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Card's Game

© Evelyn Keys

It's an old one, but is still frequently read, a bible for many of its fans. A tattered and obviously well read copy came into my hands from a man whose praise for Ender's Game was high.

When faced with a book that many have enjoyed, and many more have loved, I'm often wary. Those that have not yet read J.R.R Tolkien probably know the feeling. However I plunged into Ender's Game' anyway.

Some books I've enjoyed enough to recommend others I've enjoyed, but put aside, many leave my eyelids plummeting downward, then there are the ones that I've hated. Ender's Game inspired this whole range of emotions.

The Hugo, and Nebula winner is a masterful tale which is best described as emotive. From beginning to end it is very readable. Exciting and as The New York Times claimed: intense.

Ender's world, our world of the future has been attacked by an alien species. Ender among others are children harvested from society to become the geniuses behind the next military operation. This time there will only be victory or defeat - defeat means the end of the earth.

The Bugger's, an unknown alien species, threaten the survival of the species and their home. Ender is the third child who since birth has possessed the qualities needed to win the next war.

Scott Card's highly evocative portrayal of young children challenges our beliefs and expectations we have of children. Ender is only 6 when he is recruited to the battleschool. His genius sees him rise through the ranks. To force him to such heights of success he is pushed beyond the brink of human endurance. Pushed to commit murder, brutally destroying some of his peers, he retains a semblance of innocence but only the small ammount Card has allowed.

The situation of genius children is one of the main themes of this novel. Ender and his siblings are the representation of child geniuses. However they are not children. Nothing in their demeanor is childish. They are adults in their behavior, their thoughts, and their speech. They're adults in all but their physical development. In Scott Card's world these children are pivotal elements in the survival of the species. The shape the world, the war, and the international political situation

One of my criticisms of the book, despite Scott Card's claim that it's an accurate representation of children, is that his characterizations are not. Despite this 'Ender's Game' and its children manage to maintain their credibility.