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Week 5
(21.03.2014)
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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
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Second book we read - The
Hunger Games.
Merchant - One whose occupation
is the wholesale purchase and retail sale of goods for profit.
