Book Review – Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game”
Just yesterday I finished reading the classic science fiction tale, Ender’s Game.
Ordinarily, I’m not a fan of the sci-fi genre. Well, at least in books. I love a good science fiction movie, whether it’s a sci-fi/horror film like Event Horizon, an action-oriented movie like The Fifth Element, or just an interesting tale such as 2001: A Space Odyssey. But when it comes to actually reading science fiction books, that’s normally where I fall a bit short.
I guess the main reason why I normally turn away from science fiction books is that it’s just too difficult for me to imagine the scenarios, whether it’s aboard a super advanced spaceship or involving a weird alien creature or strange world. That’s a big reason why I have yet to really sit back and start reading fantasy novels.
Ender’s Game has changed my outlook on science fiction literature.
Ender’s Game follows along as Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is selected to become part of the I.F., the International Fleet. His fighting and decision skills have been noted and the six-year-old boy has been selected to attend the elite Battle School, where graduation could ultimately lead to commanding not only a starship but an entire fleet of them. But first he has to survive Battle School and earn the respect of his fellow classmates, all while avoiding being killed by a bully.
The majority of Ender’s Game takes place as the young Ender attends Battle School. The orbiting space station has artificial gravity throughout most of the complex, but the Battle Room, the room where simulated battles between squads and companies of student soldiers takes place, is in zero-gravity. While first being thought of as a nobody and runt of the group, Ender spends his time practicing with game simulators and practicing his zero-g “flying” skills. His advanced mind quickly creates strategies, and it isn’t long before he’s showing leadership and is advanced to the next level of training well ahead of his classmates.
The story follows Ender as he tackles one problem after another, from disgruntled older classmates to handling the pressure of commanding a company of the worst student soldiers in Battle School. Ender’s style works, and battle after simulated battle, Ender’s Dragon Company is the fiercest in the program. The instructors keep adding more and more pressure, but the young leader succeeds. Ultimately Ender is advanced to the elite Command School and he nearly reaches his breaking point.
Just when you’re ready for a sequel to the story, a plot twist ends that hope. I had a feeling that it was approaching, and in my opinion I wish that it didn’t occur. But it did and that’s that. Oh, there are plenty of sequels to this story. I checked them out on Amazon. I just don’t believe that I’ll spend more time on this series in the future. This first novel was outstanding until the end and I’m satisfied at that point.
An interesting part of this story involves the enemy. Not the enemies of mental obstacles, excessive stress, and bullies in school, but the actual threat from outer space — the buggers as they’re known in the story. Apparently two wars for survival have occurred before the events in this novel, and Ender and his classmates are preparing to be ready to fight in the third war, fighting for the survival of not just the United States but the entire planet Earth.
Not much is revealed about the buggers until the very end of the story. We know that they are menacing killers capable of not only learning the human’s fighting strategies and adapting to them, but also constructing outposts in deep space and being capable of interstellar space travel and space combat. They certainly are crafty buggers, that’s for sure. But yes, they’re bugs.
Ender’s Game is a great way for people to try out the science fiction genre. The terminology is rather simple, the battle simulations are fascinating and easy to follow, and the simulations of space combat are a lot of fun. There are no fancy terms to describe the ships or the environment itself. Descriptions are simple as the main emphasis is following the young boy through his training.
My only issue with Ender’s Game, disregarding the plot twist near the end, is that the characters are so young. I know that the story takes place in the near future and those are different times, and most of the students are quite smart and gifted in intelligence, but the conversations and actions by them seem awfully advanced when you consider how young they are. Perhaps times were different in the mid 1970s and the dumbing down of society wasn’t as severe as it is today. The story itself has stayed solid since it was first published in 1977.
Ender’s Game was an entertaining and addictive read.
And just for fun, what science fiction movie comes to mind when you talk about humans going out and fighting bugs? Starship Troopers! Yes!
I read the novel Starship Troopers during my freshman year of college about a year after the movie premiered. I don’t remember much about it, but the time is approaching to read it again. Not yet, but soon. Very soon.