Book Review #1 - Ender's Game

Ender’s game has most everything that I look for in a leisure book. Though I do not find as much time to read for pleasure with my current line of work, it is nice to have a text like this one where the reader is so able to escape into a very well-developed alternative world where the conflict is engaging and the characters are interesting.

Ender’s Game is an epic story of leadership and survival. Ender Wiggin, the young boy who is the hero of the text, is an extraordinarily gifted boy who has been chosen by military leaders to be the best hope that earth (and humans) have for survival against attacks by the very vague and sinister “buggers.” From an early age, he is tormented and isolated so that he can properly develop into a leader. His relationships are severed at regular intervals by “teachers” who control and manipulate his environment. Throughout the first half of the text, the reader has a feeling of confidence in those who are manipulating, but only after one is well into the text does the reader discover that the designs of those in control are resting on a wing and a prayer. Strong as Ender is, his vulnerability does become exposed often, and the effects of that exposure are sometimes unforeseen. It becomes apparent that the “teachers” are just as reckless as Ender’s childish enemies. The novel follows the Hero’s Journey very closely, which brings a sense of comfort to the reader which helps to offset the uncertainty of Ender’s fate.

There are a few teachers in my building who have chosen to teach this title – our district has invested in several hundred copies for the three high schools. Since I had never read this title, but work with many students who have, this was an obvious choice for me to read as the science fiction choice text. In talking with the teachers who have taught this title, I have been told that students either love it or hate it. Some students tout this title as their favorite required text ever. Others are bored by it. Being a very plot driven book, there is not quite as much material to grab onto for class discussions and in-depth literary analyses, as I enjoy doing with The Great Gatsby, and The Things They Carried. Still, it is a goal of mine to read and offer texts that serve a variety of purposes.

One variable that could greatly affect one’s experience with this text is the reader’s ability to draw mental images of the world that Ender lives in. Much time and attention is given to imagery and description of the setting; for a reader who struggles with reading comprehension and creating mental images, or for a reader who simply does not care about this in reading, Ender’s Game will be frustrating. There are moments even for me when I found myself skimming through a few pages of detail and description to get back to the conflict that had originally drawn me in. In other words, there are times that I felt that Orson Scott Card could have cut forty pages out without sacrificing anything necessary from the text. Still, at that same time, I did not want the book to end. I will find and read the sequels to this text, and will look forward to the chance to read them in the future.