[kater]

mild spoilers ahead if you haven't read the rest of the books...




Rather adroitly, something the reviewer highlighted that the effect the Bean plot has on the original novel *indirectly* is that Ender is robbed of some of his polish. In effect, from reading the extended series we find that much of what Ender achieved came about as a result of the efforts of the even more strategically super-duper Bean.

As a stand-alone, 'Ender's Game' remains excellent, but I'm inclined to agree that the later books sell at its expense, if that makes sense.


It does very much so and although I quite enjoyed the Bean books it seemed like Card had written himself into a huge corner. With a child that was even more 'Ender' than Ender was, it was always going to be a case of this child being too brilliant to be believable even if he was some genetic freak. You always seemed to know that whatever the situation Bean would escape it and so any tension the books built up was quickly removed any time Bean had an 'idea'. It was very much a case of the coyote never going to catch the road runner. But with so much interest on the events happening on Earth post Ender's Game but prior to Speaker for the Dead, that the books were going to sell like hotcakes, especially when Card gave the reader another Ender to root for.

[homosap]

best for me, I first read this at age 12 and was pretty impressed, I then re-read in preparation for the sequels in my early 30's.

I haven't read all of the sequels and actually would now take a lot of convincing to part with any hard cash for an OSC book. Not being a big analyser of what I read I didn't have a handy peg to hang my negative feelings on. Reading through this thread, and particularly the essay link from Mugwump, seems to have clarified my thoughts a little. Basically I find something insiduous, and a bit creepy, about OSC writings, feels like I'm being preached at.

Labelling Enders Game as a classic seems crazy to me, if it was labelled as a teen/young adult classic then I could see that.

[Adam87]

2) Alai's friendship I found was important, because Alai was one of his first true friends at Battle School. Ender was purposely being isolated from the rest of the students and he could tell. Alai was one of the first to connect with him.

3) I thought that Ender was doing the same to Bean as was done to him. Ender saw the potential in Bean and pushed him in the same way he was, so that he could realize that potential.

5) No. I believe that the amount of girls in the novel are the same ratio as that in the military today. Of those closest to Ender in the school, there was only one girl and about five or six males. I don't think it is just "boys and their toys", it portrays how a school like that would work. Also Valentine is the second most important character in the novel.

7) My only complaint is that I found it hard to imagine or even understand some of the battles in null-gravity. Sometimes it was too descriptive I found and I got easily lost in orientating the room in my mind. (North is up, South is down and all the stuff.)

[grechzoo]

i only started reading a month ago,

and this was the second book i ever read, and is by far the most special read, speaker is up here with it.

about the portrayol of the boys, the story depends on these special minds. it is fiction after all. i will hear people say ' we need some realism otherwise we cant connect with the book' but i doubt the millions of fans of this book had a hard time relating with the kids in some elements.

the fact is without the kids being so unbelievable clever this book would not exist (or would be about ten times less well loved) and that would be a travestry.

speaker for the dead is great and emotional, and the only bad thing is that he had to stretch it into another two books after that.xenocide was good but i haven;t read children...as i hear its bad (but i will soon).

has anyone who loved enders game foudn a book or series that matches this amazing piece of work. I was addicted to reading it, haven;t had that with any other book, i read if in about three sittings. it was too good!! :).

i know its a matter of opinions, but if theres a book out there that i will enjoy asmuch as this i need to know about it :)

[grechzoo]

mild spoilers ahead if you haven't read the rest of the books...



This is more of a commentary on the extended Ender series than directly on 'Ender's Game', but here goes:-

Recently SFX magazine reviewed the final novel of the 'new' series relating to what happened in the aftermath of the bug war, and the role Bean played throughout.

Rather adroitly, something the reviewer highlighted that the effect the Bean plot has on the original novel *indirectly* is that Ender is robbed of some of his polish. In effect, from reading the extended series we find that much of what Ender achieved came about as a result of the efforts of the even more strategically super-duper Bean.

