Ender's Game

Admittedly, Ender's Game is a book I wanted to like more than I actually did.  I had heard a lot of people say it was good, and to a certain extent I agree, and yet...

Language.  To me, this made the book much less enjoyable.  A lot of the minor characters had potty mouths, and even the major characters had their moments.  Most of this showed in name calling directed at Ender, which decreased throughout the book as his respect rose.  What struck me, however, was included in an interview with the author that was included at the end of the audio book.  Orson Scott Card said that, while writing Ender's Game, he considered that his son would read it.  Therefore, he cleaned up the language.  All I can say is, for a book that uses the term for illegitimate children as many times as it did, I would hate to see what it was like before he cleaned it up.  He did avoid taking God's name in vain.

Despite the characters being children (Ender is 6 at the start and 12 at the end), this is not a children's book.  The author even states that he did not intend it to be.  It shows.

The setting for Ender's Game is a future time after the earth has been attacked by an alien race.  The exact time frame is not stated, but it has been many years since the first attack.  The government now searches, from the time children are very young, for geniuses to take and train as soldiers.  Ender is the most promising of these recruits, and those in command have their eye on him for a very specific reason.  And they will do whatever it takes to train him for his mission.

Given this, the adults in Ender's Game are not to be trusted.  In general, the children in Battle School are left to their own devices.  They must fend for themselves without help or support.  With a few exceptions, teachers are nowhere to be found.  They even admit to manipulating and lying to Ender in order to achieve their goals.  Colonel Graff once states that Ender must never believe that any adult will ever help him.

Not a children's book.

Still, I enjoyed the story.  The premise brought up many interesting questions.  Foremost among them is the idea of sacrificing one person in order to save humanity.  Ender repeatedly states that he is not a killer, yet from the first chapter, he destroys his enemies to the point where they will never hurt him again.  He becomes not what he is, but what he is expected to be.  He is given no other choice.

However, in my opinion, even the story lacked some detail.  The reader is thrown into earth politics without explanation.  I found it hard to understand anything beyond "the world is going to erupt into war once the common enemy is gone."  On the other hand, I found it hard to care.  It seemed a rather pointless subplot.  Also, the fantasy game had no point, save for needing something to guide Ender to a specific location.  There were better ways to do so.  The fantasy game was nothing but a mildly disturbing ramble that took up unnecessary space.

As a side note, the two children per family limit is ridiculous.  If mankind's survival is threatened, shouldn't they be encouraging families to have as many children as possible?  The more people there are to eliminate, the higher the chance of someone surviving.  (Of course, this is something pointed out by Valentine in the novel.)

Overall, I did enjoy Ender's Game as an interesting story with a unique premise.  That being said, I do not know if I enjoyed it enough to continue on to the sequel.

(P.S. I want to know how Ender got his nickname.  It was stated that it was given to him by Valentine, but I want to know the story behind it.  "Ender" seems like a long stretch from "Andrew.")