Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You should read this book in your teens or your early 20s. This is because Ender’s Game is one of those books that you come to instantly know what will happen next. It’s easy to see who the mysterious teacher is, it’s easy to see when the games are not really games. This happens, however, because in many ways Ender’s Game permeated popular culture and you can see the same things that happened there (and were mind blowing) repeated in popular culture over and over again.

It’s 5 star material, however, I feel that the book main thread is uselessly filled with the backstory of Valentine and Peter Wiggins. The mystics of Ender’s relationships (which is central to the book) is badly explored as well; a child of his age would not have the sort of refinement and sensitivity Ender has.

I would like to see a rewrite of Ender’s game, in which the main flaws would be addressed. Make it not with infants, but with adolescents, make the backstory of the cold war work. That would make a five star book.

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