book review ender's game

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ENDER'S GAME

by Orson Scott Card ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1984

A rather one-dimensional but mostly satisfying child-soldier yarn which substantially extends and embellishes one of Card's better short stories (Unaccompanied Sonata and Other Stories, 1980). Following a barely-defeated invasion attempt by the insect-like alien "buggers," a desperate Earth command resorts to genetic experimentation in order to produce a tactical genius capable of defeating the buggers in round two. (A counterinvasion has already been launched, but will take years to reach the buggers' home planet.) So likable but determined "Ender" Wiggins, age six, becomes Earth's last hope—when his equally talented elder siblings Peter (too vicious and vindictive) and Valentine (too gentle and sympathetic) prove unsuitable. And, in a dramatic, brutally convincing series of war games and computer-fantasies, Ender is forced to realize his military genius, to rely on nothing and no-one but himself. . . and to disregard all rules in order to win. There are some minor, distracting side issues here: wrangles among Ender's adult trainers; an irrelevant subplot involving Peter's attempt to take over Earth. And there'll be no suspense for those familiar with the short story. Still, the long passages focusing on Ender are nearly always enthralling—the details are handled with flair and assurance—and this is altogether a much more solid, mature, and persuasive effort than Card's previous full-length appearances.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1984

ISBN: 0812550706

Page Count: 356

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1984

SCIENCE FICTION

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BOOK REVIEW

by Orson Scott Card

by Orson Scott Card & Aaron Johnston

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | SCIENCE FICTION

More by Max Brooks

by Max Brooks

More About This Book

BOOK TO SCREEN

THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM

From the remembrance of earth's past series , vol. 1.

by Cixin Liu ; translated by Ken Liu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2014

Remarkable, revelatory and not to be missed.

Strange and fascinating alien-contact yarn, the first of a trilogy from China’s most celebrated science-fiction author.

In 1967, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, young physicist Ye Wenjie helplessly watches as fanatical Red Guards beat her father to death. She ends up in a remote re-education (i.e. forced labor) camp not far from an imposing, top secret military installation called Red Coast Base. Eventually, Ye comes to work at Red Coast as a lowly technician, but what really goes on there? Weapons research, certainly, but is it also listening for signals from space—maybe even signaling in return? Another thread picks up the story 40 years later, when nanomaterials researcher Wang Miao and thuggish but perceptive policeman Shi Qiang, summoned by a top-secret international (!) military commission, learn of a war so secret and mysterious that the military officers will give no details. Of more immediate concern is a series of inexplicable deaths, all prominent scientists, including the suicide of Yang Dong, the physicist daughter of Ye Wenjie; the scientists were involved with the shadowy group Frontiers of Science. Wang agrees to join the group and investigate and soon must confront events that seem to defy the laws of physics. He also logs on to a highly sophisticated virtual reality game called “Three Body,” set on a planet whose unpredictable and often deadly environment alternates between Stable times and Chaotic times. And he meets Ye Wenjie, rehabilitated and now a retired professor. Ye begins to tell Wang what happened more than 40 years ago. Jaw-dropping revelations build to a stunning conclusion. In concept and development, it resembles top-notch Arthur C. Clarke or Larry Niven but with a perspective—plots, mysteries, conspiracies, murders, revelations and all—embedded in a culture and politic dramatically unfamiliar to most readers in the West, conveniently illuminated with footnotes courtesy of translator Liu.

Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-7653-7706-7

Page Count: 400

Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014

More In The Series

by Cixin Liu ; translated by Ken Liu

by Cixin Liu ; translated by Joel Martinsen

More by Cixin Liu

by Cixin Liu ; translated by Various

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At Boundary's Edge

Alex Hormann

BOOK REVIEW: Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

Humanity lives in fear that the alien Formics will return. To avert the possible extinction of the human race, any tactic is acceptable. Even ones that require the brutal indoctrination of young children . . .

Ender’s Game is a book that comes with a formidable reputation. Winner of multiple awards, including the Hugo, massively influential in the military SF scene, and regarded as one of the foundational texts of modern science fiction. It has a fame that stretches beyond the genre. Most anglophone readers will have heard of the name, and will likely have absorbed some of the premise through osmosis. It’s a book built on such profound ideals that it is reportedly taught in the United States military. More than that, it’s the book that has spawned a franchise, with multiple sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. In 2013 it received the big-screen treatment, with a film that was my first conscious interaction with the story. Only natural then, that my first encounter with the prose version should be the film tie-in edition.

