Ender's Game: A review

Every once in a while, something comes along, whether it be book or film, that strikes so deeply within the hearts and minds of the people, that it quickly transcends into the realm of the “cult classic”. Winner of the both the Hugo and Nebula awards for Science Fiction Writing, Orson Scott Card’s “little cult novel”, Ender’s Game, is as good as they come.
Set in the not-to-distant future, Ender’s Game sees an Earth united under one banner in the face of an alien invader known only as the “Buggers”. Humanity barely scraped it through the last two invasions, now they must prepare for a third. How? By taking the most gifted, the most physically able children they can find, and sending them to the most brutal training program the world has ever seen: Battle School. Card’s novel is about one child in particular, Andrew “Ender” Wiggan. With the third invasion drawing ever nearer, the need for a great leader has never been so desperate. Ender could be their only hope.
The story is full of ideas, concepts, moral truths, and intensity that touches everyone in their own way. Its Dynamic, it’s challenging, it’s just so….Good. You follow Ender from Earth, to the Battle School and beyond. You see him driven to become the best of the best, and the toll that takes on him and those around him. Most of all, you see children who are not a children, playing games that aren’t games, in a war that’s not a war.
To put it simply, Ender’s Game is a brilliant piece of fiction. The language: clear, the characters: powerful, and the story: fulfilling. One of its greatest features is its accessibility to the reader. People of all ages can be drawn into this novel; from a young child relating to Ender’s own youth (Ender saves the world by the time he’s twelve), to a teenage prodigy struggling with his/her own genius, to an adult seeking inspiration through tough times. Ender’s Game has something for everyone, and this shows the true reason as to why people read fiction. Why? Not for some great literary prose, but because we’re hungry for that “alternate truth”, that mythical reality, and that possibility that it just could be us. Whilst reading Ender's Game, not only do you follow his story, but you also create your own.

By Joe Robinson