Ender's Game

The earth is looking for a brilliant commander to lead their forces against the Buggers, an insect like alien race that has already attacked Earth twice before. They find their military genius in a small boy named Andrew "Ender" Wiggins. He is taken to battle school to be trained in military tactics. There the adult teachers use psychology to transform him into the ultimate killing machine. Ender however, is a compassionate young man looking for love and acceptance. In the end it is this combination of compassion and killer instinct that saves the Earth, but at a monumental cost.

Ender Wiggin is a complicated character. He is a combination of his empathic sister and his megalomaniac brother. Ender uses his understanding of the enemy to show more destroy them. He feels guilty afterwards, but he has the solace of knowing he has been manipulated by others. The ultimate question is whether or not he will ever find peace after the war.

This book was original written in the late 1970's yet the themes are not out of date. In fact, they are still relevant today. Video games have come under attack recently for their violent content. In this story, video games are used to manipulate children and train them to kill. Taking innocent children, even if they are intelligent beyond their years, to fight a war is rather despicable. Only desperate people would use game playing to deceive children into killing others. Another theme is the use of the internet to manipulate the political process. The internet has become a powerful tool since this book was original published. Could a person use it as a tool for world domination? Let’s hope this novel remains science fiction and does not become science fact. show less

First sentence: "I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get."

ETA: My most recent 'read' of the book is July 2025. I listened on audio. I wanted to reread this one after rewatching the film a few weeks ago. I did like it more than I did in 2020, but less than I have in the past. I think the older I get the more I see how much harm and damage they caused Ender and am more outraged on his behalf. I see less 'cool adventure' and more this is so incredibly wrong.

Premise/plot: Andrew Wiggin, aka "Ender," is six years old and potentially the earth's savior. Two wars have been fought and barely won against the aliens known to readers as Buggers. The show more third war will take much preparation--decades worth of the International Fleet training up children to be commanders and soldiers.

Ender is one such student or trainee. His older brother, Peter, and older sister, Valentine, didn't make it so far as Battle School in space. Ender's life is wearisome and burdensome. He doesn't make friends easily and his biggest fear is being just as violent and out of control as his brother, Peter. He is prone to self-reflection and self-loathing. But in terms of military genius, strategizing, leadership...he excels.

When the time comes to fight the war, will he be ready?

My thoughts: For a decade I would have considered this one of my favorite, favorite books. Now that it's been almost twenty years or so since I first read it--well, my thoughts and impressions have changed some. I love the last fourth of the novel. That hasn't changed. But the first fourth of the novel, well, it's DISTURBING, uncomfortable, awkward, a bit off. I did NOT remember the use of the n word. I did not remember the jokesy approach to different races (or ethnicities). I did not remember the chokehold scene where Peter is trying to kill his brother. I did not remember some of the crudeness.

One thing that bothers me is Peter. Peter is a psychopath in my opinion. He is cruel to his brother and sister. He is cruel to small animals. He is a bully. He is manipulative. He is egocentric and a narcissist. He dreams of world domination. He is just a sick, sick, sick individual. And I think what readers are outright told about him is just the tip of the iceberg. If Valentine is to be believed about the files and records she's been keeping of her brother. Chances are he might have done even more than she knew about. There was one line that disturbed me where she is telling Ender that you don't know what I had to do to keep Peter from hurting you. Of course, we don't know--she doesn't say. But Card later seems to redeem the character of Peter and seeks to make him sympathetic.

Card does do flawed humans well. I will give him that. Are any of the characters in this one not flawed?!?! I think the most likable characters may be Bean and Petra. show less

Another overly-hyped sci-fi "classic" with slimy libertarian-esque politics.

The whole idea of Ender being somehow better than everyone because he's smarter and can reason better, and breeding him to be a Leader of Men and the indifference of the feelings of everyone else irks me.