Immersed in science fiction as I am, Ender’s story holds few surprises for me. Indeed, my main response for much of the novel was that I was correct to steer away from the book for so long. You see, there are two tropes I truly have no time for. Child protagonists, and schools for gifted children. Naturally, the two go hand in hand more often than not. Ender’s Game plays these tropes straight. Even in a school for gifted children, Ender is a superman. A chosen one, for want of a better term. At the tender age of six, he overpowers quite literally everyone in his path. if not through direct violence, then by outplaying them at their own game, with little or no training. To an extent, this is the point of the novel. Ender is exceptional. Only he can end the war. However, that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. At no point does Ender feel like a six year old boy, and the interactions between the other children feel more pubescent than pre-pubescent. You can argue this away by saying that these are explicitly not ordinary children, but if we’re to make that argument, what was the point in making them so young? The only reason for the youth is to have Ender remain innocent and impressionable. Neither of which traits are the sole purview of the very young.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the time we spend away from the combat school that prove the most interesting. The double lives of Ender’s siblings back on Earth are far stronger than Ender’s story. Startlingly prescient of the double lives we all lead online these days, not to mention the spread of disinformation and propaganda, the elder Wiggins’ affairs are a strong example of showing the effects that a war has on the people who remain far from the front line.

Ender’s role in the story only becomes interesting once he graduates, and here is more interesting knowing that the next step is not further training, but the real deal. And yes, I have just spoiled a the twist of a nearly forty year old book. I think the statute of limitations has expired on this one. Regardless, this closing stage is where Ender’s Game comes into its own. This is a book with weak characters and flat writing. What keeps it afloat is theme, and that theme is delivered most powerfully in this final act. We have seen Ender overcome adversity, and we know he is being propped up by the military high command. This is where we find out why. Where we learn that to them he is not a child, but a weapon. This is where their manipulation of an innocent is finally driven home with force.

The question that lingers in all of this is the extent of Ender’s guilt. He is a willing participant throughout, but never a witting one. To blame Ender for genocide is to blame a gun for murder. Yet if a gun were sentient, would it not want to fulfil its purpose? There is no answer to that – there can be no answer to that – yet the question remains. Ender’s sense of guilt over his actions is what drives the sequel. But for now, all we can do is wonder.

Ender’s Game is more than the sum of its parts. Far from perfect, and a downright slog for much of its first half, it nevertheless deserves it place in the canon of science fiction.

• The Ender Saga (#1)
• First Published in 1985

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One response to “BOOK REVIEW: Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card”

I read it decades ago and enjoyed it very much. However, to me, the whole Ender’s game series is about the concept of superhuman children. Bean is even more extreme than Ender. Now that I know what a 2-year old is capable of, that concept sounds meh.

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Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - review

As you come across this book in a bookstore, many of you will probably leave it alone just because of its thickness. Actually, time won't be a problem (I read it in two days.)

The novel tells the story of a young boy, Ender Wiggin, who is sent to a training academy named Battle School, located in orbit above the Earth, built to train people to become soldiers that will one day battle against a vast alien race known as "Buggers". Ender goes up there, trying his best to become promoted in the difficult training scheme; his brother and sister are trying to restore the world and to make it a better place. For Ender, the training is tough. He is granted a very special teacher, who will help him to become a commander to save humanity from the Third Invasion.

Ender's Game (written in 1985) is a science fiction novel written by the American author Orson Scott Card. The book came from the short story with the same name, published in 'Analog Science Fiction and Fact' in 1977.  Card later wrote more books to create the Ender's Game series. An updated version of Ender's Game was released in 1991, updating some political facts in the book to accurately reflect the era. Themes of the book are love, hate, prejudice (Ender is socially excluded for some time in Battle School), strength and courage. Card was born on 24 August, 1951. He is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He has written books in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel "Ender's Game" and its sequel "Speaker for the Dead" (1986) both won Hugo and Nebula Awards. Thanks to this Card is the only author to win both top US prizes of Science Fiction in consecutive years.

We meet many characters in the book. We see Ender's family (which includes Ender, his mean brother Peter and his sister Valentine). Ender also meets lots of friends (and enemies) at Battle School, some of them being Petra, Bonzo, Bean, Alai, Dink, Crazy Tom, Hot Soup and Carn Carby. We also have Colonel Graff and many other people of authority, and even The Queen, from the Buggers. All of these people have different personalities.

Ender is brave, determined, but whether he is kind or mean changes as he progresses through Battle School. He likes to find consolation together with Valentine. On the opposite side, Peter is less friendly. If he was assigned the mission to kill someone, he might as well have done it. He even horrifies Valentine.

All the boys (and girls) at Battle School behave differently. Some are friendly, some are unfriendly. Together, they create interesting relationships concerning Ender.

Ender's Game has an interesting narrative style. Card has placed descriptions where appropriate, and he always narrates in an exciting manner. One way he provokes tension in the book is by having an unidentified narrator at the beginning of every chapter. At the beginning, the reader has no clue about who is narrating; at one time I suspected it being the Buggers, which can be quite chilling, as the unknown narrator knows everything about Ender. Only gradually does the reader come to understand who the narrator is. Not only do we have an unknown narrator, but some chapters also switch between Ender's perspective and his family's situation.

