Ender's Game

Rating:
Summary: Excellant Adult Entertainment
Review: After having read most of the non-flattering critiques posted prior to this one, and also having been an Orson Scott Card fan for the last seven years, I would like to summarize what I have heard. A lot of the complaints were from Junior High School readers who did not like the idea of a young hero, and have trouble imagining a childhood differant from what they have had. Card has always had a talent for hitting on a lot of the truths of adolescence, and I think most of these critiques truly boil down to jealousy. This book is not a young adult's novel. There also were a couple comments about the "rushed" and "extended" plot at the end of the book. These complaints can only be made by people who have not also read "Speaker for the Dead" which was actually the book Card wanted to write, and re-wrote the short story "Ender's Game" to give it the proper lead in. The only other complaints were about the use of a USENET forum for political discussion. Within the novels context, they should remember that these were restricted adult forums in which they were discussing, not the Usenet as we typically use it. I would say a close approximation would be one of the moderated newsgroups on specific subjects, such as the various OS newsgroups and Anti-Virus newsgroups. If you truly believe Usenet has no real purpose as is not used by serious professionals, you may want to look at which newsgroups you are reading. I found this book to be excellant in all ways, and to have several hidden psychological insights. Ender's Game followed by Speaker for the Dead is just shy of pure brilliance.

In the words of Orson Scott Card in one of his short stories (this quote is out of context), These two books put together could only be named, "Damn Fine Novel" or "F---ing Good Read".

Rating:
Summary: Its not for everyone
Review: I understand how people can dislike any book or anything in any type of media (for instance I really don't like Titanic that much) but you must look at this book and put it in its own context. When people talk about "Dune" they don't mention the fact that it does not involve the use of computers.

For instance, the comment of usenet. First of all, it sounds more like chat forums combined with bulletin boards. Secondly, when Card wrote this book when the internet as we know it (if not computers themselves . . . though that is a little naive) was just in its infancy. Card probably knew little about online stuff at all (I don't even think that aol even existed . . not that that is neccesarily bad).

On the other hand, when you think about it, the premise really is pretty rediculous . . . a six year old saving the world. (Just like some movie about some robots who meet up with a kid and a monk who then go with a space pirate and his gigantic pet dog to save the galaxy from a man dressed like an ATM with a head)

Sometimes there are people who just don't like what many other people do and we have to accept that whether that is a sci-fi novel or the aforementioned Star Wars movie. We shouldn't berate them because we all had those "great books" in high school we detested. (Even those who dislike Ender's Game can agree with that.)

Rating:
Summary: A great sci-fi book!!!
Review: Orson Scott Cards, Enders Game was a great book , once i started reading it i couldnt put it down. As you read it you feel like Ender because of how well his emotions are described. I highly reccomend this book to all audiences. But I think that this book would be most enjoyed if your a die hard sci-fi fan!!!!

Rating:
Summary: A very good read for open minded people
Review: I read this book years ago, and still re read it from time to time. I loved it then, and still do. It takes an open mind to think of the characters as more than just people, but also as the essence of people. I have read thousands of books, fiction and non-fiction, and have found alot worth reading in this one. Some of the sequels are better than others, but Speaker for the Dead also reflects Card's ability to understand how people, not just individuals, but people work. Many of my friends have borrowed this book and every time I re-read it, I find more little notes in it with comments about the book or the characters in the pages.

Rating:
Summary: Don't listen to anyone who gave this less than an 8.
Review: [e-mail], Why do you even BOTHER to read Science-Fiction???

The people who trashed this book apparently should simply NOT BE READING so-called "speculative" fiction, and should just stick to reading their stupid John Grisham novels.

More than HALF of the book is ALL ABOUT the pressures of war and adulthood on children and the ethics invloved thereof! To criticize Ender's Game for its main character being a child is silly...there would have been no story otherwise. Heinlein ALREADY wrote Starship Troopers...this is a NEW angle and a NEW twist!

