Harry Potter in Space
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Perhaps I'm being a little unfair to this book. After all, Ender's Game was written well before Harry Potter.
In any case, this is the story of a clever little boy named Ender, who gets bullied at home and at school. But then, he receives an invitation to a prestigious school. At that school, he bullied again by some nasty boys. But he makes some friends and wins people's respect by being very good at a game. Eventually, the world is faced with an impending apocalypse, and the boy ends up saving us all.
Cute story. And Orson Scott Card's unpretentiously simple but effective writing style makes the book a very easy and at times even engrossing read. But it is mostly written as a children's book that adults can enjoy as well.
Having said that, where Harry Potter is ultimately a very likeable character, Ender is not. In fact, one could argue that he's a murdering psychopath. The author suggests that Ender is merely a victim of circumstances and essentially does what is right. The morale of the story seems to be that violence is often the best way out of a tricky situations, and one should "shoot first, ask questions later". If you're looking for a good, reasonably clean adventure story for your kids with a strong pro-military flavour that suggest they should be tough and stay clear of wooly liberal notions of peaceful solutions to problems, then this is an excellent purchase.
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ender's game
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I must have read thousands of books in my life. Ender's Game is the only book that I have read from cover to cover three times, and re-read the end over and over again. I read the sequels, and Ender's Shadow is excellent, but nothing compares to the original Ender's Game. It is an amazing book. Every time you read it you discover something new.
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Ender's Game
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Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is quite simply a science fiction classic. Orson Scott Card's background in humanities rather than science provides an interesting take on the genre and coupled with some strong underlying themes, this leads to a surprisingly accessible novel even for those with no interest in science fiction.
Earth has survived two attacks by an alien insectal race called "Buggers". In order to ensure Earth's survival all the brightest and most gifted children are taken into service of the International Fleet and are trained to be officers and commanders in space, the youngest based at the Battle School - home of a war game where teams of children compete against each trying to disable the other team's "gate", all in zero gravity with laser quest like weapons. The story follows Ender Wiggin - an extraordinary talented 6 year old - from Earth to Battle School and his career in the game and his grooming to become command of Earth's fleets against the Buggers.
The plot is simple but the underlying themes complex, alienation and loneliness, the nature of games and rules; the capabilities of youth and their relationship with adults; compassion and ruthlessness; power and ethics; what it is to be human and of course war. In the sequels and later writing Card often falls for the common mistake of telling us rather than showing us these themes and lecturing at points however in Ender's Game he makes none of these mistakes leading to a surprisingly tight novel. In its brevity we see Card's writing at its best, well paced, well described - Ender's game is an emotional moral ride which never loses its sense of fun and wonder.
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A major disappointment
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Just finished the book, and was glad to see the back of it. I found it very repetitive and shallow. I just couldn't empathise with any of the characters.
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A thought-provoking, exciting, and emotional novel
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Ender's Game is a book that will speak directly to whoever reads it, for it is about loneliness and specialist expertise - two things that everyone is familiar with in their own lives, in one way or another.
Ender is a young prodigy space battle commander whose adventures through training school make up most of the book. Ender makes friends and enemies, and must deal with life in a world where no-one understands him, except his sister who he never sees because she is on Earth while he is training in space.
The book covers a lot of different topics, but principle among Card's many theses is that to beat an enemy one must understand them completely: one must - in a manner of speaking - love them. This is a powerful notion and one that is explored in detail, with a very emotionally resonant ending and surprise epilogue.
I particularly enjoyed the videogame which Ender returns to throughout the book, where he is exploring an alien planet and battling various nightmarish foes, solving puzzles, and put under extreme emotional strain. It reminded me of the kind of videogames we are beginning to see nowadays (such as Shadow of the Colossus) and I was amazed an author had come up with it so many years ago.
An emotional and intelligent book, for adults and children alike.
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