Discussion - Ender’s Game

Week 5 (21.03.2014)

During the book reading session: 1.      Before deciding on the book, what are the determining factors that attracted you to the book? (Author, genre, book cover, reviews you have read?) Ø  About the book story - Ender's Game (1985) is a military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the "Buggers", an insectoid alien species. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including the novel's protagonist, Ender Wiggin, are trained at a very young age through increasingly difficult games including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed. Ø  About the novel - The novel won the Nebula Award for best novel in 1985, and the Hugo Award for best novel in 1986 (most prestigious awards in science fiction). Ender's Game was also nominated for a Locus Award in 1986. In 1999, it placed #59 on the reader's list of Modern Library 100 Best Novels. It was also honored with a spot on American Library Association's "100 Best Books for Teens." In 2008, the novel, along with Ender's Shadow, won the Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors an author and specific works by that author for lifetime contribution to young adult literature. Ender's Game was included in Damien Broderick's book Science Fiction: The 101 Best Novels 1985–2010. 2.      Who are the 5 most important characters in the book? List out the names of the characters playing them. Ø  Ender Wiggin  Ø  Valentine Wiggin Ø  Petra Arkanim  Ø  Colonel Hyrum Graff Ø  Bonzo Madrid  3.      What is the story about?      Ender's Game is the story of Ender Wiggin, a child genius chosen to save the world. The military needs a brilliant commander to fight buggers, alien enemies who have previously come close to wiping out humanity. Before he can face the enemy, however, Ender must make it through Battle School, where he learns that hatred is not reserved for the buggers alone. Battle School is where the best and brightest are trained to be military commanders through participation in intricate war games. Because Ender is the most brilliant military mind that Battle School has ever seen, his success earns him the resentment of most of his peers. He has only himself to rely on, although his small core of loyal friends is there for him in more ways than Ender knows.      Ender may be small, but he thinks, feels, and acts like an adult, and an exceptional one at that. Ender's Game suggests that both compassion and ruthlessness are necessary features in a leader, and much of the story is the interaction between these two features of Ender's personality. A child, convinced that he is alone in the universe, holds the fate of a planet in his hands. There are adults actively involved in every step of Ender's training, and they view their manipulation of him (and the other children) as an unavoidable evil. Ironically, sometimes the children are the manipulators and sometimes they are manipulated. Ender, although sometimes superhuman in ability, does not cease to be a child. Jealousy, pride, hatred, loyalty, and friendship are integral parts of the human condition, but in Ender's Game the stakes are at once both the humanity of the individual and the survival of the species. 4.      Which group of people would you recommend this book to? Ø  Teenager Ø  Adult