Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

[Clover]

Blurbing book club book from 1 January - 31 January 2011.  

Here's a few things you should probably do:

1. Read the book (obviously).

2. Come back to this forum and leave your thoughts about the book. You
can write a sentence, you can write an essay, it doesn't matter,
whatever you want.

3. Blurb the book.
Some of you may not know what a blurb is so allow me to explain: A
blurb is a sentence of 10 words or less, that sums up the book in
question. If you want an example, look on the back (occasionally the
front) of some books lying around your house. Those are blurbs.

Keep in mind that you can also compose lol-cat blurbs if you'd like (the same thing but with internet slang).

 

This book was chosen for January because it's one of my favourite books ever, it's widely available and I hope we can start the New Year off with a great book discussion.

[LO]

Blurb:  Thinking outside the box =/= being outside of the box.

Ender is prime example of "thinking outside of the box," but he is still used by his government and lacks freedom - he is "boxed" in.

[Merry Jaroneski]

I already posted about my thoughts on ender's game, but I didn't see any comments regarding the rest of the series. I read "Ender's Game" for the first time in sixth grade for summer work. I tried to continue on with the series, but it totally went over my head. I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't ready for "Speaker for the Dead". I'm reading it now as a freshman in high school, and it's fantastic. So, for anyone who loved "Ender's Game", I would totally recommend going on with the series. Orson Scott Card is a fantastic writer, and "Speaker for the Dead" is an awesome sequel. So, read it!

blurb for it? I'll try: The Speaker saves the piggies and repents for the secrets. 

[Racquel Tio]

We read this in class. I don't like it purely because I hate being forced to read and it always ruins the book for me.

[Louisa Blatt]

i really like this book, but for some reason feel no reason to read the sequels

[The Credible Hulk]

As of right now, I've just completed both Ender's game and Ender's shadow, which is set during the same time but from a different perspective (that of Bean). I must say I was expecting a science fiction Harry Potter, where he'd move up a school (ie to tactical, pre-command) each time rather than just battle school (which is a lot like jumping from pre-school to university); although this is only a complaint as I wanted the book to go on longer, but there are many more books, so nevermind. I love this book! I hear disney are making a movie of it with the XMO-Wolverine director, which worries me, but I'll see it nevertheless.

[Ben Cooper]

Ender's Game is definitely an interesting, worthwhile read.  It's very accessible for sci-fi, which can be dense and confusing for people who are new to the genre.  Card reads like a dystopian counterpart to Madeline L'Engle in some ways; he has her simple narrative approach to science fiction without her optimism.

The story is compelling, and it's very well written.  Overall I really enjoyed it.

Blurb: Save the world by lying to a six-year-old.

[Rose Ann Dursley]

I loved this book, as well as Speaker for the Dead but Ender's game was a little too violent for me.  I think I liked the sequel better as well.

[Mia Mataja]

Ender's Game is truly one of those most relevant things about life out there. I'll never forget how one night, late at night, my dad and I were reading the first third out loud for about three hours. Now we'll never get to finish it together, but I'm hoping they've got libraries and good glasses up there.

I keep coming back to the ending, the entire thing from the moment Ender finds the giant replica on that colony to the very end. it consumes me completely. The beauty of it all. The sadness. And the hope.

Also, I would like to point out the brilliance of the last book of the original quartet, Children of the Mind. SPOILER ALERT:

I especially like how it is pointed out to us that even though Wang-mu didn't love Peter more than Miro loved Valentine, or Novinha Andrew, it is the fact that he was the hardest person to love or smthng like that that enabled him to survive while others disolved into him.

[April Thompson]

I actually read this book for the first time in high school in 2004. It was assigned reading for my wait for it...Science Fiction Literature Class. Yes, my school had a Science Fiction Literature class that was, oddly, taught by one of the football coaches (go figure). I took this class my senior year because I wanted a "fluff" class that I wouldn't have to think a lot about. Little did I know how cool this class would be and how much I would 1. love this book and 2. love reading sci-fi/fantasy from that point forward. I definitely recommend this book to all the people who are not sure they like science fiction who come into the bookstore I work at.

[Lindsey Jordan]

This book was incredible, and I wasn't suspecting the *spoiler alert* the plot twist with the video game, But I found the very sort of disappointing.

[James Michael Gruich]

I loved the twist. I imagine they felt like "Hey, umm, guys? Why uh, why are they cheering?"

[Alex McCarthy]

This has been one of my favorite books for a long time. One of my favorite parts is When Ender first gains control of the Dragon army.