Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Mini-review: Ender's Game

If you're looking for a good sci-fi book to read over the remaining portion of the summer, I recommend Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It's not a monumental epic nor a classic for the ages, but it does speak some deep truths about the nature of human relationships, leadership, and self-motivation. Plus, it's a cheep paperback you won't feel guilty about buying when you're supposed to be spending every last penny on home renovations.

Plot synopsis: A 6-year old, martial prodigy, Ender, is taken to a military academy in space where he plays games designed to mold him into the admiral who will save Earth from an iminaent space invasion by a superior alien force.

What I liked about Ender's Game:
  • Boosted my EQ
  • Good action
  • Inspires resourcefulness
  • Cool SF concepts
  • Explores individual responsibility
What I didn't like about Ender's Game:
  • Writing that seemed too 'adult' to be from a child's point of view
  • Side story that seemed specifically designed to get you to buy the next book in the series
  • Tended towards 'fantasy' aspects of sci-fi as opposed to 'hard sf'
Recommendation: A novel well worth reading--Even people who aren't sci-fi fans should enjoy it.
Revealed by at Wednesday, August 02, 2006

3 comments:

  1. David HamstraAugust 2, 2006 at 3:15 PM

    If you check out Card's wikipedia page, it turns out he's written a series on novels on the women in Genesis. It's also says that some of his novels parallel the Book of Mormon.

    The major influence of his relegion in Ender's Game seems to be a sensitivity to moral issues. Other than that there's nothing that I can detect. Though, in the preface Card attributes his idea that though "Human beings may be miserable specimens, in the main...we can learn, and, through learning, become decent people" to his Morman beliefs. But I think this idea actually comes from the modern culture in which the LDS arose.

    As to what Adventist sci-fi would look like, that's a whole other blog post. But for an interesting article on the absence thereof check out http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_sda.html

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  2. Ron CorsonAugust 9, 2006 at 4:55 PM

    Ender's Game is a very good book, it has such a clever twist though you may see it coming, many I am sure won't. There is really nothing in the book that can be taken as representing Mormon theology.

    I wanted to have my daughter read it but you can never find it at the library, it is always checked out. I have it on audio and e-book but real book readers don't like either of those forms.

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  3. Raul Batista (Varonelo)September 19, 2007 at 4:10 PM

    Though it is not intended as Adventist SciFi, the following link may be considered, just the same, as being Adventist SciFi of the distant future.

    It's goals range from the fanciful, to semi-evangelistic, to wishful thinking.

    perfectfuturo.blogspot.com/2006/07/different-kind-of-sunrise-october-22.html

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