I read this book on a non-voluntary basis preceding a stint teaching English to high school juniors this spring. I thought the book would be extraordinary considering the awards it has accumulated over time, including both Hugo and Nebula awards, but unfortunately, it fell just into the “ordinary” category. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have a choice but to read it and maybe it’s because I wasn’t much in the mood for science fiction. Whatever the case may be, this novel did not wow me the way the critics promised.
Earth has been attacked twice by extraterrestrials called “buggers” for their apparent resemblance to bugs. Ender is a young boy, an admittedly difficult concept for me to grasp, who is chosen to attend Battle School geared toward spitting out military might and genius. Segregated from could-be friends, Ender and his colleagues are forced to play anti-gravity battle games that encourage the development of military skills in a space invasion. Ender is especially gifted in tactics and has the ability to make quick decisions, a recipe that earns him early promotion. After only a few short years, Ender surpasses all expectations, and while he earns unstated approval from the teachers of the school, he finds himself the target of juvenile jealousy. Eventually, he overcomes his angry peers and is promoted yet again to Command School where the military game continues, only this time with space flight simulators. After what is to be his last test on the simulators before graduating to the next level of training, Ender is told the war with the buggers has been won thanks to his commanding skills. Ender was tricked. He was not playing simulation games, he was commanding fleets in a battle already in motion and thanks to his expertise, the battle has been won. Ender is eleven years old.
This is the first book in a series, the reason, I’m sure, there are multiple side stories occurring simultaneously with the main story of Ender. I felt for Ender through the novel. He was only six years old when he was taken from his family to Battle School, and although he never really managed to fit in there, he was outcast even in his own family. His brother, Peter, is a sadist; a torturer of animals and children alike. Only his sister, Valentine, ever truly loves him. In battle school, he is continually singled out by teachers, leading to additional torment from students who already found him to be too young to be attending. He is alone, and while he is an excellent instructor to peers, he never finds true camaraderie with his classmates. He is terrified of becoming like Peter, convinced that killing a single person will make them alike, and regardless of his fears, the teachers secretly have him murder thousands of buggers. Ender will never be the same.
Now, it can be said that Ender HAD to kill the buggers to save mankind, but they were not attacking Earth when they were ambushed, and without his permission, Ender carried out genocide on an entire species. Through the book, it’s amazing to see how much reliance is placed on young children; the amount of trust put into them. But really, it was never the children’s choice to become soldiers. The power always remained with the adults.
I think one of the most frustrating parts of this novel was the climax. Here Card writes 14 chapters leading up to Ender’s big debut as a commander and instead of giving the readers a grand battle scene, he gives them a couple lines essentially saying, “Oh, and by the way, we lied to you, Ender. You were fighting the real battle all along.” It’s like he just lightly grazes over the climax entirely and moves on to introduce his next plot in the next chapter. It felt like he didn’t know how to end the story, so he did it quickly to move onto his next big idea and I think that was a mistake.
Overall, the book was decent. I probably won’t read it again, but if I hear great things about the series, I may consider trying out the next book. I think it might have gender-specific appeal, so I’m interested to see how my junior boys liked the book come May.
-Harper
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