'Ender's Game': The First Book of the Ender Quintet

by Kimberley M.

Perhaps one of the most famous science fiction writers is Orson Scott Card. He is the only author to have won both the Hugo and Nebula awards in consecutive years (1986 and 1987). The first book that he won those awards with was Ender’s Game, which is arguably the most famous science fiction book. It is a military science fiction novel that contains both battle scenes and questions about the ethics of violence.

 

Ender’s Game is about a young boy named Andrew Wiggin, who has had the nickname Ender since he was small. He is a forbidden third child in his family, following Peter and Valentine. Peter is his violent sociopath of a brother, who constantly harasses and threatens to kill Ender. Always coming to his rescue is his beloved sister Valentine who, along with Peter, has not qualified to go to Battle school. Ender has, and he flies off to the school orbiting Earth.

At Battle school, Ender makes few friends and plenty of enemies because he quickly becomes singled out as a prodigy among the new recruits. He gets transferred to Salamander Army, and fights in many zero gravity war simulations, as well as a few fights outside of the battle room. As Ender rises to the top of the school in rankings, rumors swirl about the impending war with the Buggers, a vicious alien race, coming to destroy them all, unless a young new commander can stop them.

I really enjoyed Ender’s Game. Orson Scott Card’s writing is to the point, but also paints a scene in great detail. He did a phenomenal job of creating an alien race that people could both fear and be curious about, which makes the end of the book that much more interesting. Occasionally in the story, he switches to dialogue between the people who run the Battle school, and its always very sudden and slightly confusing. However, that would be the only thing I didn't like about the book.

I would definitely recommend Ender’s Game to other students. If you are into Science Fiction and haven’t read this,  you need too. It’s also good if you want to get into Science Fiction. And even if you don’t like Science Fiction, you should still read it, because it is such a classic. You can find it at Barnes and Noble’s or on Amazon.

Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. New York: Tor, 1986. Print.