Ender's Game - Ender, Bk 1 Author:Orson Scott Card Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards — In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves ... more »more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut -- young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.
Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.« less
I read this book when I was 15 years old. I read it again when I was 25 and again at 35. It keeps getting better each time. I will no doubt read it again when I'm 45 and I will get even more from it then. This is a true classic, one which will be read, studied, dissected, and discussed for as long as people care about literature. Though primarily sci-fi, this book transceds genres. And though the hero is merely a child, children and adults will enjoy both the story and the telling. If you haven't read this one, what are you waiting for?
Amy P. (APetrick) reviewed Ender's Game (Ender, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 9
While I am a huge sci-fi fan, I am often disappointed by books that have great story lines but hard-to-relate-to protaganists. This book is a joyous exception to that unfortunate trend. Ender is an incredibly empathetic character. That's not to say that the action lags - the story has good pacing and the ending is satisfyingly climatic. Definitely one of those stories you continue to think about days after you've finished. I've already ordered the remaining installments in this series.
On EVERYONE's must read list...it does not disappoint. They even do college classes on this book, researching nuances, and sutleties that abound in this account of a lowly unwanted boy that saves the universe, and doesn't even know it.
In my personal opinion, this book is by far the best in the Ender Series by Orson Scott Card. You will not go wrong by reading this book. Excellent, excellent, excellent!
This is one of those books that changes how you look at life, and not just because a trick is being played here in these pages. Ender is a hero for people like me: people who dream of being a hero but can't figure out a way to do it on a great scale.
The two books that follow in the Ender Saga were a letdown, and I have yet to read beyond them. Ender's Game is a penultimate book; why go any further when you've found a book that rates (for me) the elusive ten?
Although it's meant for younger readers, I fell in love with it when I was 24. A great story about a young hero in a futuristic military world. I plan to read more of this series, but it seems to stand alone as a one-time read.
I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this. The introduction alone sidetracked me for a week with the Author's mention of what inspired him. All the books he mentioned were unknown to me and all of that history behind how the battle room was conceived in his mind made think whether this book was a good match for me.
It took me only a short weekend to finish the rest of the story and I'm elated I persevered. The story is not a light read but rather very profound and transcendental.
I loved Ender with his duality as a pacifist and a killer -although he didn't know it- He wanted to please those whom he loved and even feared. He made his choice based on love and in the end it paid off.
I some point I didn't believe there was a real war going with the aliens but not other than a plot to unleashed a new military leader to end global war on Earth. I won't say much not to spoil the plot but I was sold on the whole concept when the connection between Ender and the the other specie finally connected.
I loved the story at the end, getting there I was not fully convinced but everything fell into place and I can see the grandness of the vision the Author has of us a race and the means we might employ to stay into existence even if it means children get pushed to the limits beyond those of the adults handling them.
I can't say it was always an enjoyable read (children forced into violence and separation from their families) but it is one of those books that I'll always think about. What are the acceptable costs if the fate of the entire human race hangs in the balance? How much can an individual psychologically endure? Not for the faint of heart, but I am glad I read it.
This is a very good book. It has a bit of vilence but turns out to be a good leadership book. Target audience is children but adults can appreciate the book.
This was one of those books everyone recommended but I always kept putting off reading. I finally picked it up and it sat on my desk for at least a week before I randomly picked it up one evening... and didn't put it down until I was finished. Many people say that this book is brilliant and that can sometimes turn you off of a book but I am glad I ordered this because it is indeed brilliant. I highly suggest just trying it out because, like me, you just might not be able to stop reading!
I quite enjoyed this book. It was recommended to me about 15 or so years ago and I have finally just gotten around to reading it. I should have read it long ago, I'm glad I finally did. It was an interesting story. Ender's Game felt way less of a "Sci-Fi" book than it initially seemed to me. It was more a coming of age, war time book from an era not lived yet; featuring child geniuses! That being said, if you told me that before reading it, I probably wouldn't think that sounds interesting. Anyhow, the story was a great read, fast moving, and absorbing.
From the start I knew this wasn't a thing like the movie. American movie makers have to stray from books so much you can't tell they are the same thing. The book is rich in detail motivation insight plans and way. More adventure than the movie it is hard to believe little kids talk and think like these guys but read the prologue and discover why this isn't true for these highly gifted kids. It is interesting that this fiction has been used by the military and others as training! What better than the movie. Full of increasing tension and an interesting end. You should get his next book about Bean. That is a must read following this one
Haunting, chilling, and eerily written, Ender's Game is, simply, a mind game in itself. Where someone might usually feel sympathy for the protagonist, Ender is such a singular character that even at seven years old one merely wants to leave him alone and see him succeed in his task of defeating the alien force, also known as the "buggers." Personally, this is the foremost of Orson Scott Card's work (his subsequent books are mediocre, in my opinion). Ender's Game though, truly, is at the top of its genre.
I've always heard Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card touted as a modern classic and a must-read for all youths and adults who love sci-fi or reading in general. Needless to say, I've always wanted to read it, but I've just never made the time. Since it was the book club selection for this month, however, I made the time to read it, and I'm so happy I did! The story is centered around a young, gifted boy (six-years-old at the beginning of the book), Andrew (or "Ender" as his brother nicknames him). It is set in the future, and there are many societal rules (laws against over-population or religious practice of any kind, for example) that do not exist in today's society. The primary goal of children in this altered world is to become great commanders in the war against the "buggers"--aliens who have attacked Earth and been beaten back twice before the book's storyline. Ender is one of the young geniuses chosen to attend Battle School, and as his prospects become more and more promising, his life and his goals become more and more difficult and indecipherable.
We LOVE this book! Actually, we had a first copy of this book, but it had been read so many times it fell apart, so we got this second one to replace it. Great series!
30 years after it was written, it's a little outdated. I found several things annoying about this book, the dialog at the beginning of each chapter and the political themes, but this is just not my genre and I read it as part of my book club.
OSC won the Hugo and the Nebula Awards, 2 of Science Fiction's highest awards, with Ender's Game. And this book deserves them. The story of a child who is recruited to train as a military commander for a beseiged Earth desperate for a military genius. They train him, play mind-games with him, hoping he is smart enough, tough enough, resilient enough to pass through the fire and save them all.
6 year old "Ender" Wiggin has been monitored for the past three years. The world is in need of another great army commander, and they need one quick. Ender seems to be the best they have.
Through battle school Ender is going through physical and emotional battles as he is being shaped into who they want him to become, while battling who he wants to be.
Orson Scott Card is a brilliant author who has obviously put a lot of effort and time into this classic novel, and in result, it pulled me into the story and kept me there. His writing style is very simple and uncluttered, and the story world, characters, and plot are full of depth. I'm a huge fan of his.
