Rating: 
Summary: Ender did for me what Evelyn Wood never could
Review: I just read a number of the reviews, and am about to order a copy of the new edition. This can't really be much of a review, since it has been several years since I read it, but the impressions it left are quite clear. When I read it, I literally could not put the book down. The story was so fascinating, that I was hungry for more after that last page. I immediately bought "Speaker for the Dead," and started that while my spouse read Ender. At the time, Card was just then writing "Xenocide," after an extended period during which he ignored the series. We found ourselves checking regularly with the bookstore (Amazon.com would have been great for this!) to see if it had been published yet, and when it finally did come out, we had to buy 2 hardcovers to avoid fighting over the book! (Which ended up being the weakest of the three).
Card is an amazing author, whose subjects range from rending tales like "The Lost Boys" (not about vampires), to "Ender", all of which have ranked somewhere from above average to masterpiece. I look forward to reading the revised "Ender's Game"
Rating:
Summary: LISTEN TO ME, LISTEN GOOD
Review: THIS IS THE BEST THING I EVER SEEN,DONE OR READ.
THIS IS A TANTELIZING STORY AND I AM READING IT NOW,IN THE 9 TIME.
I AM IN LOVE WITH ALL THE FIGURES IN THE BOOK.
I DONT WANT TO GROW-UP JUST COZ I WONT HAVE TIME TO READ IT AGAIN AND AGIAN AND AGIAN AND AGIAN AND AGIAN.
I THINK THAT O.S.CARD IS THE MOST BRILLINT MAN I KNOW
(NOT REALY KNOW...) I WANT TO BE ENDR AND I WILL GIVE EVERYTHING TO PLAY HIM IN THE MOVIE.CAN I? IM 14.
Rating:
Summary: Simply one of the best every written!!
Review: 10, 10, 10!!! I am sorry some people took the time to write poor reviews, but I think anyone who enjoys a twist and a great tale will love this as much as I. I walked into a bookstore and saw a note under this book that it was a great read. I passed it by. When I saw it again at another store I bought it. I being a slow reader, finished it in one night (all night) and was so drained from the emotion and timing. It has got to be one of the best stories in SF. I hope you will take the time to read it because it stands out in the Card collection. None of his others have matched this book and few can match it in any book!
Rating:
Summary: Response from a SciFi Author
Review: This review is mostly a response to the negative posts above....please don't ruin the art of the best book yet written by reading this review before you get it.
This book not only brought me into science fiction reading, it brought me into scifi WRITING. This is the pinnacle of character writing, this book is the definition of Pathos.
I've read every review here (took over 1 hour) and I have seen 2 groups of negative comments:
1. This is not hard scifi. I know this. It isn't SUPPOSED to be. I've read a LOT of scifi, and believe me, Card knew what he was doing. He didn't want you to be questioning his suppositions in the science world. He brings in a few concepts to catch your attention but doesn't give you enough to DISTRACT from the flawless tale. Hard core scifi is great stuff...but as a whole I find the characters there shallow, merely a vessel for a new scientific idea. Here the characters are real, powerful, and beautiful.
2. How can a child be so smart: Anyone who can't suspend their belief the little tiny bit that it requires to follow the story line isn't a reader, they are a critic, and not a very good one. Ender is a genius, but he IS a child, or he wouldn't be put in the situation he was in. What the critics are missing here is that Ender LOSES the game, and spends the next 3000 years trying to pay for that loss. His innocence is his downfall. I've known children that are introspective...not all are hyperactive sugar-bombs, some struggle just to gain acceptance in their own family. He was born a "third" you may remember, and was subject to intense scrutiny his entire existence......how would you have behaved as a child? I think you would have grown up in an awful hurry.
Anyway....I am a hard core scifi fan. I've read every book I've ever heard of from Clarke, Niven, Asimov.....these Scifi giants are fabulous and they help us shape our vision of the future.
Card is a storyteller. He doesn't base his books on the science. He bases them on the character. That's how the art works. That's WHY the art works. If you want pure science, pick up an engineering book. Most people read for the thrill of the characters.
Sure, it can be fun to calculate the testile strength of Ringworld <yawn> if you're an engineer....but if you're a human, this is the best book you will EVER read.
