Title: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 324
Ender's Game is a novel taking place in the future. Humans have been fighting wars against "Buggers" (aliens) for many years. They have won both the First and Second Invasions from the Buggers, but they need someone to lead them when the Buggers attack in the Third Invasion, which is expected to be soon. The government tries to figure out ways to "breed" military geniuses, because the average human mind simply is not enough to outsmart Buggers. The smartest, fastest, and the bravest are taken away as young as 6 to Battle School, and then graduate to Command School after many years. This story follows the life of Ender. He is the military genius that everyone has been searching for. He is taken away when he is six years old to Battle School. Right from the beginning, the adults around him start isolating him from the other children so that he won't have any friends by continually pointing out that he is the best. They need to do this as part of his training. The boys and girls at Command School are split into groups or "Armies". Right after Ender manages to fit in to his army, he is moved to an army where no one wants him, because no one believes in his skill. He is traded into another army by his captain, and begins to make himself at home there. Right after he begins to fit in in his own army, Ender is made captain of a completely new army made out of cast-offs and newbies from other armies. Ender is able to train his army to win every single battle they have against other armies by thinking and making up strategies no one else has thought of. When he is around 10 years old, he goes to Command School, even though no one goes there until they are at least 16. He is trained by the one who defeated the Buggers in the Second Invasion, and is given control of squadrons in computer simulations of battles against Buggers. His master makes them increasingly more difficult so it is impossible for Ender to win the battles without losing ships. In the end, he is given a final exam, which he must pass. This simulation outnumbers him Buggers to humans 1000 to 1. At first, Ender believes that it is hopeless, but he ends up exploding the whole Bugger planet. At the end of the exam, his master tells him that all the battles he was commanding were real. All those ships he lost were real ships, and that planet he destroyed on the screen was a real planet. Ender won the war. He destroyed the Buggers for good.
I could not put this book down. I thought it was very well-written. The author deals with training Ender, but not completely stamping out all his compassion, empathy, and all the feelings that make him human. Ender is put through all these difficult scenarios, meant to train him. What he goes through is so shocking that when you read the book, you cannot believe that he didn't break under the strain. He was abused, beat up, and shunned by almost all the other children - old and young alike - at Battle School. I thought that this novel was very good, deserves a 10/10, and that anyone who likes science fiction should definitely read it.
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 324
Ender's Game is a novel taking place in the future. Humans have been fighting wars against "Buggers" (aliens) for many years. They have won both the First and Second Invasions from the Buggers, but they need someone to lead them when the Buggers attack in the Third Invasion, which is expected to be soon. The government tries to figure out ways to "breed" military geniuses, because the average human mind simply is not enough to outsmart Buggers. The smartest, fastest, and the bravest are taken away as young as 6 to Battle School, and then graduate to Command School after many years. This story follows the life of Ender. He is the military genius that everyone has been searching for. He is taken away when he is six years old to Battle School. Right from the beginning, the adults around him start isolating him from the other children so that he won't have any friends by continually pointing out that he is the best. They need to do this as part of his training. The boys and girls at Command School are split into groups or "Armies". Right after Ender manages to fit in to his army, he is moved to an army where no one wants him, because no one believes in his skill. He is traded into another army by his captain, and begins to make himself at home there. Right after he begins to fit in in his own army, Ender is made captain of a completely new army made out of cast-offs and newbies from other armies. Ender is able to train his army to win every single battle they have against other armies by thinking and making up strategies no one else has thought of. When he is around 10 years old, he goes to Command School, even though no one goes there until they are at least 16. He is trained by the one who defeated the Buggers in the Second Invasion, and is given control of squadrons in computer simulations of battles against Buggers. His master makes them increasingly more difficult so it is impossible for Ender to win the battles without losing ships. In the end, he is given a final exam, which he must pass. This simulation outnumbers him Buggers to humans 1000 to 1. At first, Ender believes that it is hopeless, but he ends up exploding the whole Bugger planet. At the end of the exam, his master tells him that all the battles he was commanding were real. All those ships he lost were real ships, and that planet he destroyed on the screen was a real planet. Ender won the war. He destroyed the Buggers for good.I could not put this book down. I thought it was very well-written. The author deals with training Ender, but not completely stamping out all his compassion, empathy, and all the feelings that make him human. Ender is put through all these difficult scenarios, meant to train him. What he goes through is so shocking that when you read the book, you cannot believe that he didn't break under the strain. He was abused, beat up, and shunned by almost all the other children - old and young alike - at Battle School. I thought that this novel was very good, deserves a 10/10, and that anyone who likes science fiction should definitely read it.
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