To conclude, I would recommend this book to readers over 12 years old, who are mainly interested in Science Fiction, or who are interested in knowing more about how people behave. The language is moderately strong, but also somewhat complex for younger readers.

The reason why I liked this book is because it follows a busy, unpredictable, action-packed plot, but the end of the novel is still sad and strong enough to make us reflect on our behaviour and on the book's events. It is also gripping and exciting, and the reader never knows what will happen next. For example, at one point, another random day turns into a battle in a washroom.

The beginning instantly grips you, as the reader is thrust into a new and unknown situation. So much is unknown in the book; slowly everything is explained, as you constantly gather more information about the situation. If you were to start reading from the end (I actually tried it) you would have no idea of what was happening to whom.

Overall, I would recommend this book to readers because of its excitement, meaning and unpredictability.

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Ender's game.

• Parents say (30)
• Kids say (109)

Based on 30 parent reviews

A spectacular book that cemented my love of reading

Report this review, six year olds really.

This title has:

• Too much violence
• Too much sex
• Too much swearing

Great book to read for any age.

• Great messages
• Great role models

Space adventure touches on the

• Educational value

More than the sum of its parts

Great book for kids and adults, really mature, excellent book written ahead of it's time in 1985, some language to be wary of.

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Book Review

Ender’s game — “ender’s game” series.

• Orson Scott Card
• Coming-of-Age , Fantasy , Science Fiction

Readability Age Range

• Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers
• Hugo Award, 1986; Nebula Award, 1985; Margaret A. Edwards Award, 2008

Year Published

This book has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine . It is the first book in the “Ender’s Game” series.

Plot Summary

In a future where aliens have attacked Earth twice, the government recruits children and trains them to fight in what they believe will be the third and final war with the aliens. The aliens are called “Buggers,” due to their ant-like appearance and hive-like behavior.

Six-year-old Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is monitored by the government through a device attached to his neck, to see if he is a good candidate for Battle School. Other children do not like Ender because he is a prodigy, and he is also the third child in a society that has limited families to two children.

The government eventually removes the monitoring device but still watches Ender to see how he will handle not having their protection. Soon after the device is removed, Ender is bullied by the other children and attacked by a boy named Stilson. Ender believes that the only way to permanently stop Stilson and his friends from harassing him is to fight, win the fight and severely injure Stilson in the process, which Ender does. Because of this reasoning, Ender is approached by the Battle School director, Colonel Hyrum Graff, and asked to attend the school, which is located in a vessel that orbits Earth.

Even though he knows he will not see his family for several years, Ender accepts the mission out of a sense of duty. He also does not want to face the other children at his school and wants to get away from his sadistic older brother, Peter.

At Battle School, Colonel Graff publicly identifies Ender as the smartest and most promising student, causing the other boys to resent and alienate him. While Ender excels at his studies and training, he becomes depressed, and the leaders of the Battle School become concerned about his mental health. Graff returns to Earth and contacts Ender’s beloved older sister, Valentine, and asks her to write Ender an encouraging letter. This is the first and only letter that Ender has been allowed to receive.

Back on Earth, Valentine misses Ender terribly and is afraid of her brother Peter, who she knows has been torturing and killing small animals in the woods. Peter approaches her and asks her to help him write and publish political essays on the Net (the book’s version of the Internet). Valentine recognizes that he is manipulating her to help him gain political power, but she agrees. They use the pseudonyms of “Locke” for Peter and “Demosthenes” for Valentine.

After the Bugger War ends, the children post their writings that are both against and for a war with Russia on political forums. Like Ender, Peter and Valentine are prodigies. After a while, their essays receive worldwide attention. Colonel Graff eventually discovers the real identities of Locke and Demosthenes. Using this information against her, he gets Valentine to keep Ender under control.

Ender’s emotional state improves. At age 9, he is promoted to command the Dragon Army in the Battle School’s fighting league. Ender trains his young and inexperienced soldiers into formidable fighters; he implements innovative techniques and unique tactics. Dragon Army goes undefeated, much to the anger of the other student army leaders, especially Bonzo Madrid, one of Ender’s former commanders, who has a grudge against him.

Bonzo attacks Ender. Similar to the fight with Stilson, Ender beats Bonzo into unconsciousness. After the fight, Ender quickly graduates and is promoted to Command School, skipping Pre-Command School altogether. Unknown to Ender, he killed both Stilson and Bonzo in those fights.

Command School is located on the planet Eros, and Ender’s instructor turns out to be Mazer Rackham, the legendary commanding officer who led Earth to victory in the Bugger War.

Graff and Rackham explain to Ender that instead of waiting for the Buggers to attack, Earth has sent warships to the Bugger’s home world. They are training Ender to command the fleet. When Ender wants to know why Rackham does not command the fleet himself, Rackham tells Ender that he must be in command because he is faster, a better fighter and less cautious than Rackham.

