The Little Bookworm

A short novella from the Enderverse focuses on Dink Meeker and the small act of giving a Sinterklaas present to one of his friends. Little does he know that this is going to incite a war among the Battle School students. Zeke Morgan comes from a fundamentalist Christian family. His father preaches that everyone is full of sin and that is why they cannot hear the Lord's Word. He "purifies" Zeke, but knows nothing of Zeke's phenomental metal abilities until the Fleet come for Zeke to bring him to Battle School. There Zeke does his best to remain a pacifist, believing that God does not glory in war. But when Dink leaves his friend a Sinterklass present as a token of friendship, Zeke takes it upon himself to turn this simple act and turn it into something bigger. And Dink retaliates in return. But Ender Wiggin seeks to create an understanding in the Battle School between Dink and Zeke and the conflict they have bought to it.

One of my favorite books is Ender's Game. And I love reading stories set in this world and getting to know more of Ender's world and his time spent in Battle School. It's stories like this that add to the over-all story and later are alluded to in Ender in Exile. A War of Gifts presents an excellent commentary on the true nature of religion and the religion that children will create around their parents and for their parents. Zeke's struggle to become pure is interesting one since he was only taught he was impure by his father. This leads to an incident where Ender can show what a great leader he is becoming, helping Zeke without Zeke really understand what is happening.

This is little more than a short story really. 128 pages in hardback is somehow being stretched to over 200 pages in the forthcoming paperback version - I can only suppose by adding pictures, big fonts or lots of white space. I read through the book in one sitting yesterday afternoon.

Its not a bad story though. Zeck is raised in an abusive household where his father is some kind of freelance minister of religion who believes he is the only true pure person on earth. Zeck, being a small boy, internalises this philosophy despite his photographic memory and gift for reading people that would look like a savant tendency even in a mature adult.

And then he is taken away to battle school, where his religion is outlawed and where he refuses to co-operate.

The story is about coming of age, and healing of the past and of friendships too. And it is readable - good for anyone who has read all the Ender books. Probably not the place to start for anyone else, as too much of the scenario is undescribed. What and where is battle school? why can the IF steal children? who are the Formics? Who is Ender Wiggin? I think anyone who cannot answer these questions might be a little frustrated by this story. Thus a book for "Ender" series completists only.

The story is also problematic in other ways. Card rattles out these abusive church scenarios too commonly (for anyone who has read a lot of his work). Not that I think he should not do it. People often abuse positions of trust and have inflated opinions of themselves which they prey off, so why should he not write about such things? But I found Zeck's father to be too fantastic. He is too obvious, and I think a character with much more false humility would have been more believable. The line "we are puritans, not fundamentalists" seemed to suggest that there is some kind of fundamentalist orthdoxy that describes that group, which is not true. Moreover they did not sound like puritans.

Likewise these battle school kids are simply too deep! Geniuses they certainly are, but where did they get all that wisdom at the age of 8 or 9? The more I read of this series, the more poorly it reflects on some of the initial concepts - and I think Ender is a project that Card really should lay to rest, and move on to something new.

So in summary, if you want a short and fun read with nothing too deep, and if you already enjoy Ender Wiggin books, and don't mind the fact this one is so short - then you will enjoy this book. Otherwise you might want to move along to something else. ( )

This is very short, as it says on the cover, it is an Ender story, not a novel. This occurs just after Ender joins Battle School and before he takes over his own army. It features a bit character not previously featured in the story, and how Dink and Ender bring the boy in and change his life. Its exactly what you would expect from an Ender story, but it is still great to read. ( )

Orson Scott Card is a decent enough writer and one of the few sci-fi writers still writing today that I read. BUT, enough is enough with the Ender series! Actually, I don't really mind sequels, but this retelling-from-a-different-perspective stuff just seems like a cash-in. The Battle School is an interesting setting and it's always stuck in my mind, but this story adds nothing to it that I didn't already get out of Ender's Game or Ender's Shadow. So, I'm left wondering why I read this. ( )

http://booklog.molehill.org/2009/03/0... ( )