Reading Ender's Game

Well, I said I wanted to post at least twice a week, and if you noticed, I nearly missed the second post this week. But I didn't miss it. Here it is. It's a little late because I was hoping to finish the book before writing about it. However, I don't think anyone would mind if I talked about it before I finished it, and then gave an update when finished.

Now, since you probably read this post's title, you will know already that I'm reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Actually, I only started reading it a couple of days ago, and already I'm three quarters of the way through the book, with less than fifty pages to go.



It's actually a rather exciting story. The book has rarely been set down since I started reading it because I want to find out what happens next. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read it, but for those of you out there who have read it, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

The pacing is perfect. There's tension where there needs to be tension and it slows down when we need that break. And not only that, but the layers and webs that card has set up are great. At the beginnings of chapters, you learn a little bit more than you would from the Wiggins and other children because it's usually some sort of dialogue between the higher-ups about the situation going on with the kids. I haven't seen that done before (which is obviously a sign that I need to start reading a lot more).

Also, the themes in Ender's Game are fun to ponder on. The big one that I'm picking up on is the relationship between love and hate. This could also be interpreted as the relationship between friends and enemies. Who should you love and who should you hate? Why should you hate or love them?

There's also the theme of power and/or control. Do you actually need power to control people? Do you need to control people in order to have power? This isn't something that Ender thinks about quite as much as his brother and sister do, but he still thinks about it, especially when he tries to work his way up through the ranks. He doesn't think about having power but gets it anyways.

Another theme I see is the role of duty. I don't see this so much in the kids, but rather more in the limited times when we see the adults talking. They feel compelled to continue their work even though it's hurting the children. And they worry about that. What the training will do to the kids, and how it could hurt them.

But right now, I'm at the point in the story when Ender is just arriving at Eros. I don't know what happens next, so I must continue on. I promise to be back with more a little bit later. Maybe I'll just drop off another post or something. Anyways, expect to see an update sometime later tonight.



**Update** Wow! The last quarter of the book changed dramatically. I'll talk more about it tomorrow. And I'm saying this to myself now (and will probably come to regret it later), but it won't count towards the weekly goal. So, three this next week.