I don’t usually like science fiction. I didn’t like Ender’s Game the first time I started it. The premise seemed a little too Out There: a forbidden third child was taken from his family at the age of six in order to be trained to command the world’s fleet of starships in the war against the buggers.
I didn’t find the writing style spectacular. I couldn’t see the characters well. I didn’t feel engaged with the storyline.
Until the end of chapter ten (out of fifteen). Then I was engaged. Hooked. Grabbed captive to this little book, this imagined story, until its pages ran out and it was no longer the master that ruled my life.
(The week before I left for college when I wanted to be getting the most rest, was when I stayed up every night to read this book.)
The ending was, at first, not what I’d expected, then what I’d kind of expected all along. It was a hard ending made beautiful by the promise of future hope. Here’s a bit more…
THE HUMAN RACE FACES ANNIHILATION\
An alien threat is on the horizon, ready to strike. And if humanity is to be defended, the government must create the greatest military commander in history.
The brilliant young Ender Wiggin is their last hope. But first, he must survive the rigours of a brutal military training program – to prove that he can be the leader of all leaders.
A saviour for mankind must be produced, through whatever means possible. But are they creating a hero or a monster?
Card’s writing style is also very different from what I’m used to. He doesn’t show the details of the action the way I’m used to reading, and I never felt intimate with the characters. But the reader doesn’t need to see details in Ender’s Game. We know what happens. We can picture it well enough in our minds. And even though he doesn’t write from the inside of Ender, with the emotion I’m used to, I loved reading Ender’s thoughts throughout the story.
And the thoughts. Ender’s Game is one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. Even before I finished it, I found myself facing some very challenging questions: what kind of limitations do we place on ourselves? How do we challenge, defy, circumnavigate those limitations? Who is the real enemy? What is acceptable to do in the name of mass preservation?
Note: if you’re a sensitive reader, there’s some language, and sometimes the premise itself was emotionally hard to read (government manipulation of a child and the tactics used).
But the story was not without its warm moments. Though few and far between, the little scenes of friendship, forgiveness, and love kept the book from being as cold and inhuman as outer space. And again and again, Card delighted me with a brilliant, beautiful, or powerful sentence or thought.
Ender’s Game is more than just a story about humans versus aliens. It gently and naturally explores themes such as what is moral and what is not, who is moral and who is not, where is the enemy and where is the friend.
I’m glad I kept reading. If I’d indulged my petty preferences and put aside Ender’s Game, I would have missed out on one of the most amazing books I’ve read. It is a tribute to the genre of science fiction, reaching out to explore planets and species and technology while at the same time reaching within to explore the depths of humanity.
P.S. I’ve returned to Ender’s Game since this first read. I’ve understood and enjoyed it so much more, and I’m proud to see its spine every time I walk by my trophy case of good reads.
