Ender’s Game
by Orson Scott Card
Synopsis
Only six, Ender Wiggin excels at military computer simulations and is inducted into Battle School. Pressured and positioned to achieve, he eventually ends up defeating Earth’s greatest menace before he becomes a teen.
Review
Many of the books I have read in the past few years boasted scores of characters, multiple plotlines, and plenty of complexity. This one does not. Ender’s Game is a straight through read punctuated by boarding school type conflict, culminating with a bait-and-switch climax that ironically doesn’t disappoint.
I found the situations and motivations of this pre-teen tactical genius genuine and believable. The dialogue on the other-hand was half and half. At times it was true to the characters’ age, reminiscent of childish hair pulling and arm biting, and at others it drifted into a precociousness that served the author’s story more than the characters’ desires. Though, maybe this is what it means to be a genius–I wouldn’t know.
Not being a genius, I may have taken too long to catch onto the tension of the climax as well, but Card could have added a few more clues without spoon feeding me too much to help me along. That said, it still works well and kept me eager to read more.
The denouement however, smacked of deadline or ‘we won’t publish this as a trilogy so wrap it up buddy’. It reminded me of the closing credits of movies that tell you what happens to the characters next.
Recommendation
I don’t know why it took me so long to finally read this neo-classic tale from OSC. It’s a quick fun read. I would call it YA and recommend it as such, but others may be inclined to lean toward a more adult audience.
I bought and will be reading and reviewing the subsequent books soon.
Enjoy!