As a stand-alone, 'Ender's Game' remains excellent, but I'm inclined to agree that the later books sell at its expense, if that makes sense.

Interestingly, SFX gave the new book a very good review, arguing that it was a return to top form for Card.

which new card book?

[Ropie]

has anyone who loved enders game foudn a book or series that matches this amazing piece of work. I was addicted to reading it, haven;t had that with any other book, i read if in about three sittings. it was too good!! :).

If you enjoyed the style and the concept of Ender's Game then you might like John Scalzi's Old Man's War, a study of how elderly people could be used as soldiers. It was the book club choice here a couple of months back. It also has a sequel, Ghost Brigades.

[Ouroboros]

which new card book?

I was talking about the last book in what is loosely called the 'Ender's Shadow' series, featuring Bean.

It's not so new anymore, however- this thread is a year old.

[grechzoo]

lol, yeah shadow of the giant, located the review,

i do love orson, and enjoy mst of his books.

i wll check out old man war,

any other recomendations for a massive fan of orsons style in ender's game?

[LordBalthazar]

This book has certainly engendered some healthy debate.

When I told the gang at work that I was reading Ender's Game, I received two wildly divergent reviews. One of my co-workers loved the book, claiming he read it in one sitting. Another was less-than impressed, feeling the novel was simply a padded-out version of the short story (which he loved incidentally).

I was not famliar with the original short story, read the novel cold, and liked it a lot. It was a very entertaining read although, as many have already pointed out, somewhat disappointing when it came to presenting the reader with well-rounded characters. While Ender was well-drawn, the supporting players were pretty flimsy, from the milquetoast parents to the selfless and benevolent Valentine to the hard-ass military brass running the operation. The fellow students Ender befriends along the way aren't much better. But the most egregious of the characters was Ender's brother, Peter, who was such a thoroughly despicable individual I had trouble buying into him. Okay, granted, he was a bully, and, yes, there are boys out there who take delight in eviscerating animals - but these boys tend to be text-book anti-social psychotics who grow up to be serial killers, not progressive leaders.

I was surprised no one has mentioned the parallels between this novel and Rowling's Harry Potter books. The same elements pop up in both series (kids POV, leaving home for a surreal educational environment, the various infighting and relationships in an almost fantasy setting, the different groups with their colorful names, etc.)

I agree with those who felt the continuing contests grew tiresome after a while and, while I wasn't surprised by the "twist", I did appreciate it. My co-worker, the one who had read the short story, claimed it was more effective in the short story because the narrative wasn't as drawn out. Comments?

My biggest problem with the novel was the conversations between the military commanders that preceded every chapter. Like FiscusFan, I felt it did a disservice to the story, spoonfeeding the reader facts instead of allowing the revelations to naturally unfold. What I found most annoying was that these little asides added nothing to the novel. Every fact covered in these chats was also covered later in within the body of the story told from Ender's POV. In fact, I would argue that certain revelations (Bozo's death comes to mind) would have been more dramatically effective if they had been revealed later in the story.

Finally, I disagree with people who criticize the depiction of the kids in this story as being wholly unrealistic. First of all, we establish from the onset that these kids are special. In fact, extra special. I buy them being more intelligent than their years. I also had no problem accepting the surprising growing up these kids had to do in a harsh and brutal setting. One need only look at news footage of gun-toting six years olds in Sierra Leone to realize this is not only possible, but a sad reality in certain parts of the world.

[grechzoo]

People who complain about realism in Sci-Fi are obviously missing something.

its not called Sci........

Of course there is an elemtent of unrealism in the childrens behaviour. but you cant complain about it.

The Mr card is my favourite writer and is someone who can tell a story and give the reader a total understanding of the world they are reading about without rabbiting on about facts and location that have no relevance to the reader.

i wont name names. but one thing i cant stand is when an author (happens a lot in fantasy) starts dropping names of towns that are there to make the reader think its a big world, but to me it just means the author is trying to sound clever by thinking up names of towns 90% of these wont even be talked about or ever refferred to in a meaningful way ever again.