Enders Game

Post by **Crucifer** » Sat May 26, 2007 11:39 pm

Is a most wonderful book. On the surfac, it is about war in the stsrs, but it is really about morals and ethics and what happens when you desensetize kids and so on.
Read it, or I'll come and do this

this

lots of this

(at you), and a wee bit of this

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Sat May 26, 2007 11:52 pm

I've read it. I think it's a classic and will bring lots of new readers into the science fiction genre (it has surely been doing so for years). It's well-written, accessible even for younger readers, and of course has the famous ending.

I went on a Card binge for a few years after that and burned out; I don't know whether he was repeating himself, or I just got tired of his themes (including cruelty, never a favorite of mine), or I learned too much about his politics and started hearing axes being ground in his fiction. He's a gifted writer, but I don't read him any more.

But Ender's Game will endure.

Post by **baby tuckoo** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:30 am

My school just acquired 100 copies and it has been approved for sophomores (15/16's), so I guess I'd better read it this summer. My son certainly thinks highly of it. Reckon I'll put it on the stack.

I've not read a single Harry Potter either.

There are other things I haven't read. Lots. Finnegans Wake . . . but no one has.

Post by **MithLuin** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:48 pm

I like it, a lot. It is my favorite work by Card. I read the sequels (but not the prequels) and found them eh. I haven't read his other series, and have no desire to, but I've read a few of his stand-alone books. My favorite of those is Wyrms.

It is violent - Ender is ruthless and efficient as a fighter. He does not do any half-measures...he annihilates. But it wasn't his training that got him there. He was like that at age 6, before he went to the program. They merely honed his skills so he could do so more effectively <shiver>. It makes the point that children show no mercy.

Post by **axordil** » Wed May 30, 2007 7:18 pm

Children brought up to show no mercy, show no mercy, rather. By age six a lot of upbringing has taken place...or hasn't, and will never get a chance to take place.

All that said, it's Card's best work. OK, Speaker for the Dead is too, but they have a symbiotic relationship.

Post by **Crucifer** » Thu May 31, 2007 4:16 pm

That's the reason he was chosen, Mithluin. Because he knew that if he didn't show that he was willing to cause severe pain, whassname would come back very annoyed and cause Ender lots of pain, so he saved himself a greater beating. OK, so he did kill whassname, but he didn't mean to, and he didn't enjoy beating the living daylights (literally) out of him, so he wasn;t brutal as such, just clever enough t know that you have to show some people what will happen if they mess with you.

Post by **MithLuin** » Thu May 31, 2007 9:12 pm

A six year old who kills a bully is brutal. It was no mistake that they concealed the consequences of his action from him. He never knew that his beating resulted in anything other than a trip to the hospital. Yes, there was a reason he did what he did - but it was ruthless, nonetheless. Ender is cold and calculating, and has no pity - views that as weakness (and weakness is the one things he cannot tolerate; well, that and stupidity).

Growing up with Peter as an older brother will do that to you...though Val didn't turn out that way....

Post by **WampusCat** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 3:32 am

I just read this book for the first time a few weeks ago.

The brutality and manipulation in the story made it very difficult for me to read -- especially when I remembered how young the children were. The ending redeemed it, at least for me. Compassion. Life. Ethical choices.

Post by **Crucifer** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:10 pm

A six year old who kills a bully is brutal

But he didn't knowingly do it, and if he had, he would probably have killed himself with guilt.

Post by **MithLuin** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:47 am

The enemy's gate is down!