Ender’s Game By Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin, a battlefield mastermind, is recruited at age six into battle school. After two alien invasions, the government decides to breed new leaders that could help them win a third invasion. Ender is one of them. He is brought to outer space among other “launchies” and, at age nine, is trained to be a star fleet commander. Their goal is to defeat the “buggers”.
Orson Scott Card is an amazing author. He describes the ship in such detail that I felt as if I were with Ender on his journey through battle school and through the difficulties he faced on his trip from age six to nine. Card also conveys Ender’s thought process well. Even though Card writes in third person, it feels like first person because of the amount and quality of his protagonist’s thoughts and feelings.
Card shifts between the perspective of Ender’s sister, Valentine, the authorities at the battle school, and Ender. By doing so, the reader sees the logic behind Ender’s training, as well as the political war down on Earth, which we see through the eyes of his sister. Card shifts between their perspectives smoothly and clearly.
In order to write this review, I had to read parts of Ender’s Game again. When I opened the book to a random page, I found that I couldn’t stop reading. The book was so fast-paced and captivating, that the idea of not reading the whole book again was un-thinkable. I re-read it in a day.
Card’s writing style was one of the best parts. The dialogue is written exactly how I imagine the kids at the battle school would say it. For those six-through twelve- year-olds, their grammar differed drastically. The six-and-seven year-olds used improper grammar such as “you bad,” while the eleven-and twelve- year-olds talked in long, knowledgeable sentences. It was details like those that made this book come alive for me.
Ender’s Game won the Nebula Award in 1985 and the Hugo Award in 1986 for best novel. The book deserved both of these awards. Starting with a captivating action scene and ending with an un-expected twist, Ender’s Game is a science fiction classic and by far my favorite book by Orson Scott Card.

Tom Doherty Associates: 384 pages