It seems like the conflict that's set up in the book is "is it right to manipulate the life of one person for the needs of the many?", or "if the Great Man theory is correct, can we produce one of our own"? and the answer is going to be "no," because the rights and feelings of the individual matter more -- whilst totally ignoring the potential of the collective and working together and the fact that everyone has their own strengths. His distaste for the masses show more is palpable in the way Ender views the group and its inferiority.

Ender is like a friggin' robot, uber-rational and perfect at everything. Plus the racial stuff is weird, like how Jews are supposed to be the best strategists so people are make really hateful anti-semitic remarks about them out of jealousy -- it seems really dated, and like Card himself kinda hated Jews too. show less

I was a bit skeptic about buying this book at first. I've heard all the stories about how homophobic the author is – and I have no interest in buying things to help such people gain money. But I had already seen the film by the time I understood what a trainwreck the author was and when I saw the book at the Sci-Fi bookshop, I couldn't help myself. I'll make this awful action up in one way or another, I promise.

After a war against bug-like aliens with an intention to colonise Earth, we are left rather shaken. One of our soldiers, Mazer Rackham, destroyed the entire bug-fleet in one strike just when the people started to give up. But despite the victory, we decide that we will not rest until we are sure we would be able to beat the show more hostile aliens if they ever decide to come back.

To prepare this large army, we train children to become soldiers. We keep all children under close watch to study their intelligence, morals and strength – and if they seem decent enough, they are sent to the battle school to train. After several years, they will graduate and hopefully be sent to different branches within the army, whatever fits them best. Ender is one of these children.

Born a third in a world which generally only allows each family to have two children, he has always been a bit of an underdog. But he has the brains of a Yoda and he has one thing the military really does appreciate; when challenged by an enemy, he doesn't fight back to protect himself in the moment, he fights back to win; to make sure he is left alone.
At the battle school, they have classes like any other school would – but the most important thing is the battles in a no gravity environment. To win the game, you have to use tactics and talent to fight your way across the battle field and win by going through the other team's goal. It doesn't take long for Ender to start growing in ranks and soon, he is granted his own army to play in the games. The only catch is that they are all launchies, nearly fresh off of Earth. But every time he levels up within the school, he leaves behind the few friends he manages to make.

He trains his army hard; his tactics are tough but original and unsuspected. It leaves his soldiers slightly afraid of him, especially when he finds himself drilling a small boy called Bean even harder than the rest as he soon realises Bean is the most promising child in his army – but it also means the other commanders soon all wish he would just drop dead.

Throughout his years in the battle school, the isolation helps him become a more focused and disciplined commander but he is robbed of a childhood as he becomes more mature than a nine year old should ever be – and as he trains his army and continues to pick on Bean, he worries he's not better than his sadistic brother Peter back at home. What makes them different? What if he's not more than Peter after all?

Damn. What a fucking book. Honestly. That is what I have to say about this one. As I said, I was a bit skeptic about it but I'm glad I decided to read it after all. I have never read a story like this before. I understand why it has such a huge following within science fiction because it is truly a masterpiece.

What I find most haunting about the book is how the children act. You sometimes forget that they are just children because they talk like I did when I was at least fifteeen, but definitely not eight or nine, but then suddenly makes you realise with a bang that they should be struggling to understand 2 4 at this age. It made me think of The Hunger Games a lot.

But it's also a story that truly shows what the human race is about. Does that sound bad? It probably does. But I feel like the end was expected. Not because it wasn't a plot twist but because I feel like I wouldn't be surprised if the human race made a decision like that. In that way, it is very much about survival and what we will do to make sure to be the last ones standing. I'm sure the rest of the series continue discussion this topic though as this is only the first book of fourteen. I'm definitely going to read them all. show less

What's most impressive is how well it holds up. Orson Scott Card's extrapolation was spot on, and even by today's standards, it doesn't feel dated at all.

However, I feel like the story misses a lot of really big opportunities to build drama, and it does so for the sake of some plot twists that aren't all that interesting.

