Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsMeh
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2016
While a quarter of the way through Ender’s Game, I made the mistake of leaving my copy on top of my car on a night that it rained all night. If I had read the entire book by then, I wouldn’t have wasted the time I spent drying the book out, this book wasn’t worth the towels. How does a book go over 300 pages without developing an antagonist with any kind of depth whatsoever? Somebody please explain why the reasoning for children soldiers makes any sense at all. Oh, maybe it’s because we have a main character who is as predictable and dry as a one way street. If Orson Scott Card wants us to believe in these child characters, he should make up his mind on what exactly he wants us to see out of them. The reader has a better chance of seeing that then a female character with some kind of backbone, even though Orson had ample opportunity to develop one. Orson should’ve spent more time adding actual meat to this book than stuffing it with paragraphs full of description and analysis. The fact that the water in Battle School is recycled doesn’t need explanation thanks, neither the first nor the second time. If someone were to casually pick the book up, a strong recommendation would be to not look at the cover or read the summary on the back of the book. They actually had the stones to “intense” in the summary, the word “bland” seems more appropriate but Orson can get an “A” for trying to fool people. He finds a way to take the mystique and intrigue of the possible future that comes with the sci-fi genre and thoroughly wipe himself with it. This review is just starting, so grab some popcorn, its only getting better from here.
“A hero is only as good as their villain.” This statement rings true throughout books and movies and rears its head in Ender’s Game as well. The buggers are the entire reason why this story has purpose in the first place and yet we don’t get descriptive information about them until the last couple of chapters. The book builds the buggers up as not just a villain, but a force of nature, with the back summary doing well to set up how serious of a threat they are “Aliens have attacked Earth twice and almost destroyed the human species.” Graff also adds in the incredible numbers that they have at their disposal, “But the bugger are out there. Ten billion, a hundred billion, a million billion of them, for all we know (Scott Card 35).” With insurmountable numbers and the knowledge that they’ve already nearly destroyed us once, one would assume that Orson Scott Card would, at the very least, use them as a way to maintain tension throughout the story, but they provide little more than a plot twist. Who else can be considered a villain? Peter? Bonzo? Graff? Peter does hold an important place within the plot, but he, himself, is never really used as an act6ual threat to Ender. Orson made sure to take the teeth out of Peter that made him intimidating in the beginning. It’s alright to add remorse to a character so the readers can relate, but they soften him up before he can really get going, “He whispered, Ender, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know how it feels, I’m sorry, I’m your brother, I love you (Scott Card 15).” Honestly, Peter and the buggers provide the only true obstacle the Ender could possibly overcome. So does that mean that Ender is his own worst enemy? If so, it wasn’t done by design, but by the inability of an author.
The real reason there’s no villain may be because this is Ender’s world and everyone else is just living in it. Ender is basically the Floyd Mayweather of his universe, not only does he defeat all comers, he knows he’s going to win and so do we the reader. Most main characters are given some attributes that make them more relatable to the reader, but anything that could make me sympathetic to Ender is undone by his own doing. In the beginning I felt for Ender, truly, he was in the shadow of his brother and feared to be like him one day, “I am just like Peter. Take my monitor away, and I am just like Peter (Scott Card 8).” The problem with that is Ender just keeps hanging it over our heads, feeling more complacent to complain about his problems than to make strides for improvement. While it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to compare Ender’s mental prowess to that of a supercomputer, he doesn’t have to have the personality of one too. Name one conversation that Ender has that doesn’t sound overly thought out. Everything he says requires an analysis beforehand and lacks any substance. Ender is smart for the sake of plot and not much else.
Ender is not the only character at fault within this novel. As smart as the children with the book are supposed to be, they don’t seem to have gained wisdom or, at the very least, common sense. Let’s start with Ender’s fellow classmates within the Battle School, who aren’t there because they won a sweepstakes but because of their potential and prowess. These children are chosen with the ability to comprehend the magnitude of their selection, that their success will determine the safety of the planet.so why is the first child we meet and aggressive ankle biter who can’t see that Graff is obviously setting up the rest of the kids up against Ender? “Look like you’ve got it made here, whispered the boy next to him…..I didn’t ask him to say that stuff, Ender whispered. He felt a sharp pain on the top of his head (Scott Card 32).”I knew what Graff was going for the second words came from his mouth, so why can’t the kids who are supposed to be operating starships see through some basic psychology? These children act less like the bright young minds of tomorrow and more like the characters from Lord of the Flies. Ender ends up in Battle School only after getting the old red, white and blue speech. “Battle School is for training future starship captains and commodores of flotillas and admirals of the fleet (Scott Card 20).” That sounds like something straight out of a Star Trek script and could reel in any child with even an inkling of a thirst for adventure. Graff also uses his parents against him, although for all we know this could’ve been a lie, it’s not like Ender ever tried to figure that out. Valentine isn’t much better, she allows herself to be used by Graff for her own selfish reasons. They would’ve manipulated Ender anyway, “I’ll write your letters myself. We can use your other letters to reconcile the writing styles (Scott Card 149).” It makes no sense to go along with Graff’s plan, if she loved Ender she would’ve stayed out of it, let them do their own dirty work. Her involvement has an impact of how Ender reacts.
The reader should know that Valentine’s shortcomings come from Orson Scott Card’s refusal to develop a strong female character. The women in the novel are used as instruments of sympathy and care, which wouldn’t be a problem but they provide little else in terms of value. Petra started out feisty and looked to be at the top of her game, a character who would be a rock, a symbol of perseverance. She seemed to be doing well, but she becomes a source of vulnerability where all the male characters are cold and calculating. When Ender defeats her squad, she gets in her feelings, “The anger in her eyes seemed to say, I was your friend, and you humiliate me like this? (Scott Card 186).” Is Ender supposed to let her win? If she loses, she shouldn’t feel humiliated, the loss should light a fire under her. She tries talking to Ender a little while afterwards while he is in conflict with Bonzo, so when she approaches at the same moment that potential threats are present, he make sit know to her. Instead of taking the entire situation into account and reacting accordingly, her face flushes and she runs off. Petra is also the first person to break down in Command School, going out in a plea of forgiveness, “Tell him I’m sorry, I was just so tired, I couldn’t think, that was all, tell Ender I’m sorry (Scott Card 285).” While the story says that others broke along the way, Petra is the only one who got name recognition, even though the entirety of Ender’s Command School squad was made up of his closest friends. Valentine doesn’t have the same pitfalls as Petra, but she falls flat nonetheless. I honestly couldn’t think of much to say about Valentine that doesn’t fit into either one of two categories: sympathy or an instrument to further someone else’s plot. She provides not much else, which disappoints me greatly the more I look back on it.
The shots could keep coming, but this book has become a chore to rip, not as much as it was to finish reading but a chore all the same. When I was writing this review a friend of mine pointed out the book was better suited for middle school reading, and my professor informed me that the book had been “developed” from a short story. These tidbits explain why the book feels drawn out in spots and why some critical thinking introduced into the story makes it holdup as well as a house of cards. Ender’s Game did start out strong, capturing my attention with the tantalizing possibilities that sci-fi novels can create, but the genre is used as nothing more than a backdrop here and doesn’t give it the use I would’ve preferred. Ultimately, it was the buggers and how they were utilized was what drove me away, the idea of high octane space battles and the vast unknown of an alien civilization kept me reading for a couple chapters, but I soon figured that my wishes would not be granted here. Suggesting this book to anyone would be a stretch, but saying that this may be an alright piece of reading to the right person wouldn’t be a lie. 2/5
