Should and where to start reading?

[Noa]

I recently found Ender's Game series. I was thinking about reading it, but then found out that there is a massive timeline and crazy amount of books and events that happen. Also in different media. The movie will be released in a few months too.

I was just wondering, is it a good book and series, should I read it, and what order should I read it in.

It looks as crazy as Star Wars stuff.

[Gary]

Well... this probably isn't the kind of answer you're looking for, but since you asked.

Personally, I didn't think this was a good book. I haven't written up a review of it, but I gave it three stars (2.5 might be more accurate) on Goodreads for reasons that will become apparent in a moment. The plot is extremely derivative, the theme shallow and characters themselves a pretty obvious attempt to pander to the sense of inferiority that we all have as children in order to create a product that is meant to appeal to a certain basic emotional human flaw.

That said, Card is quite good at crafting that kind of a product. He has a talent for casting his characters as the victims, triumphing over overwhelming adversity regardless of how unlikely, unnecessary and affected that actual conflict might be. It's kind of a triumph of self-righteousness in prose... the rhetoric of the narcissist and overly enfranchised justifying their entitlement. In that sense, it's definitely worth reading because there's really no depth to which OSC will not sink in order to deconstruct morality in order portray Ender (clearly, his personal proxy) as the hero.

In that sense, it's something of a tour de force, and worth reading as a learning experience, so if you want to do a sort of metareading then it's strangely fascinating. It's like having a front row seat at a therapy session watching how elaborately and vociferously someone dealing with a deep-seated emotional problem will rationalize themselves.

If, on the other hand, you want to read it at face value alone, embracing the main character as a kind of personal rationalization for your own childhood inadequacies then it appears to also work really well as a sort of catharsis for a lot of people. I wasn't able to get past the rhetoric myself, but I do think most folks read it that way. They love the book because it validates them in the same way that I would suppose writing it validated OSC to himself.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the author's political views and his work as a leader in the anti-gay rights movement are for many people important factors in deciding whether they want to support his work. We don't know how much of his own money (if any) he has spent on anti-gay rights causes, but generally one does not serve on the board of directors of groups like the NOM without a personal contribution. Meaning, the profits he earns from his book and the forthcoming movie go, at least in some fashion, to supporting groups opposed to civil liberties for gay Americans.

Many people argue that his views do not appear in the book at all--but that's what Freud called "denial." They absolutely are in there... and they are more than a little chilling if recognized for what they are when they appear in text.

Again, I don't think that means you shouldn't read it out of hand, but it's worth noting in making your decision about how to acquire the book (library, second hand, borrow from a friend) and whether or not you want to see the film.

[Justin]

I started with Ender's Game, and continued on through the other 3 books of the Ender series as that was the order in which they were written. I have not read Ender in Exile yet. It was surprising how different Ender's Game is from Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. The first is more action and space faring sci-fi while the remaining three are much more philosophical and border on the edge of being a little preachy. That being said, I would recommend starting with Ender's Game and see if you like what you read.

[Andrew]

Give it a try. The second book is very different from the first, so I would recommend reading both before deciding if you want any more. ("Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the Dead") If you like the first book, but not the second, you could also perhaps try a related series which starts with "Ender's Shadow". Enjoy!

[Robert]

Well, setting aside the ethical/political dimensions, which are well-covered territory here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..., I am usually an advocate for read in publication order.

So:
Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind

Then, the Ender's Shadow sequence and Ender in Exile.

Note: there is a big chronology jump from EG to SftD. Ender is well into adulthood in the latter. The Ender's Shadow books occur concurrently with or in the years after Ender's Game. Ender in Exile occurs in the same time period, but actually between chapters of Ender's Game and shortly thereafter. Unlike some series, I don't think anything much is spoiled by reading in order of internal chronology.

Personally, I thought Xenocide and Children of the Mind could have been one shorter book. Other than Ender's Shadow itself, I didn't particularly enjoy that sequence. It humanized Ender's brother, Peter, a little too much for me. Ender in Exile was the last thing I read from Card. It seemed a fitting close to a series I enjoyed, but an author I find trouble supporting.

Also, most of his other writing just seemed to loose any of its dexterity for me. Both the aforementioned Ender's Shadow sequence and the Alvin Maker series (after book 3). That series ended so poorly and was poorly written by then.

So, it's up to you. If you can settle any ethical concerns in your own mind, go for it. (Maybe borrow them, rather than buy them?) I found several of the books fun.

[Robert]

Gary wrote: "Well... this probably isn't the kind of answer you're looking for, but since you asked. ..."

Gary, you have some interesting points here. I've never read EG with this perspective in mind. For that matter, I haven't read it since OSC's politics became a broadly known issue, so I can't speak to how much a reflection of them would jump out for me as a reader.