Ender begins training on a new battle simulator where instead of commanding ships, he now commands an entire fleet. His squadron leaders turn out to be the best students from Battle School, most of them Ender’s friends. He works with them in the simulator and never sees them in person.

The isolation and grueling training takes its toll on Ender, who starts having dreams of Buggers cutting his body open and viewing his memories like holographs. Sleeping, waking, days, nights and battles start blending together for him, and he thinks he is going crazy. Ender stops eating. Even though he passes out in the training room, he gets no rest and is still forced to fight one simulated battle after another.

On his last day of Command School, Ender fights one last battle to determine whether he graduates. When the program starts, there is a planet in the simulation, and the enemy outnumbers Ender’s ships 1,000 to one. Frustrated that he is given an impossible scenario that will result in him failing the test and afraid that everything he has gone through has been for nothing, Ender decides to break the rules of combat.

After briefly battling the Bugger ships, Ender orders his fleet to get close to the planet’s atmosphere and aim their main weapon, the Molecular Detachment Device, at the planet. Ender does this knowing that destroying the planet is against the rules of engagement and hopes he will get kicked out of Command School so he can return home.

In the simulation, the device destroys the planet, most of the enemy ships protecting it and some of Ender’s fleet that were within range of the explosion. After the battle, Ender is confused because there is a celebration in the room, and no one is angry with him for his actions. Only then does Rackham tell Ender that the simulations in Command School were actual battles with the Buggers, and that he just led Earth’s fleet to victory against the Bugger army.

Realizing he caused the destruction of a planet, the genocide of an entire species and the death of numerous pilots in Earth’s fleet, Ender becomes despondent and falls into a deep, depressive sleep.

Now that the Buggers have been destroyed, a league war, instigated by years of political essays by Locke and Demosthenes, breaks out on Earth and at command headquarters on Eros. A treaty proposed by Peter under the alias of Locke quickly ends the war. Though he is still a teenager, Peter gains incredible political power, and his age ceases to become a concern. Many people, not knowing the real Peter, view him as a great architect of peace.

Ender comes out of his depressive sleep state only after his friends and the squadron leaders he commands visit him. They tell him about the league war. Ender views video recordings of Graff’s courtroom trial, where Graff is acquitted of war crimes against the Buggers. While watching the videos, Ender learns that Bonzo and Stilson both died from the injuries that Ender inflicted on them. Ender waits on Eros to see if he can return home to Earth. The deaths of Bonzo and Stilson weigh heavily on him.

Valentine travels to Eros and tells Ender that he can never return to Earth, as he would be under Peter’s control. She asks that he go with her to colonize an abandoned Bugger planet, instead. Ender agrees, becoming the governor of the first human colony in space.

While scouting the planet, Ender discovers an area, constructed by the Buggers, that replicates scenes from a key fantasy game he played during Battle School. Ender explores the area and finds a pupa of a Bugger queen, who communicates with him through a psychic connection. Ender realizes the dreams he had during Command School were from the Buggers trying to communicate with him.

With images, the queen tells Ender that the Buggers thought they were the only thinking beings in the universe, and when they understood that humans were sentient, they did not return to Earth. She asks Ender to help find her a place nearby to hatch, but he refuses, knowing that other humans would kill her. He vows to find a planet where she can hatch in safety and give birth to her children. He also tells her that he will tell her story so that humans can learn to forgive her species the same way Buggers forgave him for killing them.

Without revealing that there is still a living Bugger queen, Ender, under the pseudonym of “Speaker for the Dead,” writes the hive-queen’s story. It includes the history of the Buggers, and the fact that they did not mean to hurt humans. Peter, now Hegemon (a political leader of Earth), reads the story and recognizes Ender’s writing. He asks Ender to write a similar book for him, detailing his life. Together, the books are called Hive-Queen and Hegemon , and their popularity spurs a sort of religion—with fans wishing that when they die, someone would detail their own lives in the same way.

Ender and Valentine board a starship and go from world to world, looking for a place where the hive-queen can awaken and thrive in peace.

Christian Beliefs

Graff tells Ender that Ender’s father baptized his three children himself right after they were born. He also tells Ender that Mr. Wiggin was born into a Catholic family. Valentine talks about Daniel interpreting the king’s dream, a Bible story, to emphasize the fact that she is not a prophet. After Ender’s fleet destroys the Bugger’s home world, some of the adults in the room kneel down or lay prostrate in prayer.

Other Belief Systems

Graff tells Ender that his mother was born into a Mormon family, but both she and Ender’s father renounced their religions. Graff tells a teacher that if there is nobody to lead Earth’s fleet, then God is a Bugger. Graff attributes Mazer Rackham’s presence as a military commander during the second Bugger War to fate, God or luck. Ender sets up an identity in the school computer he calls ‘God,’ and he sends messages to other students from this identity. Rose the Nose assigns Ender to Dink Meeker’s platoon and tells Ender to think of Dink as God.

