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This is a review of a novel, so let me know what you guys think! Pictures are saved in the editor:
The year is 1985. Orson Scott Card, a writer with a nack for dipping his pen into different genres, and who has already published numerous works like A Planet Called Treason (1978), "Sandmagic" (1979) and The Worthing Chronicle (1983), has completed and published what will become his magnum opus, Ender's Game. The story of a young boy thrust into deep space to save the human race from hostile aliens, Ender's Game made a huge splash in the world of science fiction. It went on to win the Hugo Award and Nebula Award for 1985, it went on to spawn a series with eleven entries, and it went on to change the face of the science fiction world! And you know what else? I LOVE this book! It was honestly one of the first novels I have been really enthusiastic about in a long time, and I'm currently digging into the rest of the series as we speak! Not since I was a child when I was big into Harry Potter have I cared about what happened to a character as a series progressed, and not since reading Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone has my imagination really been fired up by a book! You're probably asking "If there is already so much good publicity about this book, why are you writing a review about it?", to which I would reply that I just really want to share my love for Ender's Game with a potentially new audience! While there are already more and more efforts to introduce Ender's Game to new people, such as putting it on school and military reading lists, I genuinely feel that it is a novel that can be enjoyed by anybody and everybody!
Whereas we generally review games or movies, this is the first review of a novel that is being published on the site. As a result, this review is going to be a little different!
Story
When it comes to taking a look at literature, much more emphasis must be placed on studying the story and characters since they are what is central to a novel. Unlike a movie or video game, which can both get away with being void of either element, the success of a novel is dependant on whether the author is able to tell a convincing story, and develop believable characters. First, we're going to take a look at the story before I dive into characterization, which will be its own separate section. Here is a basic (spoiler free) synopsis:
In the future, Earth's nations are under a shaky alliance when a hostile alien race, the "buggers", nearly wipe them out in the First and Second Formic Wars. As a result, a young boy named Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Fleet to be sent to Battle School, an institution in Earth's orbit where he is trained to be humanity's last hope in leading the final assault against the alien menace.
Now, this Story may sound strangely similar to another world-famous novel series, but rest assured that no plagiarization was involved (how could it be when it was published nearly a decade prior to the other series?). However, what differentiates Ender's Game from other novels for me is that it is significantly deeper in both its story, and how it is told. To make an obvious comparison, while the Harry Potter series is the basic story of what is good and evil, Harry and friends are obviously the good guys while Voldemort and his Death Eaters the obvious villains, Ender's Game challenges its readers to question if moral intentions are as black and white as "pure good" or "pure evil." While this element is explored throughout the book, and to fully discuss it would inevitably lead to a huge pile of spoilers, the end of the novel will leave you questioning who you are supposed to route for. The moral ambiguities make this a philosophically satisfying experience because it does not patronize its readers.
The novel also carries common themes found in literature, such as the loss of innocence, but Orson Scott Card also deals with these themes in a unique way. For example, whereas innocence is usually lost due to a seemingly random but tragic occurrance in the plot of other stories, Ender's innocence in Ender's Game is systematically and deliberately destroyed as he is trained to be the perfect killing machine. The real tragedy is that Ender never had a chance to live out a regular childhood (he is taken to Battle School at six years old), and that is what adds to the moral ambiguity that really made this a unique experience for me. While space stories usually involve "them vs. us," Rebels vs. the Empire, antarctic researchers vs. The Thing, or generic space marines vs. evil aliens, Ender's Game is really refreshing because it isn't so black and white. As a result, Ender's Game's story is very strong because it doesn't patronize the readers by presenting the story as a basic tale of "good" vs. "evil." It forces the reader to ask ethical questions on what these terms truly mean, and as a result it is a deeper and more fulfilling reading experience.
Characterization
Aside from the story, what is the most important element of a novel? Characters, of course! So how was the characterization in Ender's Game? Characterization is defined as a number of things: most importantly, is there character development? Are characters' personalities consistent throughout the novel? How believable ae they, and why do we care about them? Before we dive into this criteria, let's get familiar with the major players of the novel:
Ender Wiggin: The primary protagonist, he and his two siblings are child geniuses. Born as the third child in a world where having only two children is acceptable, he already faces adversity at home before he goes to Battle School to train to battle the buggers at the age of six. Incredibly gifted in strategic thinking, he is humanity's last hope to defeat the alien menace. The tragedy of his character is that his childhood, as well as his innocence, is systematically robbed from him, and he is uprooted from his family, most notably his most loved sibling, Valentine. He is terrified of Peter, who acts as an oppressive force in his life before he goes to Battle School.
Valentine Wiggin: Ender's beloved older sister, she was refused admittance to Battle School because she was not savage enough to lead the Fleet against the Buggers. She misses her brother Ender immensely, but while she is on Earth, she is under her older brother Peter's thumb when he suggests they make false aliases on the nets to influence world happenings.
