Book Review: Ender’s Game

Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is a classic sci-fi story which follows a young boy named Ender as he is recruited by the world government to fight in a war against an alien species, while also following his two siblings, Valentine and Peter, in their experiences on Earth. Ender is sent to a military training facility in orbit around Earth. Because he was sent to training early, he is not well liked, and the fact that he is better than the rest of the students makes things even worse for him, socially speaking. Meanwhile, Valentine and Peter are beginning a plot to take over the world by anonymously writing articles that influence opinions the world over.

The characters are most definitely three dimensional, even the villains. I especially liked the conflict we are shown between the commanders of the facility, deciding whether or not to assist Ender when his social situation leads him into danger. Peter’s character is probably the most interesting, especially as we only ever see him through the lenses of the title character and Valentine.

The book explores what people will do in the face of potential annihilation, and how much self defense justifies the things people will do to save themselves. This book offers no easy answers, just a lot of questions.
I loved Ender’s Game. The plot is engaging, and the questions it asks aren’t easy. The best, and worst, part of this book was that I had no trouble at all imagining the actions of the characters being the actions of real people.