Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

[Chuck]

Ender’s Game written by Orson Scott Card
Reviewed by Chuck Dvorachek

The novel tells the story of a young boy, Ender Wiggin, who is sent to Battle School, a training academy, located somewhere in the Earth’s orbit, which was built to train people to become soldiers that will one day battle against a vast alien race known as "Buggers". Ender goes up there, trying his best to be promoted through the ranks of the school; his brother and sister are trying to keep earth at peace. For Ender, the training is tough. Eventually he is granted a very special teacher, who will help him to become a commander to save humanity from the Third Invasion. We meet many characters in the book. We meet Ender's family (which includes Ender, his mean brother Peter and his sister Valentine). We also have Colonel Graff and many other people of authority. Ender is also introduced to lots of friends (and enemies) at Battle School, some of them being Petra, Bonzo, Bean, Alai, Dink, Crazy Tom, Hot Soup and Carn Carby. All of these people have different personalities. Ender is brave, determined,and kind. He likes to find consolation together with Valentine. On the opposite side, Peter is less friendly. He would often joke about killing Ender when they were young and he even horrifies Valentine. All the boys and girls at Battle School behave differently. Some are friendly, some are unfriendly. Together, they create interesting relationships concerning Ender. Ender's Game has an interesting narrative style. Card has placed descriptions where appropriate, and he always narrates in an exciting manner. One way he provokes tension in the book is by having an unidentified narrator at the beginning of every chapter. At the beginning, the reader has no clue about who is narrating, which can be quite chilling, as the unknown narrator knows everything about Ender. Only gradually does the reader come to understand who the narrator is. Not only do we have an unknown narrator, but some chapters also switch between Ender's perspective and his family's situation.

To conclude, I would recommend this book to readers who are mainly interested in Science Fiction, or who are interested in knowing more about how people behave. However for younger readers, the language is moderately strong and also somewhat complex. The reason why I liked this book is because it follows a busy, unpredictable, action-packed plot, but the end of the novel has a strong enough meaning to make us reflect on our behavior and on the book's events. It is also gripping and exciting, and the reader never knows what will happen next. The beginning instantly reels you in, as the reader is stuck into an unknown world in the future. So much is unknown in the book; slowly everything is explained, as you constantly gather more information about the situation. Overall, I would recommend this book to readers because of its excitement, meaning and unpredictability.

[Brannon]

The Author of Ender's Game must have added in different perspectives for an artistic way of getting different angles across to the reader. Was it confusing or more exciting to read a story this way? I remember when reading the Percy Jackson series I loved all of the different perspectives. I love this idea along with having an action packed, unpredictable novel. It sounds like a roller-coaster of emotions! Ender's Game is definitely going on my must read list!

[Cody]

I've read Ender's Game as well and I agree that it is a great read. If you are looking for more story in the Ender's Game universe you could read Ender's Shadow, it gives more information on Bean and a fleshes out the Earth in the story a bit more.

[Erika]

I loved this book for the way it looks into human psychology. Most of Ender's battles are mental ones, and strategy is far more important than force or aggressive skill.

I would characterize Peter more as a borderline psychopath than simply "less friendly"! His character was very disturbing. But it is interesting how Ender reflects certain elements of Peter in order to survive, but also elements of his sensitive sister Valentine to remain humane.