Peter Wiggin: The oldest of the three Wiggin children, Peter is the absolute opposite of Valentine where he was too violent to be admitted as the leader of the Fleet. At the very onset of the novel, he even threatens to kill Ender, possibly because of his jealousy towards his younger brother for being chosen to become somebody great in human history. To change that, he plots to create Locke and Demosthenes. He is an oppressive force in Ender's life, and he acts as a constant presence in the novel as a symbol of tyranny and fear.
Colonel Hyrum Graffe: The administrator of the Battle School, it is he who arranges for Ender to be brought up to be trained as the commander of the International Fleet. He is also the one who orchestrates everything behind the scenes. At the beginning of the novel, he is usually seen speaking to another officer who works at the Battle School, and these conversations always involve Ender. However, he becomes more involved after he takes Ender out of orbit.
Mazer Rackham: The legendary fleet officer who let the first two offensives against the Buggers, he saved the Earth from inevitable doom. He plays a larger role later on in the novel.
Now that we have discussed the characters, did Orson Scott Card bring them to life in a believable way? Well, for a character to be likable, they have to connect with the audience somehow, right? Even though he is a child genius, I was still able to connect with Ender because although he is a million times more intelligent than yours truly, he is still a child, exposing his vulnerability, his fears, and his doubts in times of extreme pessimism. He misses his family, he experiences heartbreak, he feels abandoned. O.S.C. is able to merge being a genius with being a child, and so he is able to create a realistic character who the audience can connect with. The same can apply for Valentine when she appears. But what about character development? Does this happen? Well, as Ender grows older, his personality subtly changes. He reluctantly goes to Battle School, and as time goes by, and as the war rages on, he is almost taken over the egde of sanity before he is possibly worn down from so much struggling. He isn't a stalwart, witty space captain who remains the same throughout the novel, he is a human being - one can only struggle and resist and fight so much before they start to break down. Ender's Game illustrates the sorrow and realities of war through Ender's fight for survival, struggling to reluctantly save the human race and prevent his own demise. Ender's Game has some solid characters, and some actual character development, and that is perhaps one of the best things about this book.
Writing Style
When it comes to reviewing novels, I believe that if the book itself is competently written (and thus not something shoddily put together like Twilight... yes, I know, an easy target), then it would be a general waste of time to search for nitpicks in grammar if there are no blatant errors present. In terms of Ender's Game, the writing itself is really good, so for this section I am going to pay more attention to factors like pacing, tone, and how the writing can immerse the reader in the story to keep their attention.
With that said, I believe the most suitable place to start would be by discussing the author's overall style. How is vocabulary used? Is it like other school reading list books where you would need a Thesaurus to look up what a word means, or is the writing so simple that it's like a children's book? In the case of Ender's Game, what I enjoyed was that while the story certainly did not patronize its audience by challenging the standard definitions of 'good' and 'evil,' the writing style used a diction that was much easier to understand than in novels like Frankenstein. While I love Frankenstein, and believe it is a phenomenal book, sometimes I just can't sit down and get into it because my brain is too tired to process 19th Century diction and vocabulary. Ender's Game uses straightforward 20th-century vocabulary, and while it is a science-fiction book, there is not much technobabble that would impress big nerds but confuse average readers.
Something I have also noticed about novels is that sometimes, authors insert unnecessary things that work to break the immersion and flow of the narrative structure. While this may not necessarily apply to Ender's Game, I feel that first I want to discuss a novel that creates its narrative structure the wrong way before I go over what Ender's Game did in terms of the narrative structure. For example, while I have read and adore some books written by Clive Barker, such as Mister B. Gone or The Hellbound Heart, I find that some of his works have some very messy narrative structures, filled with some very unnecessary subplots, imagery, or characters that break the flow of the story, and take the reader out of what is going on. The Great And Secret Show is a novel of his where I had a difficult time staying immersed in the story because there were so many of these 'unnecessary' instances for comfort. For example, there were too many 'main characters' who were involved in the main plot. If a story is told well enough, then a good writer can get away with centering his narrative around a large number of characters, but in this case it was a major clusterfuck. Something else I also noticed was how Clive Barker has a proclivity to shove explicit sex scenes in his novels, even when there is absolutely no reason for them to be there. There was a sex scene every chapter or so in The Great And Secret Show, and I remembered texting my girlfriend "MOAR SEXYTIMES!" every time it happened. To be engrossed in a good story, unless something profound or cool really jumps out at you, this shouldn't happen. The whole point to discuss another work is to exemplify how not to structure a novel, so now I am going to go over what Ender's Game does right.
