Sunday, March 27, 2011

Ender's Game

Note that this review may contain spoilers.

I have often heard people talk about this book, how they liked it, how it inspired them, and that is what I had in mind when I picked it up from the local WaldenBooks. I knew that his simulations were real battles from a blog post I read but I didn't realize all that entailed...

Exposition: The beginning of each chapter starts with a small conversation between two people, just dialogue, no tags. In the beginning you have no idea who these people are, but what they say draws you in. Who are they talking about? What is he being chosen for? What went wrong with the brother, the sister? What are they talking about?

Next, we are introduced to Ender, the main character, as he is getting his monitor taken off. We then learn that Ender is a Third, and picked on for it. Immediately after coming back from getting his monitor removed, a team of boys gangs up on him. He then beats their leader, Stilston, to a pulp, determining the place at the Battle School which his brother, Peter, and sister, Valentine, could not achieve.

Rising Action: At Battle School, Ender is immediately set apart from the other boys by the teachers. On top of that, Bernard, a boy in Ender's launch, is out for revenge on Ender for breaking his arm. Other such problems follow. As soon as Ender gets comfortable something changes: he is moved into an army, he becomes a commander, he is advanced to Command school. All in effort to get him ready to defeat the buggers. The whole time he worries, is he truly like his brother Peter, a killer, a murderer? Conflict is rich throughout this story.

Climax: I was waiting for what happened next. When Ender walked into the simulator for his final exam, and they informed him there was a planet, I knew the end of the war was near. I knew, but Ender didn't. And when he learns that he wiped out the whole bugger race, he feels betrayed, betrayed and worn out emotionally. Wouldn't you be? Yes, you would. That there is what makes him a realistic character.

Falling Action/Resolution: They have decided that Ender is too dangerous to go back to earth, so Valentine convinces him to come with her to colonize one of the now empty bugger planets. While ther, Ender discovers that the buggers left behind a single queen and he swears to find them a few place to live, to reproduce. And I've heard that that is what the sequels are all about.

10 comments:

  1. There's actually a parallel series that follow Bean. I like it a lot better than the sequels that follow Ender through space & time. I'd recommend reading "Ender's Shadow."

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  2. Oh yes, I heard someone mention them. Once I get through my TBR list, I have a friend who will let me borrow them.

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  3. I'm not even going to read the review, I'll pretend I didn't see the first paragraph that obviously contained some big secret, and I'll just say - I want to read this. ^__^

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  4. Hi Brooke! *waving* Thanks for the love. I skimmed your blog but only because it has spoilers and I haven't read Ender's Game yet. I'm like you, though I've heard a lot about it. It seems to be one of those books that shaped a generation. Guess I better get on the ball and read, huh? I look forward to following! :)

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  5. Hello, Autumn. ^^ It's a good thing I recently decided to start putting those warnings at the tops of my reviews then. XD

    I also have many things to read. We better get crackin' huh?

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  6. I love this breakdown! I need to read this book. Man, I'm so behind. Why couldn't I get into reading at a younger age? Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Better late than never. ^^ And thank you.

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  8. I LOVE this book!

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  9. You do have a BEST DARN BLOG EVER! :)

    I have heard so much about this book and yet I haven't read it. I need to get with the times and get my hands on a copy. Good review. I like the way you set it up (I read the blog, because I'm one of those people who read the last pages of a book to make sure everything is happy. Then I read the book from the beginning)

    ~Angela

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  10. I also have heard about this book but haven't read it yet. It's on my list.

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