Review Detail

As avid and passionate readers, we each bear an ever-growing list of books that we know, within, we must read; A personal cannon that strengthens, enriches and validates us as the cultured and smartly cultivated readers we aspire to be. For me, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game has resided on that list, in the invisible sci-fi section, for nearly twenty years. Because of its reputation as both a YA pathfinder and science fiction trendsetter, I feel like Ender's game has been visibly in my path for as long as I can remember, growing more and more intimidating the longer I staved it off. Well, as you would surmise by the existence of this review, I am proud to declare that Mr. Card's seminal novel no longer sits on that occult-like shelf of unread legends.

Yep, I read it!

Now, shifting into a more serious quality, while unsure whether or not Mr. Card had written Ender's Game with a young adult audience in mind or if it simply became designated as a book for teens because of the age of its protagonist, the novel certainly reads like YA. Its an energetic, breezy read told in a fairly straightforward manner.

However, to be clear, in staying true to its science fiction heritage, Ender's Game offers plenty to be found slightly under the surface and beyond. Conventional themes of consumerism, over-population, environmental awareness and Marxist politics are all present in this story of Ender Wiggin and his group of battle school mates. Uniquely, though, Mr. Card presents these generic issues and more through the lens of a young, unseasoned genius whose rate of understanding and empathy grows analogous to that of the reader. So, in addition to interesting dilemmas concerning exploitation of children, Mr. Card's delivery of often familiar and ordinary themes and ideas now seem fresh and au courant through the eyes of young Ender.

I feel pleased and contented to finally have read Ender's game and not just simply to remove it from my list. As one reads Ender's tale, its influence on countless science fiction, YA and bildungsroman stories is suddenly revealed. I have resolved, within my own literary experience, that Ender's Game is an important book and one that is sure to enrich, inform and entertain.