When Ender uses the cubit as a measurement, Alai asks him if God has been asking him to build a boat. Admiral Chamrajnagar compares the fleet to a god or a religion. Graff thinks that if Ender goes back to Earth, he will be treated as a child-god. The hive-queen asks Ender to remember the Buggers not as enemies but as tragic sisters who are different from humans because of fate, God or evolution. The books Hive-Queen and Hegemon are considered holy writ and spark a new religion where people speak for the dead.

Authority Roles

Graff tells Ender that even though the government instructed Ender’s parents to have a third child, his parents remain ambiguous about him because having a third makes it impossible for them to assimilate into normal society. Graff tells Ender that if he goes to Battle School, Ender’s parents will be relieved to see him go. Ender’s parents are upset when he decides to attend Battle School. They write him several letters, but he never receives them.

When Ender starts Battle School, he is placed in armies where his commanders are jealous of his strategy and brilliance. Bonzo Madrid is condescending to Ender, refuses to teach him anything and just before Ender transfers out of his army, Bonzo slaps him in the face. Later, Bonzo plots to kill Ender.

Leaders of the Battle School orchestrate several scenarios designed to isolate Ender so he remains creative. They force him to depend on himself for all solutions to his problems. When other students plot to kill him, the leaders of the school refuse to intervene, teaching him that adults will never help him survive.

Ender believes Valentine is the only person who loves him, and when she writes him the letter to encourage him, he feels betrayed that the government has used her to get to him. He later confides to Valentine that he’s always wanted Peter to love him.

Mazer Rackham lies to Ender about the battle simulations, telling him they are only playing games. In reality, Ender is using the computer to command Earth’s army in a war.

While Graff and Rackham are fond of Ender and concerned that they are pushing him too far, they never tell him this. As a result, Ender feels that no one loves him or feels pity for him.

Profanity & Violence

God’s name is taken in vain several times with knows, help you, help us, my, only knows and thank . Profanity used includes s—, a–, a–hole, h— and d–n . Other language used and name-calling include smarta–, half-a–, slumb–ch, b–ch, b–tard, crap, turd face, fart, farthead, pinpr–k, goy and p-sshead . Ender’s classmates bully him and call him ‘Third,’ a derogatory name for a third child born into any family. His brother calls him ‘Bugger lover.’ Rose the Nose calls himself ‘Jewboy.’

At the school on Earth, several boys bully Ender, and he severely beats the ringleader, Stilson. On the way to Battle School, he is repeatedly hit on the head by a boy. Ender he grabs the boy and throws him through the air, breaking his arm. Bonzo Madrid, the commander of Salamander Army, slaps Ender in the face. Bonzo becomes incensed after losing a battle to Ender and corners Ender in the bathroom while Ender is taking a shower. Ender fights Bonzo and renders him unconscious. Later in the book, it is revealed that both Stilson and Bonzo died from injuries they sustained in the fights with Ender.

After the government monitor is removed, Peter viscously hits Ender across the head, steps on him and tries to suffocate him. He threatens to kill both Ender and Valentine. Valentine stops Peter by reminding him that he can’t have a political career if both his siblings die under suspicious circumstances. Valentine finds the mutilated bodies of the small animals that Peter tortures and kills in the woods.

At Command School, Ender fights Mazer Rackham before he knows his identity. Thinking the games are a simulation, Ender, without knowing it, orders Earth pilots to go into battle and die.

Sexual Content

In his psychic connection with the Bugger queen, Ender sees male Buggers mating with the larval queen. They shudder in ecstasy and then die.

At Battle School, the boys regularly walk around the dorms and sleep naked. When Ender joins Salamander Army, another boy tells Ender that Bonzo allows Petra to walk around naked but does not want any of the other boys to be naked around her. Rose the Nose uses his desk to animate a large picture of a penis that moves around as Rose holds the desk on his naked lap.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Lying: A nurse tells Ender that it won’t hurt when they remove the monitor from his neck. Ender knows it is a lie and thinks that lies are more dependable than the truth. Adults continually lie to Ender about what he is doing in both Battle School and Command School.

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• Mar 22, 2022

Ender's Game: Book Review

Ender’s game by orson scott card is one of the most popular science fiction books of all time, and when you pick it up, you’ll see why – you won’t be able to put it down.

Published in 1985; won both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Brent: 5 stars . This is a book that deserves all the popularity it gets. Not only is it an incredible page turner, what other books do you know where the main character’s superpower is empathy?

Cody: 5 stars . A true classic of science fiction that lives up to its place on the pedestal with each reread.

Here's the setup:

Ender’s Game is the story of Ender Wiggin, a boy who is recruited into the elite orbital Battle School. There, young men and women are trained into the next generation of military leaders to command the forces of humanity against the buggers. The buggers are insect-like aliens who have attempted to invade the solar system twice, nearly wiping out humanity in the most recent invasion, and now humanity has sent fleets to attack the bugger worlds and try to avoid a 3rd invasion.

