Ender's Game

[soccerstar95]

Ender's Game had an interesting plot although the idea of training children to fight in wars seems unthinkable. Although I liked the book, it wasn't compelling enough for me to read the rest of the series.

[kasi33]

I really enjoyed this book; and I didn't think I would but I did. LitLovers discussion question 2: "Is childhood a right? Does a person robbed of a "normal" childhood have any possibility of stability as an adult? Does Ender have any chance of living "happily ever after"?"

Does anybody have any thoughts or insights on this? I think everyone has a right to a childhood to have time to learn and grow up but those who don't have a normal childhood can still grow into stable responsible adults. I also think it'll end up being more work for them as love and logic is hard to learn on your own. As to the last question I've already read the series so I better not answer.

Ender's game is my all time favorite book!
As to the question of whether a person has a "right" to a childhood, I think nature would suggest that a person is designed to have a childhood. The sheer innocence of an individual, from birth to a certain age, is proof that we are meant to be guided thru childhood, not robbed of it.
One can be robbed of childhood in many ways; all of which I consider abuse.
Ender was abused by control. His life was manufactured, from the moment he was created in a Petri dish, to the act of Xenocide. He was a third, so his life was owned by the international fleet. He had a device implanted in his brain stem, in order to monitor his actions, and as a constant control mechanism. Once Ender qualified for Battle School, he was shaped and formed, and manipulated by his commanding officer, Col. Graff. Ultimately, the IF ground him down so completely, that Ender killed an entire alien species, without knowledge of doing so.
A person has to have certain experiences to be whole. An example of someone not being "whole" in a mental sense, is when a teen mom loses custody of her child because of neglect. The girl suffered a premature loss of innocence, and was unable to perform correctly afterwards, from not having the proper skills. Stability will have to be learned in a different way, and will probably not turn out anywhere as well as if there had been a childhood present.
I have read all of the books in the series, so I know of what happens to Ender. Regardless of the things that happen in someone's life, they are generally in control of their own "Happy Ending". No one can live the life that you are living, but you. Ender was aware of that, and his life followed accordingly.

[Athertle]

Ender's Game was a fabulous book. It had a totally original plot that captured readers everywhere, and reconstructed the notion of aliens, or "buggers". However, I feel like the most amazing bit of it was that Mrs. Card thought of the idea of tablets, space crafts, and so much more when she began writing the novel before 1985! She was extremely imaginative and intelligent.

Bravo!

[fitzthegreat]

So so good. I love this book. The movie was ok. I felt like no one went and saw it. However, this book is fantastic and deserves so much praise!

[raindropwriter]

I remember reading the book a few months ago. It is one of the very few science fiction books I have read.

[ttuso22]

I was shocked at how much I LOVED this book. I loved how thought out and how unique it was from anything else I have ever read. The twists and turns and the character development left me wanting more. Right after I finished the book, the movie came out and though I wasn't as happy with it, it was still decent for any movie based on a book. I have the other books in my closet waiting to be read when I finish some of the books I'm reading right now!

[areadingmachine]

Yeah the movie was not so bad after all

[Sveta]

Had to read it for school and this is the book that caused me to realize how much I dislike science fiction.

[miztree46]

I actually had to re-read this book because I read it about fourteen years ago. When I read Enders’ Game for the first time, I wasn’t convinced that children that young could be strategic about war. However, the writing was so good that I forgot about their ages. My heart dropped when I realized that Ender had been used. Overall, I thought that Orson Scott Card made a very profound statement with this book. I give it 4 out of 5 stars

[DickDatchery]

I read Ender's Game a couple of years ago because it was recommended to me as one of the most acclaimed science fiction books around. I read it quickly and found it to be interesting, but not greatly so. I also failed to be floored by any great philosophical insights. Since that tine, I continue to run across it in sci fi recommendations, and it receives almost universal acclaim when readers talk about it. It makes me wonder whether I missed something or perhaps it's just a case of different people having different tastes. I will probably circle back to it again at some point to see whether I feel differently. Sometimes in the past I've disliked a book on the first read, only to gain an appreciation of it later (I'm looking at you, Iliad!)

[Alexisliz]

I'm reading it right now! Almost done! I would already recommend it to someone and have enjoyed so far!

[sherlock_holmes]

Although I have only read three books in this series, I already consider it one of my favorites and am looking forward to reading the rest of the books. I especially enjoyed "Shadow of the Hegemon," but maybe that's because I enjoy reads on psychology, and it proved interesting in this category. I can't say my favorite character is Ender, though; he seems a bit shallow compared to Bean.

[DickDatchery]

i read a few pages of the enders game and i didn't really understand the story so i dropped that book!

-- 23 Dec 2013, 18:10 --

anyone please explain?????

What in particular did you not understand? I might be able to help.

[colemaba]

I'm excited to start it. I just watched the movie and plan to start the book tomorrow.

[thsavage2]

I read this while on break from school after one of my friends kept recommending it to me. Orson Scott Card does some magnificent worldbuilding. I see this as a sci-fi bildungsroman. The protagonist is young Ender, who enters Battle School to fight the buggers. I enjoyed the action sequences, but I really liked when he would play the game. I think those insights into what this young kid (who has had a lot of responsibility foisted on him) was thinking were what really made me care about the story and the characters. His brother and sister are also great characters. I've also had the other Scott Card books recommended to me although I have yet to get to them. People seem to especially like the same story from Bean's perspective, that one is called Ender's Shadow.