Could you imagine being responsible for the survival of the human race? In his novel Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card describes a futuristic military operation where children are trained for battle. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, only six years old when first introduced, is the protagonist in the novel. He is one of the children chosen for military school and, in fact, the one chosen to defeat the alien race known as the Buggers. Ender endures a lot of hardship throughout the novel and ultimately uses the lessons learned from the hardships to beat the Buggers. Ender’s Game was generally received very well by critics and the public; it received the Nebula Award for best novel in 1985 and the Hugo award for best novel in 1986. However, not everyone found the story to be so enthralling. Amazon.com has a rating and review section that allows us to see a wide range of thoughts and opinions.
There were quite a few five-star reviews for Ender’s Game. A reoccurring trend in these reviews is something along the lines of “I could not put it down.” One review just said, “Couldn't put it down! It's addictive the way every book should be. Everyone in my family is reading it now!” (Barstow, 1) Several people mentioned that they were so interested in the book they read it in a single sitting. Readers found it important for the novel to grab their attention and keep it throughout the story. Keeping the viewers engaged in a story is a big deal when it comes to literature. Novels, poetry, games, whatever type of literature it is, if it does not grab the attention of the audience it is impossible to succeed.
Readers loved that the characters and storyline in Ender’s Game were convincing. The audience should be able to relate to characters and their situations even if they are totally different. A female reader should be able to relate to a male character. An adult should be able to relate to a child; one reader mentions, “I found myself feeling young Ender's exact emotions as he struggled through his strict and frustratingly-unfair military life…”(Anonymous 1) It is just as important for the story and plot line to be convincing. Readers thought Ender's Game was, "...one of the most ‘believable’ stories ever written. The characters, the settings, the story's universe are described in such detail that they could only have been written by someone that experienced them first hand.” (Anonymous 1) Of course, Ender’s Game is a science fiction military story where children are taken to a space station battle school at age six and are trained to fight an alien race…. But the story does not have to be “realistic” to be believable. The important feature is being able to relate to the story and picture the events and characters as you are reading.
While most of the reviews were outstanding, there were a number of them that had issues with the Card’s novel. A lot of them only contradicted with the good reviews, saying the characters and storyline were not believable, or that Card’s writing was boring and immature. One of the most used reasons for giving a bad review was that Ender’s Game was in the science fiction genre, but they did not believe it was true science fiction. The one and two star reviews, from what I understand, were largely given by older people who expected this book to be written for adults rather than a younger audience.
The most recent one-star reviews were almost completely based on the Card’s opinion. One review states, “I read the book... loved it. But now I find out the author is this huge anti-gay bigot. Kinda wrecks the book for me. Should the author's views, which aren't on display anywhere in the book, color your view of the book? Probably not. But
