Book review: Ender’s Game

Another case of of me hearing about something from two different directions and deciding to check it out. One was my friend Critchie making an Ender’s Game reference. The other was an assertion (related by Rich Johnston) that EG was the runaway #1 cited “favorite book” of incoming freshman at the university where the asserter worked in Admissions. (It’s fair to note that “#1″ could mean 5% of all applicants, with the other 95% split amongst other candidates… there are a lot of books out there).

I have the impression that the 1986 novel is somewhat of a modern classic of sci-fi. Not a true classic like The Time Machine or Foundation, neither of which I’ve read but may soon. I can see why EG is well-regarded, though, especially by adolescents. It’s not teenfic or tweenfic (thank god) and it’s excellent. Starts with a six year old kid trying to avoid being bullied and progresses from there into an exploration of the relationship between isolation, excellence, leadership, and the expectations of others. Great stuff. Not heavy sci-fi, although I’d love to read an unedited edition from when it was originally serialized for Analog magazine. Some of the author’s ideas about future communication and gaming are either prescient or updated for new editions. I hope prescient.

I recommend Ender’s Game. It’s an excellent read and a quick one. If you seek it out, don’t be daunted by the fact that it is the beginning of a series. The Hugo and Nebula Award winner stands on its own and requires no further reading.