Ender's Game

          I recently read Ender's Game, a science fiction book by Orson Scott Card published in 1985. I first heard of this book after watching the Futurama movie titled Bender's Game, which I found out was a reference to this novel. I then heard its sequel, Speaker for the Dead, discussed on the Roosterteeth Podcast. The discussion interested me, so, when I saw them in a bookstore, I got them both.
          In Ender's Game, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives in the distant future on Earth. After being closely monitored for six years, the International Fleet (IF) has determined that he is qualified to train at Battle School in order to become an officer in the fleet. Ender accepts the offer and, with eighteen other candidates, blasts off from Earth to begin his training, where Ender copes with loneliness and his own brilliance in his journey towards greatness. Ender and the other candidates attempt to prove themselves as the best hope for humanity  against the third invasion of the alien race dubbed the "buggers."
          In Speaker of the Dead, Ender has traveled three thousand years into the future using relativistic space travel (when traveling at the speed of light, time could act differently for those inside the vessel, so traveling twenty life years might only take days for those traveling), where he has taken the title of Speaker for the Dead. As a Speaker, he travels to wherever he is called in order to speak of the life of someone who has died. Ender travels to Lusitania, a colony where contact has been made with an alien species called the Pequeninos (or "piggies"). he is called there to speak for one who has died in his quest to understand the alien species.
          As was the case in The Hunger Games, I believe the perspective helped to make you understand the character. In The Hunger Games the perspective is first-person, which lets you know what Katniss is thinking the whole time. In Ender's Game and Speaker, the perspective is third person. Even though this is a common style of writing, I felt that in this book it helped to emphasize Ender's loneliness. In Ender's Game, he was alone for a few reasons. On his way up to Battle School, the head of the school, Graff, singles him out, saying that he is by far the smartest kid on the craft, which makes the other kids hate him. Graff does this to isolate Ender so he is not hindered by the others. He is later made alone because of his intelligence. His understanding of the Battle Room, a zero-gravity battle simulator in Battle School, removes him from his cohorts almost immediately. Finally, he is alone because of his separation from his sister, Valentine. The perspective helps to emphasize his loneliness because the reader can't even see inside him that well.
          The same is true in Speaker. Ender leaves his new home in order to speak for a death on another planet, leaving his sister behind once more, this time with the expectation of never seeing her again. His loneliness is added to when he reaches the planet, as he is unwanted by the community as a whole. Lusitania is a very religious colony, and as a Speaker renounces religion, the colonists find it an affront to their faith that he should be present. This makes it difficult for Ender to find a friend amongst the colonists.
          While reading Ender's Game, I couldn't help to compare it to my all-time favorite novel, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. Both stories are about a boy from Earth who chooses to fight a bug-like alien. They also both address not only the combat but the political and social ramifications of war. I think that these books, especially Starship Troopers, are thought of unfairly. Since they're both science fiction novels, I think most people won't try them because they think that they're just stories about guys with lasers shooting at aliens. I feel as though these books go a lot deeper than any other work of fiction I've ever read, regardless of genre. I'm not usually one to take anything but a story away from a novel, but for some reason these books affected me a bit more.
          I would recommend Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead for anyone who like science, military, or philosophy, or are just looking for a good story. I hope you enjoy it.