The book:

“Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card

Suggested for:

Anyone who likes intelligent science fiction and plans on seeing the movie this fall.

Clog rating:

While Berkeley is full of intelligent people, some of whom may have even skipped a grade or two, there is nothing quite like the genius of the children in Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game.” It is absolutely incomprehensible to us to imagine being given the responsibility to lead the world’s forces against the aliens at the ripe ol’ age of 11 — but this is exactly what Ender Wiggin is made to do.

Born as the third child into a world with strict birth regulations, Ender is faced with adversity from the get-go. He is purposely bred with the intent of making him the commanding officer that his world so desperately needs. Taken from his family and moved to the spaceship training camp before his seventh birthday, Ender learns quickly that he is on his own, and the teachers surrounding him are only going to push him to try to attain greatness. And Ender delivers. Ascending through the ranks years before the other children, he proves that he may just be worth all of the hope that everyone has placed onto him.

Beside Ender’s story, there are the interesting lives of his brother and sister. Both are as intelligent as Ender but don’t really have a purpose for it. Peter and Valentine make their place in the world apart from Ender and yet always remain motivated by what he has been chosen to do. The interactions between Ender and Valentine serve as the only normal humanizing moments we get with Ender. They try to remind you that these are in fact just children — not even in their teenage years — and yet they are trying to save the world.

As weary as we tend to be about book-to-movie adaptations, the film version of “Ender’s Game” will be hitting theaters in November and looks promising. From what we can glean from the previews, not only are the actors bringing the characters to life in an appropriate way, but the action is sure to be visually stunning. However, as with all movies based on books, we highly recommend reading this novel before seeing the movie. The book is excellent and is sure to make for an interesting movie experience.

Image Source: textbookread under Creative Commons