Ender's Game, written by Orson Scott Card, is a book about a young boy named Ender who becomes a commander of the Earth's international fleet and defeats the buggers, an alien race. Card's goal for the novel was to make an exciting, new science fiction that would show what things might be like in the future. He wanted to create a book that was straightforward and plain enough that anyone could read it and understand the story entirely. The novel takes place in the future, making it very exciting and entertaining. Orson Scott Card does a great job with the characters, setting, and themes, but the plot lacks depth and the writing style leaves something to be desired.
In Ender's Game, Card sets up very complex, three-dimensional characters. He puts extra amounts of effort into developing Ender, Valentine, and Peter, but he is descriptive enough of each character he introduces that the thoughts and actions each character are understood by the reader and the reader can get an overall feeling of the character. Although many of the children in the novel do not always think and act like the stereotypical child should, he accomplishes his goal of making them realistic by portraying even their cruelest of thoughts. Character development occurs regularly for Ender, but rather sporadically for Valentine and Peter. Ender is a genius, but he is not impenetrable which allows the reader to identify with him often. Card gives the reader a lot of insight into Ender's thoughts when he is struggling and when he faces bewildering predicaments, thus creating a character that will truly tug at the reader's heart. Valentine is also very smart, but she is much more compassionate, which often gets her into trouble. The reader can easily get a feeling for how kind she is. Card is very blunt about Peter's evil personality, whether he is killing squirrels or taking over the world. Card also does a good job with the adult characters as well, especially when they talk amongst themselves about how they want to push the kids to their limits, but not so much that they give up.
Ender's Game takes place on Earth in the future with Earth's international forces creating an army to fight against the buggers. Card uses the setting of the book to develop the characters and plot of the story. The futuristic setting adds a whole new level of intensity and excitement to the novel, and it is essentially what makes the novel attractive to readers. Card's ability to create an interesting, thought provoking science fiction setting allows him to use more straightforward language, while retaining the reader's interest. One of his goals was to create a thought provoking science fiction and he does that well with his use of the setting.
Ender's Game also incorporates a few themes which make the novel more interesting, but do not complete it. Card uses the themes of compassion, ruthlessness, and taking children seriously to add a little to the depth of his novel. Throughout the book, there is a constant struggle between the themes of ruthlessness and compassion. Ender, and other characters, struggles to decide when to be compassionate and when to be ruthless. He also struggles with his identity, and knowing whether he is a nice person, or a killer. The themes do not run very deep, and are pretty obvious. This can cause the reader to make fewer connections while reading and to simply plow through the book without taking some time to think critically. While achieving his goal of making a straightforward novel, Card also loses depth and complexity that could really have added to his book.
The plot of Ender's Game is fresh, and new in many senses, but it is often very drawn out and can get old at certain points in the book. The plot of the novel starts out a little slow. Although Ender is bright and intelligent in his young age, his life is not very exciting, and most of the conflicts arise from little problems at school and fights with his brother. Once Ender goes to Battle School, the plot really takes off and starts becoming interesting. However, after Ender has been at Battle School for a while, the plot starts to become dull, repetitive, and predictable. The only aspect of the plot that isn't dull is the virtual reality game that Ender plays. Although the plot picks up again later, the drawn out parts can be very annoying. Although Card does not use literary devices such as foreshadowing, many parts in the plot can be predicted, thus making anti-climactic moments that let the reader down. The lack of complexity is good, in that it delivers the full story to everyone, yet bad because it can make the novel boring and predictable in some parts.
In Ender's Game, Card's style reflects simplicity and straightforwardness, which is the way he wanted it to be. Those that are looking for clever word usage and complex plots and themes should stay away from this book. Card's writing style does not include many emotional qualities, but there are traces of wit and satire throughout the novel. Overall, the book is a smooth read with good transitions. Card does not jump from place to place, and separates dual plots enough that the reader can fully grasp the ideas being presented in each. The dialogue in Ender's game is fairly written and well thought out, and it reflects the thoughts of the characters well. In addition, Card does not try to filter out the language of the characters, and instead writes realistic dialogues that are not euphemistic.
Ender's Game is an exciting novel that will captivate the mind of just about anyone. Orson Scott Card accomplishes his goal of making an easy to read, yet thrilling novel. However, much of Ender's Game lacks book, as its plot and themes are very obvious. Although it is easy to identify with Ender, the conciseness of the themes allows for fewer connections in the mind of the reader. Card does a great job with the characters by developing them fully and allowing the reader to gain an understanding of them. The setting is also well done by Card and the futuristic ideas are very thought provoking. Card's style is a little bland, but enough to get by. Overall, Ender's Game is a good, entertaining read that still accomplishes Card's goal of being easy to read and straightforward.
