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Book Review
The Buggers tried to destroy the human race, now it is time for the humans to strike back. Ender is only six years old when his training begins. Taken from his family he is placed in battle school, where the teachers will spare him no mercy. He is thrown up against impossible odds and given nothing. Isolated and afraid, Ender must endure whatever is thrown at him and learn to adapt. The teachers will do anything they can to mold Ender into the perfect commander, even if it costs him his sanity. And while Ender endures the harsh realities of battle school in space, his siblings Peter and Valentine begin to unleash their own plans for Earth. Ender isn’t the only genius of the family. Together, Peter with his violent and quick mind and Valentine with her ability to manipulate, plan to bring the Earth under their control.
Orson Scott Card has taken children and made them so believably intelligent, that the reader never questions their motives. I could hardly remember that Ender was only six as he learned to master self-defense and tactical analysis. And let’s not forget Peter and Valentine who begin to play the politics of earth and warp how the citizens of different countries view one another. All so they can gain the upper hand and control the tide of war and reform.
The characters are truly what makes this story shine. I’m not one for heavy politics. Unfortunately, most of Peter and Valentine’s motives didn’t interest me. But that isn’t to say they weren’t well written. Peter and Valentine play well off of one another, and within them, the reader can see why the government allowed their mother and father to take another chance at having Ender as a third child. Together Peter and Valentine are just as influential as Ender but in different ways. Which is the entire reason Ender was promoted to battle school when Peter and Valentine were not.
Ender is the entire reason I finished this book the first and second time. Watching him grow and adapt to the new situations he was put in kept me reading. Ender endures quite a bit of cruelty and readers will watch it break him down and reforge him into a stronger yet damaged new person. He is a survivor and if there is a way to beat the system, he will do his best to find it.
Ender’s Game is a worthwhile science fiction read. It is heavy on politics, but the science fiction elements and characters carry the story. I am intrigued to continue this series to see where it goes.
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