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abigcoffeedragon's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audio book of this, so I will leave out the voice performance - some were good and a few were not
The Good - the Science is there, it is beleievable and it is fantastic - whether it is acurate, I am not a scientist, so I do not know, but everythign has an edge to it that made me want to continue and I enjoyed all of the science in the story ... however
The Bad - the Fiction is lacking - I mean, the story is there, but I don't care about the story - I don't care about the characters - There were no surprises, even the ending (no spoiler) was meant to be a shocker I think, and it did not surprise me.
The Good Again - The military parts were also beleivable to a point as we were talking about learning a new type of fighting in the school and the formation and strategies and it was all also beleivable -
The Bad Again - how many times do we need to hear about the boys running around naked? - Military men do not do this, why would children who are more bashful - in the skivies I understand, t-shirt and shorts - but too many moments of naked that were not needed
Overall - I did enjoy this story, but I will not continue with any stories in the series, and I have serious reservations about the film when it comes out next year.
The Good - the Science is there, it is beleievable and it is fantastic - whether it is acurate, I am not a scientist, so I do not know, but everythign has an edge to it that made me want to continue and I enjoyed all of the science in the story ... however
The Bad - the Fiction is lacking - I mean, the story is there, but I don't care about the story - I don't care about the characters - There were no surprises, even the ending (no spoiler) was meant to be a shocker I think, and it did not surprise me.
The Good Again - The military parts were also beleivable to a point as we were talking about learning a new type of fighting in the school and the formation and strategies and it was all also beleivable -
The Bad Again - how many times do we need to hear about the boys running around naked? - Military men do not do this, why would children who are more bashful - in the skivies I understand, t-shirt and shorts - but too many moments of naked that were not needed
Overall - I did enjoy this story, but I will not continue with any stories in the series, and I have serious reservations about the film when it comes out next year.
ckeithjohnson's review against another edition
4.0
Really great stuff. A little bleak, but overall a very interesting story.
monkeyboystiff's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't really enjoy reading this book and despite it being short, found it quite a chore. There are a number of reasons why:
1) Unsympathetic characters: I simply didn't give a shit about anyone. I felt bad for Ender near the start when it was obvious he was becoming an outcast against his will, but he soon seemed to overcome that and become an amazing super soldier. I got no sense of depth, complexity, or conflict within him. His sister Valentine similarly didn't really have any depth, nor did any of the people he was at Battle School with.
2) Lack of jeopardy: Ender was never defeated at anything, and continually bested everyone against all the odds. It was very boring to read page after page of battles where Ender continually won. Then he got into a physical confrontation and won that too. He seemed to be able to do everything perfectly, without struggle.
3) Poor pacing: The first 3/4 of the book were about battle school, with many many battles being described, all of them pretty boring. Then suddenly Ender was taken to a second school - Command School - and loads of additional plot kicked in! He trained with all his friends and they became an incredible team (so why were they deliberately isolating him before?), again winning every battle of course. Then a bit about how the bugger communicate and live was given, then the final battle, then it turned out it wasn't a simulation it was real and then it was over.
4) Laughable plot points: This is more because of the era it was written in, but the idea of Ender's brother and sister becoming visionaries who could dictate policy through their anonymous Internet posts was embarrassing. I don't hold this against the book though as the Internet barely existed then.
5) Poor writing style: lots of descriptions, mainly of interminable simulated battles. Very little writing that gave any kind of depth to the characters. There were no idiosyncrasies in how the characters talked (saved a couple), their voices were interchangeable.
6) Little annoyances: the main tactic in Battle School seemed to be to freeze ones legs and use that as a shield when attacking the other team. What kind of tactic is that?! If the bullets were real your legs are going to get shot to pieces! Surely the idea is to avoid being shot altogether?
I'm glad I've read the book as it's continually mentioned in lists of "best sci-fi", but I found the whole thing rather painful and am not rushing out to buy any of the other books soon!
1) Unsympathetic characters: I simply didn't give a shit about anyone. I felt bad for Ender near the start when it was obvious he was becoming an outcast against his will, but he soon seemed to overcome that and become an amazing super soldier. I got no sense of depth, complexity, or conflict within him. His sister Valentine similarly didn't really have any depth, nor did any of the people he was at Battle School with.
2) Lack of jeopardy: Ender was never defeated at anything, and continually bested everyone against all the odds. It was very boring to read page after page of battles where Ender continually won. Then he got into a physical confrontation and won that too. He seemed to be able to do everything perfectly, without struggle.
3) Poor pacing: The first 3/4 of the book were about battle school, with many many battles being described, all of them pretty boring. Then suddenly Ender was taken to a second school - Command School - and loads of additional plot kicked in! He trained with all his friends and they became an incredible team (so why were they deliberately isolating him before?), again winning every battle of course. Then a bit about how the bugger communicate and live was given, then the final battle, then it turned out it wasn't a simulation it was real and then it was over.
4) Laughable plot points: This is more because of the era it was written in, but the idea of Ender's brother and sister becoming visionaries who could dictate policy through their anonymous Internet posts was embarrassing. I don't hold this against the book though as the Internet barely existed then.
5) Poor writing style: lots of descriptions, mainly of interminable simulated battles. Very little writing that gave any kind of depth to the characters. There were no idiosyncrasies in how the characters talked (saved a couple), their voices were interchangeable.
6) Little annoyances: the main tactic in Battle School seemed to be to freeze ones legs and use that as a shield when attacking the other team. What kind of tactic is that?! If the bullets were real your legs are going to get shot to pieces! Surely the idea is to avoid being shot altogether?