Anyone who makes it this far down the review list would be on chapter 7 by now. :) Just go get the book, see for yourself. Or maybe that advanced quantum physics book is more your style. I guarantee you'll love one of them.
PS I've bought ender's game 23 times, and given it away 22 times. When someone asks me why I write SciFi, I give them a copy. Its become a textbook for me now.
If I ever get to meet OSC, I'm going to shake his hand and tell him what an impact he has had on me as a Reader and as a Writer. I'm sure he gets it daily, but when you're that good....well I guess it just goes with the territory.
Long story short......just go buy the book. If you didn't get it, take a deep breath and read it AGAIN. heehe
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother if you're over 18
Review: I tried reading this juvenile SF novel when it first appeared, and stopped halfway through -- I was put off by the ludicrous subplot, in which the brilliant hero's sweet sister and mean brother (not deep characterization -- they only need one adjective each) use invented Internet alter-egos to take over the world. Billions of people on the Web, and not _one_ has a single idea, except for Ender's siblings. But that's the pattern of the book, a book that makes no attempt to describe the contentiousness or complexities of real life. Ender, the hero, is no more a character than, say, James Bond -- Ender always wins, always bests every obstacle, defeats every enemy, shames every teacher, with a mininum of effort. Other characters exist only to extol or mirror his greatness; the handful who don't admit to his superiority are easily disposed of. There's an almost pornographic feel to the final chapter, in which Ender founds a new space colony, saves the alien race he thought he had single-handedly destroyed, and invents a new religion(!), all the while wallowing in the self-pity that started at page 2 and never stopped.
I would give this the lowest grade possible but for two factors -- Card is a facile, easy-to-read writer, and the book might do some good to bright pre-teen boys who aren't getting much support from their environment. Of course, "Playboy" might too, but it isn't art either. Not recommended for adults at all.
Rating:
Summary: Next to the Bible, the best book ever written.
Review: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card combines the best of Science Fiction with a riviting message about the human survival instinct. The book follows Ender, a child genious and an outcast from society, through early childhood and on through the torments of the battle school. He is in a society threatened by an alien race called the 'Buggers'. From the begining of the novel, the reader is made aware that Ender is considered the last hope for humanity.
Card writes the book as though telling a wonderful story of Compassion in the face of complete evil. I feel that this novel should be required reading for anyone who considers himself human. you may find that some of the situations that Ender Wiggen goes through are not all that foriegn and that Card portrays society more accurately than most.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Is More Than Sci-Fi
Review: I've read many of the reviews of Ender's Game, and I think I know what the people who rate it poorly (like a 2 or 3) don't like about the book. It is NOT sci-fi. Sure, it has to catagorized that way. But the setting is incidental to message of the book. I've read the book at least 5 times and I find something new and wonderful each time. The characters Card creates touch you in such a way, that you are sad when the book comes to an end
Rating:
Summary: When an innocent comes of age!
Review: When Ender (Andrew) Wiggin accepted General Graff's offer to join the military, he had no idea that he was the best of the best. In some respects, Orson Scott Card had seized the idea of poor boy makes good any avid reader of science-fiction recognizes from the works of Robert Heinlein. But Card has gone one better. Not only has a poor boy made good, but through no fault of his own he is called upon to be the instrument of salvation by his world. The raging undercurrent of this adventure is the question that asks "At what cost is the soul of a little boy?". The revised editon filled in the gaps from the first publication so when you buy this book, and you owe it to yourself to buy this book and read it - read it and think about it. It is when the the last page has been turned that the thinking begins. An excellent read, one that will call the reader back time and again
Rating:
Summary: Pablum for the slow-witted masses.
Review: Science fiction for those who aren't capable of handling real science fiction. No mind-stretching concepts, no uncomfortable questioning of assumptions, no imagination required. A simple, easy-to-follow plot, written in small, easy-to-understand words. The ending is predictable from early on. Plenty of reassurance for the hard-of-thinking. As a short story, it was a bland attempt at an implausible premise stretched beyond the breaking point. Inflated into a pompous novel, it's a crime
Rating:
Summary: This book is great
Review: I am ten years old, and I read this book. It may have some swear words, but this book is the best of science fiction. I used to read only star trek. Now, I read others, just because of this book. I did it for a book report at school, so thats how I read it. This book is great. I definetily reccomend it!
|
