Pros: It has a fairly interesting storyline.... towards the ending that is!
Cons: It goes into detail about games that Ender plays which was very boring at times.
The Bottom Line: It's good. But not great. The ending is fantastic, but not worth it. Read it if you're really bored and don't have any other books. Don't buy it.
velvetdragon's Full Review: Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game: Special 20th Anni...
I picked up this book after making a deal with a friend. If he read Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, I would read Ender's Game. I was excited about introducing my favorite author to my friend who'd never read her before and I was curious about Ender's Game, the one book that he talks about the most. It took me two months to finish it and here's why:
Ender's Game is the story of a young genius, bred by the military to help fight a war against an alien species which the human race of the future have dubbed the "buggers".
He is, I believe, only about six years old when he was first taken to train to become a military commander. At the battle school, Ender is alienated by the teachers and picked on by the other kids.
This is the part of the book that I found to be irrelevant to the plot which at that point was almost non-existent. I realize a lot of people would disagree with me, but Ender's battles in the battle room against the other children have almost nothing to do with any sort of plot and tend to drone on and on and on and on. Instead of devoting so much time to writing about these events, Card should have given us some more descriptions of the characters, their surroundings and hey! A plot!! In fact, I don't remember ever being given a clear description of any of the people in this book, including Ender.
Since his battle school battles were so un-entertaining to me, I could hardly pay attention to the real ones at the end of the book. I also had a hard time sympathising with Ender as he was so depressed about being smarter than the other students and picked on for it. He had a hard life, but it was of his own choosing. He didn't have to go to the battle school. He didn't even have to stay there.
The best part of the book is the ending. It is wonderfully written and there are some delightful surprises that made me feel good about having read it after all. However, I do not recommend this book at all! There was almost no real plot and it was so ridiculous at parts that I seriously felt like punching the pages!
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