Rating: 
Summary: A Book For Dumb Teenagers
Review: At the risk of offending almost everybody in this review group, I'm simply going to highlight some SCIENTIFIC problems with this worthless novel.(1) Instantaneous communication. The "philotic parallax instantaneous communicator" - "they can talk to each other even when they're across the galaxy. And the buggers can do it without machines." The problem here, ladies and gentlemen, is action at a distance. As some of you may know (they teach this in high school) action at a distance does not exist. There is a finite, maximum velocity for the transfer of information in the real world. It's called the speed of light. This is the whole point of special relativity. I might add that by bringing Mazer Rackham back as a twin-paradox (sending him out at relativistic velocities so that the world aged 50 years but he only aged eight) Card implies that he accepts special relativity. But you can't have it both ways. Either you have special relativity or you have instantaneous communication, but not both in the same novel. (2) Artificial gravity - "It could not land directly because Eros had enhanced gravity." Ladies and gentlemen, one cannot "enhance" gravity. As some of you may know, general relativity explains gravity in terms of non-Euclidean geometry. One can no more "enhance" gravity than alter the truth of the Pythagorean theorem. By the way, check out the real Eros on the internet. Look up "NEAR". Eros was an unfortunate choice of asteroids for Card. The real Eros is now viewable by satelite. He got the shape wrong! (3) Dr. Device - "At the focal point of two beams, it sets up a field in which molecules can't hold together anymore. Electrons can't be shared . . . Then the field dies down, the molecules come back together, and where you had a ship, you now have a lump of dirt with a lot of iron molecules in it. No radioactivity." Excuse me? The "beams" create a "field" that disrupts matter at the level of electrons . . . then matter reassembles and you get, not hydrogen and helium, but "dirt" and "iron", without radiation? Ladies and gentlemen, this contradicts the second law of thermodynamics, the laws of chemistry, and the laws of quantum mechanics all at the same time. (4) Eugenics. Ender is the product of a genetic experiment; his brother and sister are smart too. Ladies and gentlemen, eugenics is a discredited science. The most famous twentieth-century proponent of eugenics, Adolph Hitler, murdered six million people and committed suicide. That should tell you something. Think about it. By the way, isn't this whole book a rip off of the ideas of Robert A. Heinlein and A.E. Van Vogt? . . . . . Interested readers may wonder why I took the time to write a diatribe against a children's book. I love science fiction, and there are so many good books out there, but this is not one of them . . . This book was required reading for my 14-year-old daughter who was about to enter ninth grade. I object to this. It sets a bad precedent. Encouraging wishful thinking in children is not what education is all about. I can't believe that her English teachers selected this book out of all of the millions of books in the world's literature. Sloppy wishful magical adolescent thinking epitomized. A book for dumb teenagers. Good Grief!
Rating: 
Summary: ENDER'S GAME
Review: Ender's Game is a breathtaking novel by my favorite auther, Orson Scott Card. This book is amazing, always keeping you on adge. I think this is how all books should be. Orson Scott Card is an amazing writer, and I highly reccomend this book to readers of all ages, whatever your favorite ganra is.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a classic
Review: Like others, I sought out 'Ender's Game' due to the fact that it won the Hugo and Nebula Awards. Apparently like some others, I too was a bit disappointed that the book didn't fully live up to all my expectations. Certainly it was an interesting page turner, but problems remain. I found the lack of description a bit hampering, almost as if the book is written for a 5th grade level, ie. he did this, she did that, etc... I did sympathize with Ender however, and his saga was consistently entertaining if not enthralling. For better and more in depth sci-fi, I'd suggest seeking out Stephenson, Dan Simmons, and William Gibson to name a few. Of course I just picked up 'Speaker', so obviously there is something going here...
