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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ender’s Game is held in extraordinarily high esteem in sci-fi circles and it is seen as one of sci-fi’s best specimens. But is it really?
In my opinion, it just missed the mark.
This week, I will be reviewing Ender’s Game, the book, not the movie. But, well, you could say I did review the movie, as it was perhaps one of the most faithful adaptations… ever.
Because of that, it has the exact same problem that shoved it out of the esteemed position of being legendary, in my opinion.
For me… it was the plot.
But I will get into that, after I rate its best aspect…
Btw, I now have a YouTube channel under Veronwë, where I dive into everything storytelling, including turning these reviews into videos… with the added bonus of an age rating.
Follow me if you like a detailed breakdown, rather than the monosentence majority of reviews on this platform XD
So… on with the review.
Characters: 10/10
I mean, it is called Ender’s Game. Ender, or his born name, Andrew, is the highlight of the story in a cast of extraordinary characters. Orson Scott Card perfectly demonstrated what I have been saying ever since I started this channel. Please, have competent protagonists. They are so much more interesting and less bland than a main character who is led around the nose by everybody. People might think, “Oh no, we mustn't do that, or it might be difficult to make him an underdog.”
Well, I shall just say the truth. Use your creative mind.
I love protagonists who have powerful strengths and debilitating weaknesses, who have a constant battle in themselves between the two.
This generates respect, which is, I think, even more important than likeability.
Peter and Valentine are perfect examples of personifying the themes in the story. This is how I create characters in my stories, I make them represent the different ways of handling the thematic question. The thematic question in Ender’s Game, ultimately, is the dangers of intelligence.
Peter represents the psychopathic, manipulative side, while Valentine represents the more compassionate, but less effective side.
So, Ender has to choose. Should he become the best of the best, while sacrificing his humanity for the sake of Earth, or should he be more compassionate, but be less effective at the same time.
The fantasy game is what forced him to confront this question.
This is where Ender’s Game shines.
With that over, the supporting characters, like Bernard, Petra, and the rest serve their purpose in stressing the theme. In the end, that is what supporting characters should be.
Phew, now with the good stuff out of the way, lets get into the weakness… the enormous hole…
Plot: 5/10
I mean, it was all pretty solid until that darn plot twist.
You might be saying, “That plot twist was shocking, forcing the themes to a head!”
But I would reply with… “Orson Scott Card built an expectation that there would be more, that this was just the beginning of the war against the buggers, that Ender would go and would actively participate in the fight.”
In the end though… It left me disappointed. There would be no Admiral Training, this was the end.
Just… Mr. Card, you should really have split Ender’s Game into two books instead, the first would have been the training, the second finishing the training and fighting the buggers.
We had that expectation, and he threw it out the window in favour of a shock. I mean, he handled it well, it served the story by forcing the settling of the question, creating catharsis.
But, when I put the book down, I said… “Meh. I was expecting more.”
This is why it failed to reach legendary status in my eyes.
But it is what it is. Orson Scott Card continued the story with a bunch more books in this world, but, well, they weren’t important enough to attract a lot of attention.
Worldbuilding: 7/10
The world was pretty solid. I especially liked the influence of the bugger invasion on the language, provoking the creation of many new idioms.
The rest of the world had some interesting politics happening, especially Peter’s rise to power, with the help of Valentine. This showed a disturbing picture of how easily a psychopath can become a powerful political figure.
What drove the rating down, though, was how distant it felt from Ender’s view, as all of our attention was on his commanding presence. It had little to do with the actual theme of the story.
The fantasy game, though, I would include more as a character than a part of the worldbuilding. Extraordinarily strange, how alive it feels.
But now, onto the…
Overall: 7/10
Technically 7.5, but I always round down when it comes to ratings.
Ender’s Game is an excellent read, as well as a perfect study on how characters should be made. The three siblings had 4d personalities, making them perhaps some of the best characters of all time.
But that ending left a very bad taste in my mouth, ruining most of the experience.
Despite that, I would encourage you to read it, as it has shaped sci-fi into its most modern form.
So, until next review,
Veronwë
In my opinion, it just missed the mark.
This week, I will be reviewing Ender’s Game, the book, not the movie. But, well, you could say I did review the movie, as it was perhaps one of the most faithful adaptations… ever.
Because of that, it has the exact same problem that shoved it out of the esteemed position of being legendary, in my opinion.
For me… it was the plot.
