Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Ender's Game

I'd heard so many good things about Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, but somehow I expected something completely different. I did really like it, it just wasn't what I thought it would be.

First of all, I thought it was a kids' book. It is, but the other YA stuff I've been reading lately has been WAY more innocent. I guess I wasn't expecting this to be so dark and serious. But I loved the way Ender developed, the way the story developed, the action, the other characters. I'd never read any book that's as much of a 'boy book' as this - guns, armies, strategy. It really opened my eyes to a whole new world of books - and this is the first in a series, I wonder if the following books are any good, has anyone read them?

I can't believe how young the kids in the book are! At the beginning, when he enrolls in military school, Ender is only 6 years old! I kept forgetting that and remembered only when it was mentioned in the text. Social commentary?

It has to be mentioned that this is total science fiction, aliens included. So if you don't like science fiction you probably won't like this. But you would be missing out!

The books ends on an interesting note, so I'm very tempted to get the next one!

7 comments:

Tasha said...

Ender's Game is high up on my TBR list - I'm really looking forward to reading it.

raidergirl3 said...

I just finished Speaker for the Dead and quite enjoyed it. I think these books are good and I don't really like SF books at all. Card just writes such great characters and plot that it doesn't matter.

I took a year between books. I'm not sure I'd read them back to back, but the next one was very good. Also, there is another book I haven't read, Ender's Shadow that tells the same story but it's Bean's story. I'd like to read that one too.

Ana S. said...

I haven't read any of the others, but many people have told me that Speaker for the Dead is even better. I really look forward to reading it.

And it does end on an interesting note, doesn't it? The last chapter was my favourite in the book.

Mari said...

My husband has this series of books. I may have to read it now.

Thanks.

Lezlie said...

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Lezlie

joanna said...

Charley - I hope you enjoy it!

raidergirl - ooh, Ender's Shadow sounds interesting, I hand't heard of it!

nymeth - I'm looking forward to reading Speaker for the Dead!

mari - I think you should! :-)

Anonymous said...

Speaker for the Dead won the Hugo and Nebula awards and is very, very good. Card actually wrote Ender's Game as mostly a lead-in to Speaker for the Dead. After that, there is Xenocide and Children of the Mind, which are worth reading but aren't (in my opinion) nearly as good. Then there's Ender's Shadow, which as noted here, is the same story from Bean's perspective, which is followed by Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant, I think. Ender's Shadow is very good, but Card's latest work has become very preachy and has lost a great deal of what made it so great.