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely PERFECT
Review: I finished this book in one sitting. It's THAT good. Ender's Game is by far one my favorite sci-fi novels of ever. If you haven't read it yet, you haven't seen how great sci-fi can be. I highly recommend this title.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This book is incredible, I've read and re-read this book several times and still I can't stop. The book show sides of humans very few of us realize. I know that sounds boring, but think of the skill Mr. Card must have to bring that to us. I find that you don't read about Ender as much as learn him, in the novel. This book is without doubt my favorite, even over those of Sir Arthur Clarke. There is little I can say but to read it. If you're human you'll be moved, I was. -daveharding25@hotmail.com
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This is one of the best science-fiction novels available. All throughout, it is beautiful, interesting, stirring, and thought-provoking. This edition opens with a new authors' introduction which is nearly as readable as the novel itself (though not as much fun). After this important but non-essential preface, we are launched into Ender's story. As the author explains in the opening, this book is very straightforward; there aren't any huge plot twists or hidden themes, and therein lies it's genius and beauty. Although most of us can't really be compared to Ender, most anyone can probably relate to him, to his problems. This is one of those classic Bug-War novels, but this one isn't about the war, it's about the boy. This is one of those books that I was able to read twice within a couple of months. Orson Scott Card is such a compellingly gifted writer that it is near impossible to put this book down. This is one of those essential, must-read books. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book is amazing! Even if youj really dont have a particular intrest in SciFi this book is great. It gives a great look into Enders mind and read Enders game also but the rest of the books are horrible. 10 out of 10 amazing!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, but not great
Review: I've had a paperback copy of Ender's Game on my bookshelf for years, but for whatever reason, I never got around to reading it. When I found out there was going to be a movie of it coming out, I decided to look the book up on Amazon.com and read some reviews. Wow! I've never seen so many five-star reviews for anything. Not Citizen Kane, Star Wars, Animal House, Shakespeare, not even the Bible. I figured it was time I give the book a shot. Now that I've read it, I can add my opinion to this ever-expanding forum. I think I should premise my remarks with a couple of preliminary statements. First, I'm 27 years old and I've been a huge fan of science fiction since I saw Star Wars when I was four. I've read one previous book by Orson Scott Card: the novelization of James Cameron's The Abyss, which I thought was pretty good. I know Ender's Game is a very well-loved book, and in expressing my opinion, I'm not trying to anger anyone, but am just trying to say what I feel. Here goes... I really wanted to like Ender's Game, but I just didn't think it was all that great. It wasn't bad, but it just never really involved me the way that a great book does. What bothered me first off was the quality of the writing. I thought it was extremely poor in places, and at best mediocre. Card doesn't even seem to follow the basic conventions of fiction writing. He'll be in a third-person descriptive paragraph and then throw in a first-person thought mid-stream without any set-up. I found this kind of thing distracting. It's not that the rules and conventions of writing shouldn't be challenged and bent (good writers are always doing this) it's just that I felt in this case, it wasn't Card using artistic license, but rather just writing poorly. Other aspects of the writing itself bothered me. The lack of vivid description was one of them. Except for in the case of some of the better action sequences, I generally felt that I was reading about something that had happened to somebody else instead of feeling like I was there experiencing it myself. That's the first job of any great writer, to be able to paint with words in a nuanced way that makes the reader feel he or she is uniquely experiencing the world of the story in the first person. I never felt that in Ender's Game. Also I felt the language was overly simplistic and at times unceasingly idiotic. What's with all the fart talk? Surely by having them use a certain amount of slang, Card is reminding us that his characters are children. But I really got tired of reading the word "farteater" after a couple dozen times. That one in particular became very grating. Even the adults say it to one another. Coupled with the weak writing, the language choice and crude dialogue just seemed to undermine the integrity of the story-telling. Now on to character. I just felt these characters weren't very deeply drawn. I wanted to sympathize with Ender, but from the beginning, didn't feel very close to him. He's supposed to be superhuman (either a Christ-like figure or a second coming of Hitler, or maybe a mixture of the two, depending on how you read the character) and I felt this just made me feel extremely distant from him. I could never see myself making any of the choices he makes. There's too much cold calculation in Ender, and not enough genuine human feeling. I felt that Card's attempt to humanize the character through his relationship with his sister Valentine was forced. There's a lot of telling in this book. Card tells us that Ender loves his sister, that Ender is a genius, that Ender is afraid of becoming the killer that his brother Peter is, but there is precious little showing. There was never a quality scene between Ender and his sister that made me feel what they felt for each other. I have a sister that I love very much and I know what that love feels like, but I never felt those kinds of feelings while reading about these characters. I don't want to be overly critical. There were some good things in this book, too. It was definitely a page-turner. Despite my earlier criticisms about the writing, the story itself is well put-together. Once you get involved, you're compelled to finish it. If you're a somewhat fast reader, you probably won't need to bother with a bookmark for this one. Also, I would say overall it was a pretty fun read. I'll give this book three stars, because I think there's some great potential here that, in my opinion, is just not fulfilled. I don't mean to slam this book if it's your favorite. I don't like it when some one says this or that is a "bad book" or a "bad movie" period. I don't believe in those kinds of absolute labels. Every reader brings something unique to a work of fiction and experiences it on a special plane that no one else can ever quite know, even if that other person is your twin brother and has read all of the same books you've ever read and seen all the same movies and known all of the same friends. The experience of reading a book is a magic one, a sacred one even. If you loved Ender's Game, I have nothing bad to say about that. In fact, I think books are a great thing to be passionate about. This one just didn't do it for me. My favorite science fiction book is hands-down Hyperion by Dan Simmons. That whole series, in my opinion, is some of the best written, most thought-provoking, emotionally-involving storytelling out there. Thanks for your time. Here's to good reading....
Rating:
Summary: I could not put this down
Review: I havn't read a real novel in a long time. I think this book got me interested in reading again. I don't need to describe the book. Others have already done that. I couldn't put it down, for if I did, I'd be up all night thinking about it.
Rating:
Summary: Blown away!
Review: Okay folks, this book has been reviewed to death but bear with me for a few seconds.... This is one of those classic Sci-Fi books that everyone has read....except for you (and me until a few weeks ago). All my friends have read it, all your friends have read it, even my wife who generally favors fantasy over Sci-Fi has read it, and almost everyone has enjoyed it (including my wife). So I decided to read it.... And I was blown away. Good main characters, a fantastic supporting cast, and an excellent plot which is not tarnished by the fact that it has been used over and over again by other writers. Then I got to the ending. To me, this is one of the most satisfying endings to any book I have ever read. Believe me, if you enjoy the first 5/6 of Ender's Game, you'll love the ending. Now I've got to get my hands on the sequels....
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