Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1) in Fantasy-Faction.com

Aug 05, 2014 T.O. Munro rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

The version I read had an author's preface which Orson Scott Card was sort of apologetic about writing and urged any reader who wished to, to skip straight to the story saying that's what he would have done. However, I read it because - as I get older I am finding it interesting to see a little bit inside the author's mind before I see inside their books. It certainly helped me to know that
a) this was inspired by the author's admiration for the difference great generalship made in civil war hist The version I read had an author's preface which Orson Scott Card was sort of apologetic about writing and urged any reader who wished to, to skip straight to the story saying that's what he would have done. However, I read it because - as I get older I am finding it interesting to see a little bit inside the author's mind before I see inside their books. It certainly helped me to know that
a) this was inspired by the author's admiration for the difference great generalship made in civil war history.
b) that the idea of training for the particular vagaries of zero-G combat was a key question for him when he considered future/sci-fi warfare
c) that he wasn't really bothered if people disagreed with the adult way his 6 and 8 and 10 year old child prodigies spoke
d) that he came from a strong religious background.
I also knew that there are those with deep reservations about the views and attitudes the author set out in real life and I have seen one review that even graded the book purely on their views of the author.

These small insights certainly helped in my reading of the book - they insulated me from some of the bumps and rattles in the way that good suspension can ease the drive along a bumpy road.

On its own merits this is a good book, I read it in a day, eager to see the end, worried for how the characters would defeat their internal and external battles, the real and the simulated. If you are prepared to be swept along by the story, as I was, then this entertains and packs a good punch in its twisting endings.

Given that the book was written before the invention of the internet, its belief in the power of what is essentially social media to control, and even manufacture opinion is prescient. The notion of a each student having apparatus described as "desk" which, in its description, so resembles a tablet computer is another accurate shot taken at the future. The structure of the book was engaging. Each chapter was preceded by a brief conversation between Ender's adult minders about his development and their plans for him, those plans then unfolding in the subsequent writing.

Its weaknesses? The characters reveal a casual racism which is fairly indiscriminate, one could say that these are the realistic prejudices of different nationalities, though again that conflicts with the idea that these are also children. They are written to my mind more as young adults, and I always thought of them more as teenagers than the underage video gamers that they were. However, the identity of race as a disparaging feature made me uncomfortable in places.

There is a plot point too that disturbed me. In combat Ender frequently succeeds by making tactical use of the effect of shots taken by his soldiers. It's like zero gravity paint ball wars, the kind that my wife and daughters went on and immediately shot themselves in the foot just to get the hell out of there. Only in Ender's case, the shots only disable/freeze the body parts that the shot hits. Paralysing legs, arms etc. Now, forgive me but I could expect that in the zero-G vacuum of space a shot anywhere on the suit would be pretty fatal, either an explosive decompression or a serious injury. But Ender makes repeated use of accepting a degree of "frozenness" to secure a good position and that is where the premise of the whole book wore thin for me. If the idea was to develop military genius through realistic combat simulation, Ender's tactics would actually lead to him being a general leading an army of crippled soldiers by the second fight. Not getting hit at all is surely a more important strategic combat aim than accepting a degree of personal injury for a momentary tactical advantage.

Still, the plot twists enough, the story rattles along reasonably well, it's a good one day read. ...more

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Mar 24, 2015 Tom Owens rated it it was ok

Set in the near-future it follows the story of Ender, boy born as a third child in a world where population is controlled and two is generally the maximum. But Ender was "requested" by the government because his genetic make-up shows promising signs of him being suitable to be trained up as a commander for the next phase of the ongoing war between the humans and the "buggers".

Ender's oldest sibling was deemed to be dangerously psychotic but his sister was described as being too passive. Ender wa Set in the near-future it follows the story of Ender, boy born as a third child in a world where population is controlled and two is generally the maximum. But Ender was "requested" by the government because his genetic make-up shows promising signs of him being suitable to be trained up as a commander for the next phase of the ongoing war between the humans and the "buggers".

Ender's oldest sibling was deemed to be dangerously psychotic but his sister was described as being too passive. Ender was requested to be a balance in the middle.

The story focuses on Ender's training and deployment as well following his siblings and their roles in the ongoing political strife and turmoil back on Earth.

I have to say that I was disappointed. I don't know whether it is that the book didn't deliver what I was expecting or something else but I just didn't take to this. It wasn't bad but it didn't grip me, pull me in or even excite me in any way beyond "this is OK".

I found that I didn't identify or empathise with any of the main characters and found some of their evolutions and their maturing through the book to be downright bizarre. I know that this is set in a universe outside our own parameters to an extent and therefore you have to approach things with an air of knowing that the same rules don't apply. But I found myself thinking that the likelihood of what happened with Peter and Valentine was stretching the limits of my credulity beyond the normal expected levels within this particular type of genre.

It was just that I found the concept of these two kids doing what they did and the world reacting in the way it did to be a bit, well to be honest, a bit far-fetched. Again, I know we are operating outside normal parameters but this felt too far outside the normal parameters and at odds with what I thought the rest of the book was looking at.

And as for the character of Ender, I just didn't get him. I understand the concept of what happens to him but I just didn't "feel" his reactions, his behaviour and his progression to be that natural. In fact I intensely disliked the guy by the end and (while anti-heroes aren't all sweetness and light) I don't think I was supposed to react to him in this way. Maybe that was the idea all along, but I doubt it?

The plot also felt stunted to me. There were lucid sections but a lot of it felt stapled together and I found the pacing to be frustrating and inconsistent. Again I had problems with Card setting up the universe in a certain way and then operating (what I felt was) outside these parameters. Maybe I was already biased at this point but I didn't find myself offering the benefit of the doubt when the story lapsed into quiet periods.

I didn't particularly enjoy the denouement either, it felt a bit forced and by then I admit I was just desperate to get through it!

So generally I didn't really take to Ender's Game. I know Card has written as vast amount of additional material set in this universe but to be honest I can't see me reading it. It is very rare for me to get into a universe and not become immersed but this just hasn't held my attention at all.

There are good elements and some of the descriptions and parts of the story/world were impressive, I just think there are better series out there and certainly better options for the big-screen treatment.

Verdict: 2 stars out of 5 ...more

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