Ender's Game by Orson Scott CardMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Read this book finally due to work, and, while I don't regret it, I expected much more.
Ender is six years old and part of an army programme that both his brother Peter and sister Valentine got kicked out of. He's the awkward one out from the get-go, either being bullied or pretending to be/ actually being a bully himself. He's excellent at everything, however, the talk of the town (or of the adults anyway, whose only conversation appears to be about him and his progress).
Ender's training is gruelling but also includes video games. At first, the games appear to be unbeatable; but he's clever enough to come up with a way to win.
The entire book is basically Ender growing up, slowly, and doing the same thing over and over. We don't understand why he's in this programme, or why he is the way he is. Are all kids expected to go into this programme? How many could possibly pass the first tests if they're so young?
There's a subplot thrown in about Ender's siblings duping the world into thinking some great philosophers are debating some global topics. Turns out, the two children are writing these under pseudonyms, cultivating a fan following and immense power. I... don't try and figure this out.
The trouble is, the author never gives us the feeling of what this world is like to live in. We're told that the rules are that families can't have more than two children. Yet, Ender is the third (and taunted as such for like five pages) but his parents don't appear to have been penalised for this. All three children try out for this army programme, and Ender's foremost thought when he gets in is that he won't have to go to school. He's also given a choice whether to go, with no apparent consequences were he to decline the offer.
On entering the programme, he is not allowed to meet or interact with his family for the next ten years. We're not given an explanation why.
Also, all the kids in the programme have to be super-intelligent to survive - were it written as a story where young children are indoctrinated/brainwashed or kidnapped to be bred into soldiers, it would have made more sense, and cultivated some sense of empathy in us for the characters. But there's simply no meaning to why a family would willingly give up their children for so many years to an army. What benefits do they get?
Orson Scott Card has issues - his political views are backward, to say the least, but as long as they don't seep into his stories, we can at least look forward to some entertainment. Well, we're wrong. Card's book has like one and a half female characters of note in it, because, in this world of wars, girls can't survive the army training. Evolution, you see. *Cue punching the author and his book*
While Peter is ferocious and violent, Valentine is a wilting flower, who is defined by how much she loves Ender. She is cajoled into the political article writing by Peter and is completely under his thumb for the rest of the book. Why are either of them the way they are is never explained.
There are simply no personalities for us to root for. There's also no sense of urgency. We go over and over the same kinds of actions with Ender endlessly - none of them advancing the story or his character. He's so brilliant that he starts skipping 'grades', becoming a leader well before anyone imagined; but what makes him intelligent and how is it showcased isn't dealt with despite the length of the book.
The central twist/theme is pretty much given away in the blurbs, which detracts from the reveal in the book. Given that said reveal comes after way too many pages only makes it even more exasperating, because that right there was the character development we needed.
The one thing that Ender is afraid of is that he will become vile and violent like Peter. The ultimate betrayal is that the army, by making him a pawn in their games, have made him into his own nightmare. The video games he has been playing are in fact real battles with alien races - he has been systematically massacring real people. Had this revelation come in halfway through the book, we would have had not only a shorter book, but a better one.
When you don't have enough of a world to immerse yourself in, the characters need to be compelling, as does the action. We get none of that. And it is overly long. Compare this with any great sci-fi, and you'll find this lacking. Heck, Card's Capitol was shorter and yet built an incredible world, with good, bad and ugly characters all. Can't believe 'Ender's Game' actually has sequels - what a snoozefest!
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