Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

I got to listen to this novel on audiobook.  I only recently started getting into audiobooks, and I find the experience much to my liking – depending on whether the reader is good, of course.   

I’ve always had a soft spot for science fiction and fantasy and Orson Scott Card is up there with the best in this genre; “Ender’s Game” won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards as proof.  His novel, “Enchantment”, is one of my best beloved stories of all time.  But back to Ender’s Game; it came out as a novel in 1985, and many other stories that have followed since resonate with the images and ideas first presented herewith – most notably and recently, The Hunger Games Trilogy.

Set in a futuristic world that is facing possible annihilation by a hostile alien race called “Buggers,” Ender’s Game revolves around the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of a boy named Andrew.  When he was young his sister started calling him “Ender” because she couldn’t pronounce “Andrew” correctly.  The name stuck and eventually the boy lived up to the name in all its double meanings. 

Ender had quite a difficult first few years – he was a “third,” technically an unwanted third child in a society that strictly regulates its population, and he was made painfully aware of this by his cruel bully of an elder brother.  Although their parents cared for him well and treated him as kindly as his siblings, the only person he felt close to and had genuine love for was his sister, Valentine.  Now being a third, he was carefully monitored by the government.  An incident of bullying in school where Ender demonstrated extraordinary ruthlessness in order to defend himself became the turning point in his life.  The military stepped in and took Ender away for training as a soldier and possibly a future military commander at “Battle School.”  Almost immediately the military singled Ender out from all the other recruits as a boy with great potential, and throughout his training and study in Battle School he was tested relentlessly in cruel, merciless ways. 

I’ll stop my summary there to avoid giving spoilers.  But the whole point of Ender’s Game for me is the potential of the human spirit for terrible cruelty as well as astounding kindness and courage, all personified in this exceptionally gifted, lonely little boy who carries a great burden he didn’t ask for.   The book also explores the notions of friendship, leadership, respect for authority, and heroism.  While listening to the story such questions came to my mind as, “Must one really need to be ruthless to be a good leader?”  “It’s been said that It’s lonely at the top, but is it necessarily true that it’s difficult for great leaders to have trusted friends?”  “We always paint our heroes in a certain ‘glorious’ light, but never question their own true thoughts about their own heroism – do they think they deserve being called ‘heroes’?”  Ender’s Game was able to address these questions and more.

I felt so much empathy for young Ender.  I couldn’t count how many times I wanted to sink myself into the book and give him a big hug and cheer him up somehow.  But in the end I saw the point of all that he had to go through, and I knew that if the hero of the story had not been a boy like Ender, everything would turn out very differently.  By the ending of the story, even though my heart ached for him, I felt quite proud of the boy, and believed that everything is as it should be. 

I don’t know what it’s like to read the book as text, but I assure you that I enjoyed the audiobook.  The voice actors were awesome – they brought the world of Ender’s Game to glorious life.  In his afterword, Orson Scott Card himself says that listening to the story is probably the best way to experience it.  But whether you choose to read or listen to it, I can definitely say that it’s a thrilling, memorable, thought-provoking, and heart-wrenching story deserving of all its acclaim.  They say a movie is in the works, and whenever they adapt a great book into a movie I always have misgivings and a healthy dose of doubt that they’ll do the story justice.  But I’m willing to give it a try.  One thing’s for sure – I’ll continue listening to the rest of this series and I’m sure I’ll enjoy it all as much as I did this first novel.  Give it a try – I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.