Ender’s Game Book Review--Brant

Ender ’s Game is a novel by Orson Scott Card and published by TOR books. In a
world formerly devastated by the Formic Wars, an invasion by the alien “Formics,”
humanity united to form the International Fleet. Under the rule of the Hegemon, the
combined government of the world, the best and brightest children were often sent off to
military school to be trained to become military geniuses. Ender Wiggin, the main
protagonist, is a genius among geniuses. He is a Third, one of the few third childs in an
overcrowded Earth, and was only born with a waiver from the government. From the
beginning of the novel, you are put into Ender’s mind as he gets his neural moniter
taken off. For several years, the government tested children both at school and at home
by inserting neural monitor onto the back of their necks to monitor their thoughts and
feelings. After the monitor is removed, Ender is immediately, confronted by a gang of
bullies. The gang’s leader, Stilton, confronted Ender about being removed from the
government’s program, and a fight commenced. Ender, out of an act of desperation,
kicked Stilton hard on the breastbone, dropping him. However, Ender didn't stop there,
kicking Stilton repeatedly to set an example to the other gang members about
confronting him. At home, Ender receives an invitation to go to Battle School after his
performance with the bullies. As a result, He is launched up to the Battle School, an
orbiting satellite around Earth. There, Ender must adjust to his new classes and training
in the Battle Room, a zero-G environment to simulate fighting Formics. Ender’s main
challenge comes mainly from the military as they try to test Ender to the limit. As the
military continues to isolate Ender from his friends and stacks the odds against him to
try to prepare him for war, the question becomes, will Ender be pushed too far?
Ender’s Game is a coming of age story for a boy genius who doesn’t feel that he
belongs anywhere. Under the adventurous surface of the story, Card paints a picture
about fear, friendship, control, and solitude. Ender struggles through increasing odds in
his battles to the point of impossibility. Even though Ender can use his strategic mind to
find victory in every challenge, he struggles with the morality of his actions. He
comments that the only way he beats an enemy is to truly understand them enough to
defeat them. At that moment, he loves his enemy, right before he destroys them.
Ender’s greatest challenge is coping with his conflicting emotions that even though he
can beat any enemy thrown at him, he feels like a killer and more in common with his
ruthless brother, Peter. These emotions make Ender a more believable character to the
readers, that even though Ender is a six year old genius, he still struggles with morality
and finding a place to fit in. Card’s style of writing the story from Ender’s mind allows the
reader to personally experience the thoughts and emotions Ender processes as he tries
to strategically win battles against his enemies. Card also plays on the morality of
absolute power and government, as the constant barrage of challenges and unfair tests
to Ender called into question how absolute power can create success, but at the cost of
many unseen consequences. The themes of games, ruthlessness, and humanity in the
novel is shown in Ender’s progress through Battle School, making friends and enemies
all while competing in the Battle Room. Overall, Card creates an intriguing story about
Ender’s struggle through tests and battles against increasing odds by the military and
himself. If you are a fan of science fiction, Ender’s Game will provide an emotional and
intellectual driven story while also leaving topics like politics up for discussion.