I was given Ender's Game in 1999 by a boyfriend at the time. It was all dog-eared and he gave it to me to read while he had to go off and do something at work for an hour.

I read it and I was soooo hooked. I think I'm always into stories where kids are tortured. Maybe it has something to do with my childhood issues. [:0]

Either way, I enjoyed it so much that I read the entire thing in about three hours. (I'm a fast reader....or maybe everyone I've dated is a slow reader, I don't know.) It was so good I gave my boyfriend's copy to my friend at work, who also found it disturbing but engrossing.

I kept thinking it should be a film, but then I thought, "What studio would touch that story?" I mean, 10-year-olds trying to kill one another? They would probably make the kids older to make it less painful to watch, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. You can probably tell because I'm rambling. [|)]

Good book choice.

c.

i've read the entire ender's saga. it's one of the best series of books that i've ever read!

I think a lot of science fiction readers are attracted to the book and become so attached to the Ender character because they want very much to identify with Ender. Brilliant and resourceful, but also a stalwart and sensitive friend.

Even his destruction of the aliens is excused because he didn't know he was actually doing it. He gets credit for wiping out an entire race, but the reader is told he is too nice to actually do it if he'd known.

I enjoyed Ender's Game very much. I could identify with Ender because of my own problems with excelling my peers at a young age, and I think most people that read the book end up making that same identification with themselves, and it forever colors our feelings towards the novel.

Speaker For the Dead is a *very* different novel. When I first read it, I was bored to tears. Much of the novel is mired in guilt. It seems like half of the cast is obsessed with self loathing. It's a very heavy book emotionally, and if you can get beyond that, it has some interesting things in it, although it's so different from the first novel that you'd almost not realize it was the same author.

The subsequent books in the series, Xenocide, Ender's Shadow, etc., are hit and miss. If you liked Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow is a retelling of much of the same events from the point of view of Bean, who ends up being (in my opinion) a more interesting and complicated character than Ender. You could skip the rest and pick up Ender's Shadow without missing a beat.

Card's Alvin Maker series starts with the same premise; a young boy with lots of power assumes a huge responsibility. Unfortunately, it gets too preachy after the 3rd or 4th book.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Supergeek

I think a lot of science fiction readers are attracted to the book and become so attached to the Ender character because they want very much to identify with Ender. Brilliant and resourceful, but also a stalwart and sensitive friend.

Sorry, but I don't think that was the reason at all. I don't classify myself as a geek nor was my very cool friend that I gave the book to. I think we both were engrossed in the story of whether this little boy was going to endure everything or not.

A few other people had recommended it before and I blew them off as, "Oh, please! I'm not a big freaking geek like you. I'll tune you out now."

c.

Very helpful links James, I had heard some talk about the Ender's Game short story but never looked into it. It was a very fun read, although I do prefer the book to the short story. As for the movie, I've heard a lot of specualtion on that too and I can't wait to hear some more news about its release. Pehaps I'm the only one that liked "Speaker for the Dead" all the way up to "Children of the Mind." I was bored by Bean's personality in the shadow series. I'd have to say I am in love with Orson Scott Card's prose and his eloquent writing kept me reading about Bean and his adventures.

-Cid-

feng_huang wrote:

Very helpful links James, I had heard some talk about the Ender's Game short story but never looked into it. It was a very fun read, although I do prefer the book to the short story. As for the movie, I've heard a lot of specualtion on that too and I can't wait to hear some more news about its release. Pehaps I'm the only one that liked "Speaker for the Dead" all the way up to "Children of the Mind." I was bored by Bean's personality in the shadow series. I'd have to say I am in love with Orson Scott Card's prose and his eloquent writing kept me reading about Bean and his adventures. -Cid-

 

Orson Scott Card doesn't always write the type of story I like, but even when he doesn't, I still read him.  His prose is just plain good.

candylilacs wrote:

I kept thinking it should be a film, but then I thought, "What studio would touch that story?" I mean, 10-year-olds trying to kill one another? They would probably make the kids older to make it less painful to watch, which kind of defeats the purpose.

 They have a page for an Ender's Game movie on IMDB that was updated at the beginning of January.  However, that page has been there for a couple of years.  Rumor has it they were going to try and cast Haley Joel Osmont as Ender, but he grew up too soon.

 

Jamesaritchie wrote:

I greatly preferred the original short story version of Ender's Game over the novel. The short story version can be found here: http://www.hatrack.com/osc/stories/enders-game.shtml

The story on Hatrack mentioned here is also in print as "First Meetings in the Enderverse," for those interested. 

I agree that Orson Scott Card is an excellent storyteller.  Books like "Magic Street," and "Folk of the Fringe" are not as well-respected as they should be.  I thought the Homecoming Saga was good too, but I couldn't read all six books.  Just a few days ago I saw a woman my age reading "the Ships of Earth" on the bus!  I thought that was pretty cool.