Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game is the first book in the Ender series written by Orson Scott Card. It is about a prodigious boy called Ender and how he destroys an alien attack by the species called Buggers who have no language but only thought transmission because what they actually are is a very advanced bee sort of creatures who are directed by their queen.

The book begins sluggishly and I had a bit of hard time keeping up with it. But towards the middle it gets interesting specially when Ender’s brother and sister also come into play. The battle school life of Ender is also fascinating but what did not suit me well was that the central character of the story is so morbid and morose that it becomes really hard to relate to him and considering that he is just a 10 year old boy when he is dealing with life as people do when they are at their mid life crisis adds more sadness to an already gloomy picture of the boy. But that is the way story is and so be it. The end is good. It undos the beginning and the general heaviness.

How much I like it, I cannot say! I like the nerdy geeky thing where Ender is this super Nerd who can beat anyone and everyone. I like the alien invasion thing. I like the blog like atmosphere where Peter and Valentine operate and are able to make the elders and political leaders follow them. I like the superhuman super family concept. But what irks me is the “white man’s burden” kind of a concept. 11 year olds with a burden on their shoulder to transform the world. Almost dictatorial way of thinking and assuming that the world would accept one person of authority and bow before him.

I liked the book in general but I did not like it enough to pick up a sequel right away. Maybe I will but not for a while.