Ender is a brilliant, empathetic kid, but has felt mostly alone his entire life. His older brother Peter is a violent sociopath, and only Ender’s older sister Valentine prevented Peter from attacking Ender. Now, at battle school, Ender feels even more alone, surrounded by children older than himself and adults who are constantly pushing him to his limits and trying to force him to be violent in an attempt to either break him or mold him into the best military commander Earth has ever produced.

Hugonauts' Thoughts:

The core theme of Ender’s Game is the power of empathy and how, even if your only goal is to 'succeed' in life, you still should strive to put yourself in other people's shoes. Sure, you need intelligence and drive, but if you truly understand other people and how they think and feel, you'll both be the kind of person other people want to be around and be able to understand other people's motivations and values. Game theory empathy, as it were. By showing how empathy is invaluable even to people who only want to 'succeed', Card makes a truly unique argument for a habitually undervalued virtue that speaks perfectly to the people who most need to hear it.

The novel is also just an unbelievable page turner. It's the classic hero's journey - and Ender is a hero that you absolutely will want to root for. How can you not be on the side of the brilliant, sensitive six year old kid who is taken from his family and put through hell to try and save the whole human race? It's also got one of the best twists of all time, which in addition to blowing your mind on the first read, also brings home subthemes about the importance of communication to avoid conflict, and a general anti-war message as well.

With such a compelling central plot, it’s easy to forget the side goings-on with Ender’s brother and sister until a reread - we both definitely had! In their bid to control the politics of the world, they act under pseudonyms on what is essentially the modern internet, to spread their philosophies and create separate factions of followers. It was unbelievably prescient by Card to foresee the effectiveness of galvanizing the masses via a social media system, and using platforms to create power for oneself through false pretenses.

On a sadder note, Ender's Game is clouded by Card’s transition into active, outspoken homophobia. He donates to anti-gay causes, and has expressed a lot of violent language toward the LGBTQ+ population. This is extra surprising given the novel’s focus on the power of empathy and understanding of the other, and Card’s clear grasp of those ideas to write about them so brilliantly. This makes the novel feel like a poster child for 'support the art not the artist'. Maybe grab this one from your library!

Related Books

If you loved this one, you might also like:

The Forever War - Joe Haldeman

Like Dune, this is a series centered on a family who are part of the feudal leadership of a space-faring civilization. The main characters are also incredibly likeable and fun to spend time with.

Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card

The sequel to Ender's Game has a much different feel than the first novel, but is also incredible. Set later in Ender Wiggan's life, Speaker deeply explores the idea of how we might communicate with another alien race.

Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein

This Heinlein classic is about humanity fighting a desperate war against insect-like aliens. One of the greatest military scifi novels ever to be penned.

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Ender's Saga by Orson Scott Card

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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Summary

Introduction: ender’s game by orson scott card, preeminent science fiction and fantasy author, orson scott card won both the hugo and nebula awards for best novel for ender's game and ender's game: speaker for the dead , his best known novels. published in 1985, ender’s game by orson scott card is a military science fiction set in a future time. this book is part of a series ., a lot of military strategists study this book because it is so good., what is ender’s game by orson scott card about.

Humankind faces elimination by an alien race – buggers – from another planet. Humans have encountered buggers twice before, the last time 70 years ago, but earth’s hero, Mazer Rackham won the war for humans. Unfortunately, the buggers rose again and military officials are desperate to find the right person to lead.

In this future world, the military is recruiting children as young as six years old who are considered geniuses. They fix a computer to the children to monitor their behaviours. Orson Scott Card introduces the reader to the Wiggins family.

When the oldest child, 10 year old Peter is tested, he is deemed unsuitable because of his cruel tendencies, his eight year old sister, Valentine is at the opposite end of the spectrum, but their younger brother, Andrew Wiggin – who calls himself Ender – is just right and the kind of person that the military considers pliable.

Peter abuses Ender all the time, and takes pleasure in abusing animals, watching their slow death. Peter is capable of killing, so Ender and Valentine are afraid of him. The military takes six year old Ender from his family to train as a soldier. Going away with the military enables Ender to be far away from Peter. Because of his size and age, older kids often terrorize him, and Ender soon realizes that he has to make a statement so others will not think that he is scared and fearful.

He also knows that he cannot ask his superiors to intervene on his behalf, and in many instances, they create the situations by showing others how superior Ender is because of his skills, intellect and honesty. Ender is forced to engage in violence, otherwise he will be killed. In one instance, he kills Bonzo, an adversary, but his superiors hide that fact from him.

His parents did not protect him from his older brother Peter, and while at battle school, those running the school do not protect him from the other students being trained there, instead they turn a blind eye to see how Ender will respond when pushed. Ender’s superiors manipulate him, and through his abusive training, he becomes a trained military genius, and expert at wielding violence against his enemies. However, he feels remorse for his violence, and questions his own nature and tendencies. But in the end, readers are assured that Ender is good, a victim hero.