Ender's Game is very much an adolescent power fantasy, typical of much science fiction. I don't find it a flaw or derivative that he utilizes this trope. (I would be interested if you found it derivative of specific works, or just derivative in the general sense of, "oh, we seen this type of story before.")

The thing I find interesting in the whole controversy is that a major plot/theme point in the Ender cycle is that so much pain and destruction were caused by not being able to communicate with, empathize with, or even recognize the "alien" as anything but "other." The whole utlanning/framling/raman/varelse thing.

If you didn't know Card's real-world positions, you'ld take this as an endorsement striving to understand those that are different from oneself.

Card's real-world actions are so different from that, it mystifies and saddens me.

[Karla]

I read the first book and stopped there. I thought it was a decent read, but it didn't leave me with any desire to continue the series. This was probably because I didn't find the ending at all satisfying, and didn't feel like continuing the story down the path it appeared to be going. (Although, it's worth mentioning that I only read the book because a friend loaned it to me. I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise. I'm not a big sci-fi reader and this is not the kind of story that usually attracts me. If I had chanced to pick it up in a book store, I likely would have read the back cover and put it back down.)

I'd say if you're looking for something like "Star Wars" to look elsewhere. The first book takes place mainly in a futuristic military academy. I have no idea what the later stories are about, so I can't comment on their plots. But aside from being set in space, Ender's Game and Star Wars have little in common.

I never had the whole teenage power fantasy or revenge feel that some people apparently get from this book. The main character seemed to me to be more of a bright but extremely innocent kid who was very manipulated. (Which was probably the author's intent.) But everyone reads things differently. I didn't find many empathetic characters in the story either.

I do find the overall message of this book to very ironic considering the author's personal beliefs. The book is all about the consequences of blind hatred, while the author himself is very hateful individual. That pretty much destroys his credibility for me. Of course, whether or not you can look past that is a personal decision.

[Gary]

James wrote: "What are you referring to when you say a certain basic emotional flaw? I did not follow that at all."

I was getting at that sense of inadequacy and self-centeredness that goes with the whole childhood into adolescence thing. That period when we start to gain a little independence but still have no actual power or even self-possession. We all have to deal with it in one way or another. OSC wrote a book. Some people read one. Personally, I took karate lessons and took it out on perfectly harmless lumber....

[Gary]

James wrote: "I do get why a 10th grader would love the book, but what accounts for all the educated adults? "

That's a great question. I'd hate to speculate... but I will. ;)

Nah, really, I don't think we ever entirely get over that sense of powerlessness. Fortunately, there's the occasional OSC based drinking game to deal with it once one reaches a certain age, but I know my occasional reading is a childhood wish-fulfillment fantasy, and I'm not above something like gaming from time to time.

[Noa]

This is very thoughtful, it seems like the author is a genius in some manner for creating a world that sounds very well crafted and expanded all on his own. With barely any expanded media that isn't created by him.

I will got with publication order, since It was published that way and for the sense of discovery.

I heard about Orson Card's views before, but never paid it much attention. Howerver, after reading about it and finding out that his money, our money that we spend of his books and merchandise are going against LGBT community. It kind of puts me off, but I will find a way to read the book without supporting him.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship]

Great book! Nothing like Star Wars which I personally hate. Start with Ender's Game and continue the Ender's series first (next is Speaker for the Dead)

[Shannon]

I think this is a fantastic book. I got to the end and then read it through again immediately, which I pretty much never do. Ender's Game can stand alone, though I hear Speaker for the Dead is pretty good. I've read most of the Shadow series so far...the incongruities between the same characters in the two series are a tad annoying, but the political scene is dealt with in a far more interesting way than you'd think.

[Jonathon]

I loved the first book and just finished the second and didn't like that one. I don't think I'm finishing the series...but I may read Ender's Shadow as it takes place the same time as Ender's Game and I enjoyed that storyline more.

[Graham]

Read the book in four days. The first half was very interesting. The second half just seemed like a repeat of the first. We get it Enders the best he can never be defeated. I was kind of getting annoyed and skimming at that point. Then the finale and the aftermath struck me as very well done.

Turns out it was originally a short story. So I guess he stretched it to a novel length by repeating the earlier beats.

Don't know anything a out OSC's polititcal views but sounds like he is the opposite of his character Ender. Who transcends the hate of his story and reaches out to the hated. Kind of odd.

I agree

[Vicen Dongo]

I finished this book in two days, and I found it extremely addicting and -surprise- somehow similar to the Harry Potter series - you know, now Hogwarts is not in England but in the space. Also the end of the novel was very striking - there I was thinking, what has just happened?. Anyway I won't try the rest of the saga because I don't think I'd like them so much, but I'm longing for the movie to be released.

[Nora aka Diva]

Noa wrote: "I recently found Ender's Game series. I was thinking about reading it, but then found out that there is a massive timeline and crazy amount of books and events that happen. Also in different media...."

Start reading something else. It's crap and poorly written crap at that.