I'm glad I've read the book as it's continually mentioned in lists of "best sci-fi", but I found the whole thing rather painful and am not rushing out to buy any of the other books soon!
autogeek's review against another edition
3.0
First of all, the good: it is a great story. Very nice concept and overall plot.
And now for the bad: unfortunately, there are too many jarring issues with the writing style, the detailing, the pacing, plot holes, etc. For starters, all the interesting battles get over in a flash while the less interesting conversations and slow moments are given more pages. And then there is the idea that humans have advanced to the point of being able to do interstellar travel but cannot grasp the idea of minimizing the exposed surface in a battle. Ender is apparently the most intelligent kid in the world but can only come up with such common sense ideas which weirdly, no one else could come up with even though they are intelligent in every other way. For most the battles he takes part in, he just goes into a battle and then as if my magic, he just wins. Card gives little to no insight into the genius of Ender. Considering the whole book is about Ender and his genius, this is a major letdown.
Lastly, the way the final battle with the buggers is handled is just too jarring. Very little detail and gets over in a flash. There are no big twists, no smart moves, no interesting strategy, no gripping, edge-of-the-seat, fast paced action. Just a "pull a rabbit out of a hat" kinda move. Leaves you completely unsatisfied.
Overall, even though a good story, it has too many issues for me to rate it more than a 3.
And now for the bad: unfortunately, there are too many jarring issues with the writing style, the detailing, the pacing, plot holes, etc. For starters, all the interesting battles get over in a flash while the less interesting conversations and slow moments are given more pages. And then there is the idea that humans have advanced to the point of being able to do interstellar travel but cannot grasp the idea of minimizing the exposed surface in a battle. Ender is apparently the most intelligent kid in the world but can only come up with such common sense ideas which weirdly, no one else could come up with even though they are intelligent in every other way. For most the battles he takes part in, he just goes into a battle and then as if my magic, he just wins. Card gives little to no insight into the genius of Ender. Considering the whole book is about Ender and his genius, this is a major letdown.
Lastly, the way the final battle with the buggers is handled is just too jarring. Very little detail and gets over in a flash. There are no big twists, no smart moves, no interesting strategy, no gripping, edge-of-the-seat, fast paced action. Just a "pull a rabbit out of a hat" kinda move. Leaves you completely unsatisfied.
Overall, even though a good story, it has too many issues for me to rate it more than a 3.
calbowen's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the audio book of this, so I will leave out the voice performance - some were good and a few were not
The Good - the Science is there, it is beleievable and it is fantastic - whether it is acurate, I am not a scientist, so I do not know, but everythign has an edge to it that made me want to continue and I enjoyed all of the science in the story ... however
The Bad - the Fiction is lacking - I mean, the story is there, but I don't care about the story - I don't care about the characters - There were no surprises, even the ending (no spoiler) was meant to be a shocker I think, and it did not surprise me.
The Good Again - The military parts were also beleivable to a point as we were talking about learning a new type of fighting in the school and the formation and strategies and it was all also beleivable -
The Bad Again - how many times do we need to hear about the boys running around naked? - Military men do not do this, why would children who are more bashful - in the skivies I understand, t-shirt and shorts - but too many moments of naked that were not needed
Overall - I did enjoy this story, but I will not continue with any stories in the series, and I have serious reservations about the film when it comes out next year.
The Good - the Science is there, it is beleievable and it is fantastic - whether it is acurate, I am not a scientist, so I do not know, but everythign has an edge to it that made me want to continue and I enjoyed all of the science in the story ... however
The Bad - the Fiction is lacking - I mean, the story is there, but I don't care about the story - I don't care about the characters - There were no surprises, even the ending (no spoiler) was meant to be a shocker I think, and it did not surprise me.
The Good Again - The military parts were also beleivable to a point as we were talking about learning a new type of fighting in the school and the formation and strategies and it was all also beleivable -
The Bad Again - how many times do we need to hear about the boys running around naked? - Military men do not do this, why would children who are more bashful - in the skivies I understand, t-shirt and shorts - but too many moments of naked that were not needed
Overall - I did enjoy this story, but I will not continue with any stories in the series, and I have serious reservations about the film when it comes out next year.
lindsaybrownb's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic book. It is mature for a bunch of six year olds being treated like adults. This book makes it impossible to connect with Ender, an yet makes it perfectly possible to stand in his shoes during the book. It is a favorite of mine. :)
corditeq's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful and terrible. Wonderful and tragic. This is an amazing novel, and I absolutely loved it.
Pros:
The main character is unusual. Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin is completely unlike the majority of characters found in YA novels, and honestly reminded me most of Raymond E. Feist's Pug.
The situations, the worlds, are all beautifully terrible. The way in which the child soldiers are forced to deal with so much pain is very provoking, and yet very close to home.
Cons;
Ummm.....
It made me sad? No, it was a heart wrenching, beautiful kind of sad, so not a con.
Can't think of any. Sorry.
Pros:
The main character is unusual. Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin is completely unlike the majority of characters found in YA novels, and honestly reminded me most of Raymond E. Feist's Pug.
The situations, the worlds, are all beautifully terrible. The way in which the child soldiers are forced to deal with so much pain is very provoking, and yet very close to home.
Cons;
Ummm.....
It made me sad? No, it was a heart wrenching, beautiful kind of sad, so not a con.
Can't think of any. Sorry.
introbat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0