Just stick to your safe, politically correct books, and don't wreck the curve of the ratings of this great book. Stop reading Sci-Fi, PLEASE! Just because "little green men" don't REALLY exist, doesn't mean that a story about them won't be any good. I suppose that an imagination is something that is apparently inherited at birth.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book of all time.
Review: This book made me appreciate the ability to read! Everything about the book was great -- the brilliant child Ender, his equally brilliant good and evil siblings and their rise to political power via the internet, Ender's adventure game, battle tactics, bullies, buggers ... every page was worth reading. I only wish that the sequels were half as good but they are not even close (IMHO). It was sad to see Ender grow up.

Rating:
Summary: Polarized plot; much too politically correct
Review: Good novels stretch our understanding, but bad novels stretch so far and to such silly lengths that they end up breaking the entire story. The author clearly has little understanding of what childhood is, and what we as adults can take from such a carefree and simple time, and use today. Children in even the most dire and truly saddening experiences our species has to offer still remain children. Spend some time at your local Shriner's Hospital for Children to see how children who most likely will never have a chance at life, still manage to see wonder and remain endlessly curious at the world to which they are exposed. Seek your inspiration there. But for heaven's sake don't turn kids into tiny adults, present them in a sanitized, frankly pedantic and highly polarized plot, together with stories of utter silliness about taking over planets with the Internet, and expect it to be readable or even feasible.

Rating:
Summary: The book does NOT SUCK!!
Review: Ok, I have gone through and read most of the reviews rating this book a 3 or less, and have seen many arguments about how Orson Scott Card creates a science fictional blunder First of all, there is a reason they call it science fiction.. If you can't suspend realism for a couple of damned hours to read a book, then don't bother, and second of all, I have heard Star Trek being compared as a great work of SF with realism? don't make me get into the inertial dampeners discussion(besides the fact that the books/shows/movies are not that great.) Secondly, in order to discover the reason this book is so wonderful, you must THINK! use your mind. Their are two reasons this book is great, 1. because yes, you can enjoy it as a ten year old, but then your not looking to pick up all the subtext, however, I read it at 12 and 15, and paused several times during the readings to think about what I had read, Orson Scott Card's ability to create passages relating to life today are incredible.. And lastly, a discussion about his ability to describe situations. First of all, he leaves it open for your interpretation *gasp*. Secondly, he does describe most things fine, and anything he doesn't describe doesn't need to be.. The game, is played in a circular room, with lasers, and suits, and two teams. That's all you need to know, the rest you can picture in your head as to how it goes. In conclusion, I think this is a great book, a book can be written simply and still be good, and I can't wait for Card to release the fifth in the series..

Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: I read this book at least 5 years ago, and still remember it vividly. The book takes you on a great adventure and never slows down. Tons of action and adventure, and well developed characters. I am critical of sci-fi, but this book ROCKS!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not just a young boy, but an ideal for humanity
Review:

Card is a virtual mastermind in his portrayal of Ender and his siblings. Any author that can delve that deep into the mind of a child, much less three of them, must have something going for them. Anybody that sees these three child geniuses and adults in children's clothing must have lived a very unproductive childhood. Card recognizes and incorporates how different and left out gifted children often feel, and how such isolation often leads to activities which are as much a challenge of the mind as they are a challenge of the body, activities ranging from the spiral drawing on his desk at the very beginning of the book to the Battle Room.

Characterization in this book was admittedly weak in some points, but only if you expect an author to say "this boy has brown hair and blue eyes and is 4'7" tall." The mind of a person, especially with the innocence of a child, is what determines a person's worth, and that is what Card focuses on in his characterizations.

Finally, this book is not limited merely to the single plot and subplot of Ender and his siblings. There exist many levels of plot and subplot, mostly focusing on the interaction of Ender and his siblings with others, whether those others be of the same or different age and same or different caliber of mind, or any combination thereof. It is this human interaction which Card fully understands and what makes this book so fascinating.