I give this book a solid 5.
This is the story of an earth on the
brink of, yet another, alien invasion that the humans refuse to be unprepared
for. While the people of the world are
at peace for the most part, everyone holds their tongues and hopes for best,
knowing that the savior the planet seeks will probably be someone’s child. This is essentially a military drama that
takes place in the presence of intergalactic
space travel, about the conditioning of super smart children, who will
grow up to be the heroes of the future.
The reason I am so enamored with
this book is because it points out all the obvious truths, people refuse to
acknowledge, in a way that’s easy to accept and almost comforting. This is one
of those stories that points out, just how far “the human” is willing to go to
preserve itself as a species, with or without politically correct means. I know
this all sounds vague to someone who hasn’t read the book, but trust me, this
is how it is.
People question and debate as to
whether there are hidden meanings in such children’s classics as The Wizard of
Oz and Alice in Wonderland, but there are no hidden meanings in this story. The
reader is immersed in world of juvenile hormones and aggressive needs for
praise, but that’s just the surface. From page one, readers get to know Ender
and his internal struggles, as well as, his exterior battles, and begin to
relate to this “child” in a way they wish they could relate to their
co-workers, families, and friends.
Anyone who knows anything about me
or has followed me for half a second knows that I’m a proud geek, so when I
come across a story like Ender’s Game, I’m ready to put my geekness to the
test. This is a great story for three reasons. It has “an old wise man” or
mentor, a loner/outcast “super” hero, and something that’s never been done
before happens. Whenever a story has all three of these traits, it’s pretty
much guaranteed to be a 5 in my book (Thank you George Lucas).
I like the fact the when Ender’s
Game comes to an end, the story feels complete, but there is no big stretch to
seeing that there could be and is more of the story to tell. This book seems
like a children’s book, but there is so much more to it. The whole family could
appreciate it, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Before there was the Hunger
Games, there was Ender’s Game.
