by the I.F. for six years,and is accepted into the school .He is brilliant ,and many of the students dislike him .But his talent will bring him from Battle School to battl with the buggers.
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Summary: Too much hype for sure!
Review: Geez, I was told that this book was so amazing and it was compared to Dan Simmons and his Hyperion series. PLease, please, please! This book could have been read in 3rd grade!
This was such easy reading and I never really felt "there" in this book. It lacks depth in character and environment. It was, however, entertaining to read. I continued to read the next three books and they seem to be written by a completely different person! They are much better written but they still are not totally engrossing. Good book(s). Not great.
Those of you that truly want to be challenged on a totally magnificant level while being amazed at the story, read Hyperion! Sorry Orson.
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Summary: Pure Genius.
Review: I'm completely and utterly gobsmacked. It's been a long, long time since I've read a book I couldn't put down, even to sleep or to work or to think, and this book is a book like this. It completely engrossed me. I had read more adult Orson Scott Card and it had been good, but this was better than good. It was incredible, frightening, exciting, uplifling, depressing and marvellous. Ender WAS Ender, and nobody else. The ending must have been terrible to write; it ends in the only way it can. This book is brilliant; it makes you want to be a genius and fear being a genius. Pure Genius, from almost beginning to end.
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