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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
Ender's Game was not what I expected. I try not to research books too much before reading them because I enjoy going in blind, but that habit finally bit me. To put it bluntly, I thought this was going to be a Sci-Fi epic, not a fifth grade curriculum story about a bunch of nine year old kids bullying each other.
I won't go too in depth on the tired criticisms about this book, but if you are looking for something with actually interesting prose, then avoid this like the plague. This is not only a book about children, it's a book for children, and therefore it is written as plainly as possible. This doesn't mean the story isn't good though, it's just not nearly as epic as the review on the back cover made it out to be. Yes, this is a science fiction book about space military and aliens, but those concepts are reduced to stage props, and the real story is about Ender, a little snot nosed kid who is too smart for his own good and gets treated poorly because of his superior intelligence. Blegh.
Ender does have one fault though; he is capable of causing great harm to anyone who tries to hurt him, but it's always in self defense. He hates himself for it because it reminds him of his violent evil brother, but it's also the single trait that the military intends to exploit in order to turn him into a powerful commander. Throughout the book Ender gets pushed and pushed and pushed, and he succeeds every time. The other kids hate him for being so smart, and his superiors continuously increase the pressure on him to make him crack, but he doesn't crack, at least not really. He gets pushed to the point of doing things he isn't proud of, but at the end of the day it's almost always his own fault.
The book at least started to get interesting by the middle, and the end was honestly pretty damn good (if you completely ignore all the philosophical and ethical undertones). One thing I did appreciate about Card is how he withholds information from the reader until the time is right. There were multiple points that I felt were completely irrelevant plot oversights, but then Card comes through in the end and connects the dots in a pretty satisfying way.
I'm glad I read this book, but I also resent being catfished into reading the Sci-Fi equivalent of Lord of the Flies, so I'm glad it's over. I'm not even 20 pages into Solaris and I'm already having such a great time with it. If Ender's Game is good for anything at all, it'll make you appreciate good writing.
I won't go too in depth on the tired criticisms about this book, but if you are looking for something with actually interesting prose, then avoid this like the plague. This is not only a book about children, it's a book for children, and therefore it is written as plainly as possible. This doesn't mean the story isn't good though, it's just not nearly as epic as the review on the back cover made it out to be. Yes, this is a science fiction book about space military and aliens, but those concepts are reduced to stage props, and the real story is about Ender, a little snot nosed kid who is too smart for his own good and gets treated poorly because of his superior intelligence. Blegh.
Ender does have one fault though; he is capable of causing great harm to anyone who tries to hurt him, but it's always in self defense. He hates himself for it because it reminds him of his violent evil brother, but it's also the single trait that the military intends to exploit in order to turn him into a powerful commander. Throughout the book Ender gets pushed and pushed and pushed, and he succeeds every time. The other kids hate him for being so smart, and his superiors continuously increase the pressure on him to make him crack, but he doesn't crack, at least not really. He gets pushed to the point of doing things he isn't proud of, but at the end of the day it's almost always his own fault.
The book at least started to get interesting by the middle, and the end was honestly pretty damn good (if you completely ignore all the philosophical and ethical undertones). One thing I did appreciate about Card is how he withholds information from the reader until the time is right. There were multiple points that I felt were completely irrelevant plot oversights, but then Card comes through in the end and connects the dots in a pretty satisfying way.
I'm glad I read this book, but I also resent being catfished into reading the Sci-Fi equivalent of Lord of the Flies, so I'm glad it's over. I'm not even 20 pages into Solaris and I'm already having such a great time with it. If Ender's Game is good for anything at all, it'll make you appreciate good writing.
adventurous
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Been on my "To read list" for a while and I have to say, the reviews are absolutely correct.
An amazing Sci Fi book about a child who needs to save the world by playing games with other children. Doesn't sound the most exciting book but it was fantastic, so many twists and the last two chapters had me second guessing myself throughout. Think I read the last 10% of the book with my mouth open in shock.
Read this book, it's great!
An amazing Sci Fi book about a child who needs to save the world by playing games with other children. Doesn't sound the most exciting book but it was fantastic, so many twists and the last two chapters had me second guessing myself throughout. Think I read the last 10% of the book with my mouth open in shock.
Read this book, it's great!
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I picked this book up at Goodwill last than a week ago. I started it right away because the movie is coming out. It took me longer than I expected to read it.
The book is about a boy whom gets put into a battle school for training to become a commander to win a war between humans and a bug like race of aliens named buggers. To me it felt like Star Wars meets Harry Potter meets the Matrix. There was a lot of talk about the ONE. Of course the battle school and the fact that it is science fiction. The ending was my favorite part. I won't spoil it, but you will not see it coming for sure.
While I haven't read much science fiction I loved this book. I recommend it to fans of scifi that enjoys science fiction. Adults will probably enjoy this book despite the novel's main character being only 6 when the book starts out. It felt like he had an adult's mind.
The book is about a boy whom gets put into a battle school for training to become a commander to win a war between humans and a bug like race of aliens named buggers. To me it felt like Star Wars meets Harry Potter meets the Matrix. There was a lot of talk about the ONE. Of course the battle school and the fact that it is science fiction. The ending was my favorite part. I won't spoil it, but you will not see it coming for sure.
While I haven't read much science fiction I loved this book. I recommend it to fans of scifi that enjoys science fiction. Adults will probably enjoy this book despite the novel's main character being only 6 when the book starts out. It felt like he had an adult's mind.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
I don't usually like science-fiction/fantasy books, but I decided to give this book a try when someone recommended it to me. It's such a fantastic book, and while I haven't read any of the sequels, I would consider them. Ender is a really intriguing character, and his struggle could take place anytime; not just in the future on a space station that houses a place called Battle School.