Most of the story is about Ender going through school, but it really focuses more on his studies and less on the drama of Ender facing challenges. Imagine if we went to Hogwarts in Harry Potter but only read about Harry studying and taking tests and never getting much insight into the school or mythology or what's going on beyond those walls.

Each chapter begins with a "behind-the-scenes" conversation between two of the show more officers, and these conversations are some of the most interesting in the book.

The final chapter is incomprehensibly senseless, leaving me with a really unsatisfying conclusion that I wish Card had cut entirely or given more attention to make sense. The poetry there is strong, but the logic in the narrative almost undoes everything that comes before it.

Overall, it's well-conceived but stumbles a lot in the execution. I enjoyed it but thought it could have been much better. show less

I was twenty when I first read “Ender’s Game” back in 1987. I was completely absorbed in it., turning the pages eagerly to know what would happen next and being shocked, even outraged, when I understood the sustained deceit and betrayal on which the book was based.

Twenty-six years later, I decided to listen to the audio book version. It was a delight. The narrators give it the feel of a radio play without missing a word of the original prose.

Perhaps because I knew the ending or perhaps because I am older, this time my attention was caught by the sadness of the book. Ender is almost always alone, almost always being pushed into situations where none of his options are good, and always burdened by the knowledge the choices that he show more takes change who he is. I was also more sympathetic to the adults who do the terrible things that shape Ender’s fate; knowing that they are terrible, necessary and unforgiveable. Ender’s assailed innocence and the compromised integrity of the adults are a lesson it what it means to be “grown up” and why children deserve to have time to be children.

The book focuses relentlessly on the violence we are willing to commit and the “sins” we are willing to live with in order to survive. It doesn’t glorify these things but it doesn’t diminish them either. It tackles what it means to be different and how often an inability to communicate turns difference into conflict.

At its heart, “Ender’s Game” tells us that all games are real, all choices matter, everything that creates an enemy has a consequence. What makes the book remarkable is that it tackles all this while doing a good job of seeing the world through the eyes of a (very bright) vulnerable, lonely, child who is equally gifted with empathy and ruthlessness.

Re-reading the book more than twenty years on adds other points of interest: Card’s imagining of the role of the web, the “desks” the children work on and the concept of war executed by tele-presence are all pleasingly accurate. This time round I was very aware that the ending of the book felt like an add-on to set up “Speaker for the Dead” – which I also read twenty-six years ago.- whereas, on the first read, I saw it as a slightly clumsy effort at redemption. The audio book includes an interview with Card, where he explains that he did indeed rewrite the ending and how that came about. I now find Card’s politics a little thin and unconvincing – too American to be truly global- but I found the way he writes Ender’s sister much more moving than before.

The movie will be out soon here in Europe. I don’t have high hopes of it, although I’ll watch it all the same. In my view, the most entertaining and engaging way to experience “Ender’ Game” is to listen to this audio version. I recommend it to you. show less

I read this book 15 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now that the movie is coming out, I thought I'd try it again before seeing the adaptation. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Plus, I'm set up to enjoy the multiple sequels and parallel series, which have been beckoning for quite a while.

Last time through, I missed the fact that the book has such an immediate, spare voice. That accounts for the way in which I was able to fly through the story. It would have been easy to have bogged the book down with more ponderous language in an attempt to match the broad scope of some of the ideas, but the more direct narrative works much better. It trades away some potential shadings of nuance, but it keeps the reader closely tied to the main show more character's point of view and helps to speed one along in the story.

As is always the case, revisiting a book uncovers or brings to mind aspects that a first reading missed. In some cases, that's to a book's detriment. Experience and maturity have a way of revealing a book's shortcomings, and memories of earlier reads can be overshadowed by a fresh read. In this case, however, the book holds up well. Having experienced the essential drama once, I was able to dwell on the way in which it unfolded and to linger on the political backdrop of the story a bit more. It all still works, and it's still a great read. show less