Ender's Game
Ratings1,817
Average rating4.3
Absolutely fantastic book. I loved the buildup and the twist ending. The book ends so suddenly that I had to immediately read the squeal.
I wasn't so sure about this one until I got about halfway through it. I was having difficulty seeing past the characters ages and felt like maybe Ender in particular was just a little too conveniently genius y'know? “Oh of course he understands this while nobody else does, he's the main character after all and only gets bullied for being so smart and perfect.”
Once I hit 50% though, something clicked and I could kind of resonate with the kid. Sure he didn't struggle in class but he struggled in practically every other factor imaginable. Constantly pushed, stressed, moved around and away from any friends he finally managed to make and into the arms of some new bully. Suffering from isolation, from nightmares and dark thoughts of becoming just like his brother, always being younger and weaker than everyone else and looked down on, he actually went through a lot more than I initially gave him credit for.
The last quarter of this book wouldn't let me put it down and I was thrilled with how everything turned out. Incredibly satisfying ending in my mind and will really sit with me even after I read several other stories. Originally I thought of putting this one down or finishing it just to give it over star but I'm so so glad I sat it out, this is probably one of my favorite reads now!
It's hard to rate this book. I was bored most of the time, and the main twist near the end was predictable. However, the ending was good and it made all the book worth reading. Unfortunately, that's not enough to make me read the next book in this series.
I listened to the audiobook version. This book was so engrossing that I actually looked forward to my commute where I could listen undisturbed. In many ways, it felt like watching a (good) movie. I really enjoyed the characters of Ender and Valentine. The ending is superb. However, conquering the world via blogging is a little silly, but I'm willing to accept it as having been believable in 1994. Having read [b:Speaker for the Dead 7967 Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2) Orson Scott Card https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1295660894s/7967.jpg 2327777], I can see that everything in this book is necessary to build up to Speaker for the Dead, which is an even better novel.
It's hard for me to put into words how powerfully I love this book. It is not an easy read, but it is a meaningful and engaging read. I just finished listening to the audiobook (brilliantly voice acted). I was completely drawn into the world and characters. I felt as Ender felt. I cried deeply and felt a dull ache. It was the kind of book that bothers you in exactly the right way to make it unforgettable and an instant favorite. I love this novel.
Amazing book. Another SF classic that passed me by when I should have read it. Having finally done so with the perspective of an educator who has spent her entire adult life learning how to work with young minds, I'm deeply impressed by Card's impression of them. The children in the story all feel like very real children despite their intellectual advantages. Real children who have seen and experienced far more than they are supposed to have done. The idea of applying playground psychology to interstellar war is absolutely brilliant, and I understand why this book is as famous as it is. Not sure if I'll get to the sequels. There are a lot of them and my catch-up list is very long, but even without them ths book holds its own.
I know there are those who say I should not like this book because of the author's backward views of some matters, but it is one of the best books I have ever read. I love it.
great characters, narrative, twists. I really have little criticism for this book, Other than the characters come off as preachy and it might be obnoxious for some. I really like it that way though.
Edit(2024 reread) I think it overextends itself in some parts in the middle too, when it tries to not repeat itself. But my general feelings towards the book stay mostly the same.
This book is garbage. There is no plot it is more or less, the kid goes to school then just several pages of psychological torture porn. Ender just keeps leveling up it is not compelling in the least. It is like watching someone learn how to play the harmonica. All the characters are unlikable and only then ender siblings have a character, everyone else is just a good person or a bad person. No one ever changes throughout the book they are all just Gary Sues who are instantly gifted at the start of the book they either don't have problems or constantly have problems and never find a solution to it so it and run away at the end. The characters just get whisked around by the plot ender just suffers torture until they don't care about him anymore. Valentine just keeps following peter's directions until he controls the world and doesn't need her anymore. The only act of agency render gets is murdering a child which he solves as soon as it comes up and even that is a plan by graff. Ender just gets whisked around by the plot with no agency till people don't care about him anymore.
The twist at the end just seems like being a twist for the sake of being a twist. Nothing changes it just serves as more torture porn. If the book had made us believe in the cause it might have been surprising but everyone in power is a dick so when you find ou you are just like yeah sure they are dicks to their soldiers why wouldn't the war be pointless. Ender never especially believed in the cause, his motivation was just to excel through battle school so it has no bearing on the plot. The story is written like garbage, his prose is bland and uninteresting and the story is supposed to be about how ender's compassion is what truly makes him special. I will quote from spark notes “Compassion is the theme that runs through Ender's life. It is the defining feature of his existence. The reason that he plays the games so well is his ability to understand the enemy and to inspire loyalty. More than that, it is compassion that saves Ender”
Ender brutally murders two of his classmates. And his brother who is legit ender but psychopath does great, he ends up ruling the world, so clearly not having compassion wasn't that big a roadblock. Your themes clash with each other compassion and ruthlessness ARE OPPOSING THEMES. Also, peter rules the world through the power of blogging which is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
Orson also rambles on about the kids being naked which makes me wonder if he is a priest. In the book, the ender is just good at stuff. It is the whole chosen one BS but the chosen one doesn't do anything except be awesome and sad. His intellect will solve stuff, no need for work or passages discussing how he comes across these things, just bask in this power fantasy.
