> Whatever your thoughts on SciFi, you'll fall in love with Ender and take a very deep interest in his story.
I don't understand the affection for Ender's Game. I read it in grade school and I reread it last summer; the plot is elementary (Ender's a textbook Mary Sue) and the takeaways are either empty or grim -- there's so much wanton violence (think back to the incident with the bully) and either Card is excusing it 'for the greater good', or condemning basically every character in the novel for engaging and condoning it.
The sequel, Speaker for the Dead, was much more interesting, but I think my perceptions of that book are a bit too tainted by my knowledge of the author's personal opinions.
I agree Ender's Game is elementary. It's to Dune what Harry Potter is to LOTR.
It's the character himself that's appealing. He's innocent and his burden is so huge...You just feel for him. You want him to get through it...it doesn't seem fair..you want to help him...protect him.
I'm pretty sure Card intended to condemn the wanton violence; either that, or the later books (which I also hugely prefer) were revisionist on the topic. He never characterizes Ender as anything but a monster, at best, he's an ignorant monster; the period between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead is an explicit search for redemption. Ender's Game was meant as a prequel, as I understand it, rather than to stand on its own.
That said, I've stopped recommending anything in the Ender books. There's just not enough there anymore.
I don't understand the affection for Ender's Game. I read it in grade school and I reread it last summer; the plot is elementary (Ender's a textbook Mary Sue) and the takeaways are either empty or grim -- there's so much wanton violence (think back to the incident with the bully) and either Card is excusing it 'for the greater good', or condemning basically every character in the novel for engaging and condoning it.
The sequel, Speaker for the Dead, was much more interesting, but I think my perceptions of that book are a bit too tainted by my knowledge of the author's personal opinions.