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dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, War
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Child abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Religious bigotry
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, War
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
First of all: while I recommend reading this book, Orson Scott Card is a terrible person and who knows what terrible things he donates money to. If you read Ender's Game, please do it by buying it used or borrowing from someone, not anything (like buying new, borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from a library app, etc.) that could give that man royalty money.
There’s a lot to love about this book, but the author’s vibes are truly rancid and permeate the whole thing. I like what this book says about empathy, and some of the critiques of military culture and war. Despite some critiquing though, this book never manages to feel as anti-war/military as it seems like it should given the subject matter. The pervasive sexism clearly comes from the author instead of serving as another layer of the military critique. The portrayal of religion and its suppression is strange and doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the book. The way Card depicts and talks about young boys… really rubs me the wrong way.
Card was clearly enamored with the Battle Room and lingered on it a lot, and I think that’s to the detriment of what this story could have been, its themes, and the ideas I found a lot more interesting and nuanced. I would have liked to see a deeper exploration of the computers’ AI (that’s never called AI), and how it manifests in the game Ender plays on his desk. I also think the narrative doesn’t capture enough of Ender’s complexity and inner life. A lot of the characters just don’t feel as complex as it seems like they easily could be. The whole book feels more like a prequel than a standalone, and that’s a shame because there’s so much good material to work with.
Again, a lot to love and I loved this book when I was a kid. As an adult who can read between the lines though... oof.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Xenophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Colonisation, War
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Antisemitism
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel is a perfect example of everything science fiction can be. It stands in a good position to criticize unnecessary war, to inspire sympathy for even the most “othered” groups and is, besides all of the rest, an excellent story. My complaints are few, and make sense given the time of publishing, but I did feel that the female characters were lacking. There were not many of them, and the ones that were present spent most of their storylines trapped beneath male characters instead of acting of their own accordance. Some of this was overcome through the plotline, but I found it minorly annoying. That being said, this book is very heavy on the competence kink, and if you love a competent main character, this will scratch a serious itch in your brain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*SPOILERS*
I recognize this book is lauded as one of the greatest sci books of the past century- however, I strongly disagree. 40 years after its first publication it doesn’t hold up. Ender is repeatedly claimed as a sweet, innocent, empathetic character with practically no examples of it. Rather we see a young boy who embraces grotesque violence because “people won’t leave [him] alone”.
OSC’s political views on the LGBTQ community are well established at this time yet, in this text, we see over and over again hkmoerotic themes between Ender and other boys (reminder that all the kids in his battle school are between 6-11yo). Through that lense there is also repeated violence directed at other underage male genitalia with a description of a floating testicle in space following a battle simulation.
Most notably there is a scene where Ender is cornered in the shower and his antagonist strips naked to battle him. There are MANY other such examples but I call into question the necessity to repeatedly draw attention to underage male genitalia as it truly doesn’t further the plot.
I compared this text akin to “Lord of the Flies” in space but, frankly , I think LOTF is a much better written text either way more empathy and nuance.
The plot of Valentine and Peter’s hegemony takeover was by far the most interesting and compelling storytelling of the whole book. It could’ve stood to have more in depth plot developments there. Instead it’s mostly constant battle simulations and how Ender won each of them with slightly different tactics which was a bit monotonous in the middle of the book.
The last chapter saved a star for me as we do truly see Ender begin to show empathy and act according to the nature we were repeatedly told but, overall the character was a bit of an undeveloped shell of a character.
I recognize this book is lauded as one of the greatest sci books of the past century- however, I strongly disagree. 40 years after its first publication it doesn’t hold up. Ender is repeatedly claimed as a sweet, innocent, empathetic character with practically no examples of it. Rather we see a young boy who embraces grotesque violence because “people won’t leave [him] alone”.
OSC’s political views on the LGBTQ community are well established at this time yet, in this text, we see over and over again hkmoerotic themes between Ender and other boys (reminder that all the kids in his battle school are between 6-11yo). Through that lense there is also repeated violence directed at other underage male genitalia with a description of a floating testicle in space following a battle simulation.
Most notably there is a scene where Ender is cornered in the shower and his antagonist strips naked to battle him. There are MANY other such examples but I call into question the necessity to repeatedly draw attention to underage male genitalia as it truly doesn’t further the plot.
I compared this text akin to “Lord of the Flies” in space but, frankly , I think LOTF is a much better written text either way more empathy and nuance.
The plot of Valentine and Peter’s hegemony takeover was by far the most interesting and compelling storytelling of the whole book. It could’ve stood to have more in depth plot developments there. Instead it’s mostly constant battle simulations and how Ender won each of them with slightly different tactics which was a bit monotonous in the middle of the book.
The last chapter saved a star for me as we do truly see Ender begin to show empathy and act according to the nature we were repeatedly told but, overall the character was a bit of an undeveloped shell of a character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Xenophobia
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Antisemitism
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
i love this book. dystopian sci-fi, with a relatable yet unique main character. following the story of ender was a heartbreaking and enthralling treat. 10/10 no notes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, War
Moderate: Genocide