Have you read?

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Book Review

While reading Ender’s Game, time and time again, the readers gets a glimpse into Ender’s genius. What makes Ender so brilliant is that he doesn’t follow the status quo, which frees him to try new things, therefore he is constantly doing the unexpected. For instance, while training for the End of the World, while other groups have four platoons of 10, Ender, has five platoons of eight, which gives him an advantage during practice. Additionally, while other leaders practice a formation that everyone knows, Ender trains his team freestyle so others never know what to expect, then when it is necessary, he teaches them formations when no one is expecting it from the soldiers he is leading.

He is also very curious, so whenever he is playing a game, he tries different scenarios and paths to determine where it will lead him. Furthermore, Ender has great powers of observation, looking closely at the way things work. He is a sympathetic and pliable character who is fooled into believing that he is playing a game as a way to train for the invasion of Earth by the buggers, when in fact, it is the real deal and he annihilates the buggers.

When he learns the truth, Ender is remorseful, and hates what he has done. But while playing the game, he wins the ultimate victory when he decides to give up the enterprise. This is a poignant moment for me in the story because in life to get what you ultimately want, you often have to give up something that is important to you.

Ender seeks redemption for annihilating the alien race, and gets it when he finds a Queen bugger, which he hides. He wants to find an ideal spot where he can take the Queen so that she and her offsprings can inhabit without interference from human beings. Throughout the book, Orson Scott Card forces readers not to look at what Ender does, but his motives for doing them. Do you agree with this?

Five Great Ideas from Ender’s Game

• Look at what people mean and not what they say.
• Learn from others, even those you perceive to be your enemies.
• Be flexible with your strategy.
• Use your brain to out-think and outsmart others.
• You become what you pretend to be, so be authentic.

Final Thoughts: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

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Ender's Game (The Ender Saga, 1) Paperback – May 4, 2021

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From New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game ― adapted to film starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford ― is the classic Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction novel of a young boy's recruitment into the midst of an interstellar war. In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel. THE ENDER UNIVERSE Ender series Ender’s Game / Ender in Exile / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind Ender’s Shadow series Ender’s Shadow / Shadow of the Hegemon / Shadow Puppets / Shadow of the Giant / Shadows in Flight Children of the Fleet The First Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) Earth Unaware / Earth Afire / Earth Awakens The Second Formic War (with Aaron Johnston) The Swarm / The Hive Ender novellas A War of Gifts / First Meetings

• Book 1 of 6 Ender Sextet
• Print length 256 pages
• Language English
• Dimensions 6.1 x 0.65 x 9.15 inches
• Publication date May 4, 2021
• ISBN-10 1250773024
• ISBN-13 978-1250773029
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About the author.

Orson Scott Card is best known for his science fiction novel Ender's Game and its many sequels that expand the Ender Universe into the far future and the near past. Those books are organized into the Ender Saga, which chronicles the life of Ender Wiggin; the Shadow Series, which follows on the novel Ender's Shadow and is set on Earth; and the Formic Wars series, written with co-author Aaron Johnston, which tells of the terrible first contact between humans and the alien "Buggers." Card has been a working writer since the 1970s. Beginning with dozens of plays and musical comedies produced in the 1960s and 70s, Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977--the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign , and the novelette version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog . The novel-length version of Ender's Game , published in 1984 and continuously in print since then, became the basis of the 2013 film, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin. Card was born in Washington state, and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he runs occasional writers' workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University. He is the author many science fiction and fantasy novels, including the American frontier fantasy series "The Tales of Alvin Maker" (beginning with Seventh Son ), and stand-alone novels like Pastwatch and Hart's Hope . He has collaborated with his daughter Emily Card on a manga series, Laddertop. He has also written contemporary thrillers like Empire and historical novels like the monumental Saints and the religious novels Sarah and Rachel and Leah . Card's work also includes the Mithermages books ( Lost Gate , Gate Thief ), contemporary magical fantasy for readers both young and old. Card lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card. He and Kristine are the parents of five children and several grandchildren.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Trade; 4th edition (May 4, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250773024
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250773029
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 6+ years, from customers
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.65 x 9.15 inches
• #13 in Space Marine Science Fiction
• #32 in Space Operas
• #42 in Science Fiction Adventures

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About the author

Orson scott card.

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools. His most recent series, the young adult Pathfinder series (Pathfinder, Ruins, Visitors) and the fantasy Mithermages series (Lost Gate, Gate Thief, Gatefather) are taking readers in new directions.

Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and many plays and scripts, including his "freshened" Shakespeare scripts for Romeo & Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice.

Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s. Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and directs plays. He frequently teaches writing and literature courses at Southern Virginia University.

Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kristine Allen Card, where his primary activities are writing a review column for the local Rhinoceros Times and feeding birds, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, and raccoons on the patio.

