De tactiek van Ender (1977)

More boring than I had expected. A lot of military strategy and less visions of a dystopic future than I might like. ( )

Reminds me of 1984 and, Mr. Card, that is not a compliment.

That is not to say that this doesn't have potential. It also raises some very good questions, philosophical views, political commentaries, etc. But it was subtly disturbing in a way that I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps because there was no hope. That doesn't mean that life has to be butterflies and unicorns. But, even in the darkest books and movies that I have ever seen (and liked, obviously), there was a glimmer of hope. Gone With the Wind is a terrible book, full of terrible things that happen to both good and bad people. Yet there is hope in people like Mellie and places like Tara. This didn't really offer that to me. And WHAT a message to end on...

I'd like to be a fly on the wall of various days of Mr. Card's life and, hopefully, begin to understand him as a writer. That might help me to make sense of this book. I respect him as an author in a tough world but ... I'm not quite sure it's the classic people tell me it is.

So, it's a quality piece of work. But it didn't add anything to my life. And I refuse to let it take anything away. ( )

I first read Ender's Game the same year it was published; I was a marginally successful junior in a US Service Academy at the time, and well on my way to forming my current negative opinion about how such works. What ever other critiques readers might have about Card's story here, IMHO he nailed the military training environment, complete with psychological manipulation and Machiavellian intrigue. I am not surprised to hear rumors that Ender's Game might even be promoted by the military training establishment. Even before this book was published, my training cadre made no secret of how they were using 'significant emotional events' to reshape our personalities to conform to the expected standard ... Much like Graft attempts to manipulate encounters for Ender at the Battle School. This was made slightly more difficult after hazing became illegal; it didn't actually eliminate it, just moved it into the shadows. Needless to say, my first encounter with the book evoked a very strong affinity with the protagonist. First cut gets 5 stars.

Another significant concept Card presented in the story was that such a system inevitably fails ... As in it doesn't predictably (limited correlation) create your top military commanders during war time and can in fact hinder their development. Unfortunately I don't believe Card's solution is very realistic. Throwing away the rulebook in order to foster social isolation and constant exposure to violence at an early age does not create individuals who are strong, independent leaders ... It creates sociopaths. Fortunately Card seems to have a knack for knowing when he may have pushed too hard, as Ender immediately becomes overwhelmed with angst about his actions. About the only benefit I get from these rather irritating episodes is an opportunity to expose ethical talking points (which I took advantage of when I re-read the book with my preteen). Several critics seem to believe that they know which side Card comes down on these issues (e.g. Is Xenocide always evil? ... Is it ever necessary?) ... Strangely enough, there is little unanimity among them (I actually think Card leaves it up in the air for each reader to think about). There are other areas in the story that I could pick apart, in fact an army of critics have already done so (and to some extent they have valid points); however, I still find the over all story to be an excellent starting point for talking about how we go about determining ethical behavior, both within our society and in response to a potential foreign encounter. ( )

I was ready to rate this book 4-stars, but then the ending blew me away. Damn, I wasn't expecting such a strong, emotional, heartfelt ending from the book. It raised the book from 'very good' to 'excellent' for me. ( )

Despite how much I do not like Orson Scott Card, I loved this book. I tried to go in blind and was happy for it. I enjoyed how the story focused on Ender's psychological battles and the idea of super gifted children.

Definitely a good read that holds up more than 30 years after it was written. ( )