But I will get into that, after I rate its best aspect…
Btw, I now have a YouTube channel under Veronwë, where I dive into everything storytelling, including turning these reviews into videos… with the added bonus of an age rating.
Follow me if you like a detailed breakdown, rather than the monosentence majority of reviews on this platform XD
So… on with the review.
Characters: 10/10
I mean, it is called Ender’s Game. Ender, or his born name, Andrew, is the highlight of the story in a cast of extraordinary characters. Orson Scott Card perfectly demonstrated what I have been saying ever since I started this channel. Please, have competent protagonists. They are so much more interesting and less bland than a main character who is led around the nose by everybody. People might think, “Oh no, we mustn't do that, or it might be difficult to make him an underdog.”
Well, I shall just say the truth. Use your creative mind.
I love protagonists who have powerful strengths and debilitating weaknesses, who have a constant battle in themselves between the two.
This generates respect, which is, I think, even more important than likeability.
Peter and Valentine are perfect examples of personifying the themes in the story. This is how I create characters in my stories, I make them represent the different ways of handling the thematic question. The thematic question in Ender’s Game, ultimately, is the dangers of intelligence.
Peter represents the psychopathic, manipulative side, while Valentine represents the more compassionate, but less effective side.
So, Ender has to choose. Should he become the best of the best, while sacrificing his humanity for the sake of Earth, or should he be more compassionate, but be less effective at the same time.
The fantasy game is what forced him to confront this question.
This is where Ender’s Game shines.
With that over, the supporting characters, like Bernard, Petra, and the rest serve their purpose in stressing the theme. In the end, that is what supporting characters should be.
Phew, now with the good stuff out of the way, lets get into the weakness… the enormous hole…
Plot: 5/10
I mean, it was all pretty solid until that darn plot twist.
You might be saying, “That plot twist was shocking, forcing the themes to a head!”
But I would reply with… “Orson Scott Card built an expectation that there would be more, that this was just the beginning of the war against the buggers, that Ender would go and would actively participate in the fight.”
In the end though… It left me disappointed. There would be no Admiral Training, this was the end.
Just… Mr. Card, you should really have split Ender’s Game into two books instead, the first would have been the training, the second finishing the training and fighting the buggers.
We had that expectation, and he threw it out the window in favour of a shock. I mean, he handled it well, it served the story by forcing the settling of the question, creating catharsis.
But, when I put the book down, I said… “Meh. I was expecting more.”
This is why it failed to reach legendary status in my eyes.
But it is what it is. Orson Scott Card continued the story with a bunch more books in this world, but, well, they weren’t important enough to attract a lot of attention.
Worldbuilding: 7/10
The world was pretty solid. I especially liked the influence of the bugger invasion on the language, provoking the creation of many new idioms.
The rest of the world had some interesting politics happening, especially Peter’s rise to power, with the help of Valentine. This showed a disturbing picture of how easily a psychopath can become a powerful political figure.
What drove the rating down, though, was how distant it felt from Ender’s view, as all of our attention was on his commanding presence. It had little to do with the actual theme of the story.
The fantasy game, though, I would include more as a character than a part of the worldbuilding. Extraordinarily strange, how alive it feels.
But now, onto the…
Overall: 7/10
Technically 7.5, but I always round down when it comes to ratings.
Ender’s Game is an excellent read, as well as a perfect study on how characters should be made. The three siblings had 4d personalities, making them perhaps some of the best characters of all time.
But that ending left a very bad taste in my mouth, ruining most of the experience.
Despite that, I would encourage you to read it, as it has shaped sci-fi into its most modern form.
So, until next review,
Veronwë
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found the suspension of disbelief required to accept that a group of preteens are political and tactical masterminds was too high to stomach. I think I would have assimilated the story better if the characters had been aged up a little. Every so often I would remember that Ender is 10 years old and it was jarring.
Um wow. WAYYY better than the movie I watched as a kid. Couldn't put it down!
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So this one was pretty hard for me to get through and I'm not 100 percent sure why. I liked the world and the science fiction aspect of it, I also really liked the plot twist at the end, but I think the thing I didn't like was the whole children fighting children thing. For whatever reason this is one of my least favorite plot devices (examples of past books I didn't like for same reason: Hunger Games, Goblet of Fire, Throne of Glass) I just don't connect and something about it rubs me the wrong way. In this book and many others I know that is what the author wants you to feel but it just isn't something I like. I'm not sure if that made sense but yeah, overall I think Ender was a great character and I liked certain aspects of the story but it wasn't my favorite.