In terms of the narrative structure of Ender's Game, it is a completely different story. In terms of main characters who are present throughout the entire book, there are only really four of them: Ender, Colonel Graffe, Valentine, and Peter. Orson Scott Card is sure to focus on the story of Ender and his struggles through Battle School, and there are no real subplots to distract from this narrative. The only moment where I can actually say that there is a subplot is about halfway through the book when Peter and Valentine decide to form online aliases to try and influence politics, disguising themselves as Locke and Demosthenes respectively so that they can write articles with opposing points of view. This is actually relevant to the story (although this is not a huge spoiler, fyi), and the way Orson Scott Card establishes this subplot on Earth acts to avoid destroying whatever immersion he established while Ender was in Battle School. He eases the reader in, reintroducing us to the rest of the Wiggin Family and what they had been up to while their youngest son was in space. The inclusion of this subplot feels natural to the story, and it is actually relevant to the entire Ender's Game series (in such a way that I do not want to spoil for you guys). Therefore, in comparison with other stories, Ender's Game does not have many jarring 'out-of-place' moments or subplots to needlessly complicate things. Orson Scott Card stuck to the main plot, had only as many main characters as necessary, and was sure to have subplots only when they impacted the main story.
In terms of imagery, the future that Orson Scott Card envisions in Ender's Game comes to life in a believable way. He does not have to waste valuable time with explaining every little advancement in human technology, like how starships work, but the way he describes the environment just feels natural. It is as if the reader is already familiar with his world, and they live in the future with Ender and friends. When the author does have to describe something, such as the nature of direction in a zero-gravity environment, he does not break the flow of the story to present a brief lesson on how it works. Instead, he has the characters experience things, and learn, for themselves. For example, when Ender and other children are being flown up to Battle School, right outside Earth's orbit, he gets out of his seat and floats around, learning how to find a sense of direction in zero-gravity without taking the reader out of the story. On a side note, I also think it is amazing how science fiction is able to predict how future technology will develop. It happened with Jules Verne's book From The Earth To The Moon, where more than fifty years later, the first rocket shuttle sent people to the moon. With Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, in a way, helped predict the advent of the modern internet in the form of the 'nets', where people could get together in forums and share their ideas and views with each other. Considering this was written in 1985, that is really cool!!! I believe that it says something about a writer when they can create a really cool world and immediately have the ability to familiarize the audience with every little thing without effort!
Impact on the Reader
The final thing that I would like to discuss is the most important thing about novels. As my good friend Curt Hoeckele told me, "if [a novel] doesn't communicate a truth or inspire some kind of emotional reaction, it's just words." Personally, I believe this to be true, because why on Earth would you read a novel if it didn't interest or move you in any meaningful way? The way a novel might express some kind of truth is by communicating a theme, and in the case of Ender's Game, its ultimate purpose might be to show that war in any form is no game. As for an emotional response, is Ender's Game a true novel that will be remembered by its readers, or is it merely drivel that will be forgotten in the annals of history? Let me tell you a story: years before I would actually read Ender's Game, I was on a road trip with my father from Virginia to Florida. We were sitting in IHOP one day, and while waiting for my order of chocolate pancakes, he tells me of this fascinating series of book where this child travels through space and plays games to train for a battle against aliens. Then he gave away the biggest spoiler in the first story so that I could understand the context of the rest of the series. I thought I would never be interested in reading Ender's Game until my girlfriend picked it up at work one day. I heard the same fantastical tale, and I finally decided to download it on my Nook and read it. Through a topsy-turvy rollercoaster of emotions, I finally reached the end, and even though I knew what was going to happen, I still got choked up and sad when I finally finished Ender's Game. I still remember how I felt, and that means Ender's Game did its job. See, it isn't enough to feel something when you read a novel, but if you remember how it moved you months or years after the fact, then I believe that it communicates a truth and inspires an emotional reaction. Ender's Game, therefore, I can consider a true novel because it moved me, and I want to try and introduce it to as many people as possible in hopes that they too will feel what I did.
Conclusion
Overall, after critically analyzing all of the important aspects of a novel, what can really be said about Ender's Game? As I already mentioned in the previous section, I was moved by this novel because of how effectively told the story was written, how realistic and developed the characters are, and how vivid the imagery was as I was submerged into Orson Scott Card's invented world. It is a testament to a novel and storyteller when it is able to make you care about the people whose trials and trivulations you follow from start to finish. Ender's reluctant struggles to become a commander, all the while having his innocence destroyed, is extremely engrossing, and the universe that he has to rescue is full of fascinating characters that help increase the depth of the novel. The complexity of the story is also what makes Ender's Game stand out from other school reading books, as there is no clear distinction from 'good' and 'evil,' and there is more of a moral 'gray area' than a conventional tale. If you have the chance to come across this fantastic science fiction novel, or you want to engage yourself in a really good series, then please pick up Ender's Game and its respective sequels/prequels. You won't regret it!
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Tell me when walruses start falling from the sky, I've got umbrellas.
Last edited by KennyFarino on Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:36 am, edited 3 times in total.
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3D Dot Game Heroes
Nope, this is definitely too much text to read before going to sleep. Tell you what, I'll read this in the morning and get back to you as soon as possible, ok, Ken? 
), I say you can post this on the main page in the next couple of days!
. Thank you so much for your input dude! I really hope you dive into this series 
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