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Home » All Posts » 5 Classic Science Fiction Books with Memorable Protagonists

5 Classic Science Fiction Books with Memorable Protagonists

The Fantasy Review ’s list of 5 Classic Science Fiction Books with Memorable Protagonists.

Dune (Dune, #1) by Frank Herbert

From the blurb:

Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto Atreides, and all of his family have been sent to the planet Arrakis, having been outmanoeuvred by their arch-enemy Baron Harkonnen.

Arrakis – also known as Dune – is an arid place, but a planet of fabulous wealth, the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire: Spice…

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, #1) by Douglas Adams

It’s an ordinary Thursday lunchtime for Arthur Dent until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly afterwards to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and Arthur’s best friend has just announced that he’s an alien. At this moment, they’re hurtling through space with nothing but their towels and a book inscribed in large, friendly letters: DON’T PANIC.

The Forever War (The Forever War, #1) by Joe Haldeman

Check out our review of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.

The Earth’s leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand–despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private William Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict; to perform his duties and do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. ..

The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid’s Tale, #1) by Margaret Atwood

In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian future, environmental disasters and declining birthrates have led to a Second American Civil War. The result is the rise of the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. Offred is one of these, a Handmaid bound to produce children for one of Gilead’s commanders. Deprived of her husband, her child, her freedom, and even her own name, Offred clings to her memories and her will to survive.

Ender’s Game (Ender’s Saga, #1) by Orson Scott Card

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. ..

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Banned Books Week: “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card Review

The YA Science Fiction Classic Leaves a Complicated Legacy

Duncan Sligh , Co-Editor-in-Chief | September 28, 2021

“Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card in Lane Library

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“Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card is a science-fiction novel about Earth’s retaliation efforts in the wake of an alien invasion that was successfully fended off. Upon its release it was heralded as an important moment for science fiction, and brought the genre to a generation of adolescent and young-adult readers.

Many students at Armstrong may recognize the novel from one of their high school or middle school required-reading lists. It is a very popular book for teachers to assign their students due to the accessible nature of its prose while still highlighting difficult, mature themes.

As someone who loved this book dearly growing up, it’s an especially difficult one to revisit. Much has been made about Orson Scott Card’s views of and against homosexuality, and in today’s culture these views are impossible to ignore. One especially frustrating aspect of Card’s viewpoints are that they conflict with what makes “Ender’s Game” such a great read.

“Ender’s Game” deals with huge, existentialist themes that scale with its plot. The story follows a young boy, Ender, who is selected along with others as a potential military leader in the fight against an alien civilization, referred to colloquially as “Buggers.” Ender goes through a series of “games” that are intended to train him to defeat this existential threat.

As Ender and his friends progress through the games, they get more and more challenging, with consequences continuing to grow. Eventually, Ender learns that the games he played had massive, irreparable consequences on an unimaginable scale.

These consequences led to this book being commonly banned, especially since the book is intended for younger audiences. Many would argue that young readers should not be exposed to scenarios that fictionalize a massive loss of life.

The novel does not glorify acts of war, however, and instead focuses on how we measure life, especially when the life we are valuing is that of a perceived enemy or threat. It uses them brilliantly, and forces Ender, as well as the reader, to decide what actions could be considered moral or immoral when faced with potential danger.

This brings back the topic of Card’s personal views. It’s difficult to accept that a novel focused so narrowly on the value of life could be written by someone who is unable to accept the sexual identity of millions of humans. It does not seem to add up mathematically, but that is the reality of this situation.

Many fans of many different works of art are familiar with the fact that sometimes we have to enjoy the art without the context of the artist, but with the internet at our fingertips this can be a very difficult task to perform. It is eventually up to the reader to decide how they feel about the personal viewpoints of the authors they read. This example provides a particularly perplexing account of how that may happen.

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Rick M. • Jan 10, 2022 at 9:05 pm

My take is that anyone’s preoccupation with Card’s views on ANYTHING are completely beside the point. Enjoy the book. We all have our own shortcomings. This is akin to having a brilliant surgeon save you in the operating room, but then finding out later he’s a racist. Well, you didn’t go to him for political advice, you went to get an operation. His racism didn’t affect the work he did in the operating room. Judging others for how they judge others is a waste of time.

Annette • Nov 13, 2021 at 2:26 am

It is indeed difficult to accept that “Orson Scott Card” is unable to accept the sexual identity of millions of humans. It does not seem to add up mathematically.

Have you considered the possibility that Card actually is more than able to accept it (see what his friend Janis Ian has to say about him).

The media labeling Card as a “homophobe” is akin to Ender being labeled as a “Xenocide” or Alvin being labeled as a “pedophile” and “Renegado”?

Justin K. • Oct 25, 2021 at 3:28 pm

Isn’t it worrisome when one’s moral and ethical ideals match so closely with trans-national mega-corporations h.r. departments?

Dr. P. Peepoo poo Ph.D • Jul 15, 2022 at 12:51 pm

not at all.