Also, the author is a huge homophobe but as far as I know, he doesn't get that till later books so it isn't very prevalent in this book.
Probably the best sci-fi book ever, the book has everything: aliens, violence, futuristic setting. Ender is the kid-next-door...-who-grew-up-to-be-a-hero.
Ender's Game is a classic. Probably my personal favorite science fiction book, it is perfectly paced. The action sequences are well written, and the more cereberal portions are incredibly engaging. Ender Wiggin and Bean are two of the best characters on paper. The catharsis of the final battle of the book is still one of my most memorable moments in fiction. Highly recommended.
I'd seen the movie years ago but it didn't send me to the book. 'Hollywood cute kid' gets manipulated into turning gaming skills into making war. Ends up causing mass genocide of alien race when he thought he was on a practice gaming session. Han Solo / Indian Jones (Harrison Ford) was the bad guy this time. The end.
Somebody recommended the book and it was a much better story than the movie. Instead of the apologist piece for American military and imperialism of the movie it explored the implications of brutalising people to make them into fighting machines. Ender's relationship with his brother (psychopath) and sister (empath) ran through the whole story and formed the foundation of Orson Scott Card blurring the boundaries between compassion and fascism.
This was a one-day stop-for-meals read and carried itself well.
From the time I first read Ender's Game at the age of 7, until today, this book has remained my favorite of all time. Something about being Ender's age while reading the book drew me into his world, his viewpoint. I saw myself as Ender, battling feeling like an outsider while having two siblings where one understands you, and the other can't stand you. I return to Ender's Game every few years and it means everything to me every time I put myself back into Ender's shoes and take on the battle room each time with new personal experiences under my belt.
5/10
Equal parts cool and cringe. I've heard so many good reviews of this book, so I am inclined to think that the problem was the audio adaption I listened to.
Maybe the kids aren't all annoying as he'll in the books, and the main twist of the book doesn't fall entirely flat due to horrible delivery.
I hated this book as a 13 year old, really liked it as a 23 year old. Some of my complaints are still the same: Ender's story starts a little too young (maybe 2-3 years) and it's hard to believe that such a perfectly strategic mind could exist. But I've never been a child genius, so what do I know?
Overall, exciting and action-packed. Highly recommend! I might even read the rest of the series this time.
Also, I read the introduction, and apparently the author was a Mormon missionary to Brasil. Pretty crazy. He used some Portuguese words, too, which I thought was cool.
Age range: 15+
If my experience is any gauge, younger readers just might not be able to follow the story, especially the ending.
Reread this after a disappointing experience with Xenocide. It's still amazing, even though I'm no longer a child.
3.75 stars
The first 80% of the book were 5 stars, but then I don't know what happened at the end of the book. It's like the final pages were a summary of another book, with each sentence describing entire plots and events. Also, a lot of things stopped making sense. It's too bad...
the only reason i kept reading was because i had heard the ending was fantastic. but i didn't feel that way & i was pretty bored the whole time. writing style felt exhausting somehow too
OH GOD, the plot twist. The whole time, on the command school, you're thinking that he's just training, and then they just throw you a cold bucket of water, like yeah, you just killed 10 billion buggers congrats.
I love how Ender changed and the way the story evolved, I just won't give the book five stars because of things like “they have a couple of centuries worth of evolution working against them” (sorry if I didn't write the quote correctly), like why do you need to bury yourself so deep sir Orson Card... I know the book is old but they could've easily edited that out...well but that's just me and I've misinterpreted the quote or something.
Overall a really good book if you enjoy stuff like CHERUB, war in general and plot twists
I've read maybe a handful of books twice. And only one or two 3 times. I have read Ender's Game more than a dozen times (I've listened to the audiobook 2 or 3 times through). It is most definitely my favorite book of all time.
Update after 2023 re-read: This re-read was the first time that I felt the book wasn't a perfect 10/10. The book just doesn't hit the same way at 40 years old as it did when I was 10 or 20. It was still a very enjoyable book. Nobody writes characters quite like Card. He conveys and internal emotional life that maybe only Robert Charles Wilson and Robin Hobb can match.
