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Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)

Orson Scott Card

Start date: June 1, 2016

Finish date: June 30, 2016

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Winner - June 2016 - NPR Sci-Fi Fantasy Poll
[close] Winner - June 2016 - NPR Sci-Fi Fantasy Poll

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Group Reads

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What Members Thought

Jun 26, 2012 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, owned

This was the first experience I had reading a sci-fi novel taking place in space. I was skeptical about reading this, at first. My husband spent 3 years trying to get me to read it. And, yet again, he knows me so well and I should listen to hi more often because I LOVED this book. The characters are so richly created. From Ender to Valentine, Bean to Dink...Each play an impactful roll, not just in Ender's experience but the reader's as well. I was even more surprised that I continued to enjoy wh This was the first experience I had reading a sci-fi novel taking place in space. I was skeptical about reading this, at first. My husband spent 3 years trying to get me to read it. And, yet again, he knows me so well and I should listen to hi more often because I LOVED this book. The characters are so richly created. From Ender to Valentine, Bean to Dink...Each play an impactful roll, not just in Ender's experience but the reader's as well. I was even more surprised that I continued to enjoy when it got into the battle games with Ender. I felt like one of the kids. I wanted to suit up and kick some butt with them! I thought I would skim over military-like things in the novel. But I actually found it exciting too. I can see why it is required reading for Marine Corps (yes. It is, pretty cool, huh?).

While I know this can be a controversial story due to the nature of fighting with child soldiers, I really hope they do not dumb it down. Honestly, that emotional attachment I had for the characters was made because of that. As one gets older it is hard to turn off the motherly tendencies. I think that kind of emotional attachment makes this story even more engrossing. There is different kind of sympathy for the characters because it is parental, in some ways.

The only way I can describe this book, the reading, and do it justice is like this:
You know how when you play World of Warcraft or some game on X-box, and you can't put down the controller? There is this addiction to playing the game, continuously? You live, think, and breath the game for days at a time? Well friends, that's what reading this book was like. Even after I have finished it (or beat it) I still want more. Luckily there are like 12 more books from this saga/world I can read! Read it before the movie because who knows how that will go. They will either do great and piss off parents because of the whole kid soldier thing, or dumb it down and piss off readers.The story is worth the read and I do not think it will disappoint. ...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Mmars rated it it was amazing

I give this 5 stars, not because it's the best piece of science fiction out there, but because of its literary value as a gateway book to introduce SF to upper elementary youth and older. It's an "adult" book with a child protagonist that kids get and they can grow up with it. Though I haven't read the rest of the series, and intend to someday, I believe the Ender series gets more complex as, hopefully, do our reading skills. ...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Brittney rated it really liked it

I'd been meaning to read this one for quite awhile, and I finally got around to it. It takes a lot for a science fiction book to hit me and hold me, and that's exactly what this book did. I never saw the movie, but I knew it was about a kid in space from seeing all the trailers, and I could've gathered that much from the description. It's a little out there, but the book was pretty good overall. It was pretty even all the way through, which is the way I like a book. There weren't any parts that ...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Erma Talamante rated it it was amazing

Recommended by a friend, I really didn't think I'd like this one. I'm not much for the SciFi genre, but was pleasantly surprised by how in depth I fell into this world.

Hauntingly real and beautiful, the characters stick with you long after the last page has been finished. You get a sense of their world and situation, dragging you deep into Card's original world. You get the sense that you know Ender and his family, living his tragedy with him as he is taunted and harasses, and in a broken way, ...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Michelle Bacon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite, sci-fi, card-orson-scott

Very well written sci-fi book about a young boy who is taken from his family to train to battle the buggers that are taking over the Earth. I'm not a fan of sci-fi but this book has great points of reality to it that made it very enjoyable. ...more

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