I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading Ender’s Game. I have always thought of it as a book that appeals to 12-year-old boys who don’t really read.I enjoyed it. Though after finishing it, I was a little surprised that it was a favorite book of so many people. It’s not exactly short and gets pretty monotonous at times. There are multiple sections that only describe Ender’s training and strategizing and his complicated interpersonal relationships at the school. At times it seems a little long and some of the events seem redundant.I’m not complaining though. Nothing that happens at Battle School is boring, and the whole book is very readable. I loved learning about Ender's life at Battle School. I think that speaks to Card’s world-building abilities. He creates this space, using inoffensive exposition, that is interesting and that I want to know more about and that actually relates to the plot.I think the biggest complaint, or at least a main complaint, from most people about Ender’s Game is that the characters are unbelievable. That is true. These characters don’t act or talk like real children. (I had to put the book down for a while after it’s revealed that Ender is six at the beginning of the story.) But also, in reality our planet isn’t unified against fighting buggers in space. It’s a work of fiction. Like all fiction, you have to buy into the premise.I think Card explained it best in his introduction to the novel: “And in writing Ender’s Game, I forced the audience to experience the lives of these children from that perspective—the perspective in which their feelings and decisions are just as real and important as any adult’s.” That makes some people uncomfortable, and makes the characters unbelievable as children. However, I buy them as people. The world they live in is clearly not our world, so why shouldn’t there be genius children working to save the planet?I have very few problems with this novel. I think it was well-written well-plotted, mostly well-paced. I do have a few complaints. There are large chunks that are entirely or mostly dialogue and entirely or mostly descriptions (mostly of battles). This didn’t affect my reading, but did strike me as strange the entire time I was reading the novel. There are two instances of first person that were jarring. They pulled me out of the narrative forcing me to reread to figure out what was happening. There’s also a large chunk of the novel, right in the middle, devoted to Ender’s brother and sister that is incredibly long and terribly boring. It does have some bearing on the plot, but for me the book dragged at that point. That’s it; those are my only complaints.I really enjoyed Ender’s Game. I completely believe the world that Card builds in his novel. I love the characters, I like the scenarios, I even like the ending, even though it was a little predictable and a little too perfect. My only regret is that I didn’t read this book sooner.
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