All Anemonified. All the time.

Five out of five stars.

Ender’s Game (Ender, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card, is the gripping story of a child’s struggle for personal survival, set in the shadow of humanity’s struggle for survival against an unknowable, incomprehensible enemy.

Andrew Wiggins, known to his siblings as Ender, has been born as part of his country’s search for the ultimate military commander. The book starts when he is six years old, a prodigy who is slowly learning that who he is will forever interfere with his attempts to form relationships with family and friends. As he goes through his training, his relationships and mindset evolve. But is he learning what his teachers want, or will he ultimately fall to pieces under the strain? Is the enemy really the alien presence out among the stars waiting to pounce and destroy everything he has ever loved, or is it much closer to home?

The book is set mostly in two different training facilities, where Ender interacts with children who are his own age, but not his equals. We also see how Ender’s older sister and brother deal with being bred as he was, but passed over for the battle training he is being given.

Although I often found Ender’s inner thoughts and strategies a stretch for a six-year-old boy, I found his overall progression very believable. I was drawn into both his struggle and the struggle of the adults around him who felt that they were doing what was absolutely necessary. I first read this book at a young age, probably around 14 to 16, and while I enjoyed it I did not understand the full ramifications of each character’s decisions.

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves science fiction. Because of the psychological and social issues that are at stake and discussed in the book and the death of several characters, I would recommend it for ages 15 and above on the Aardvark scale.

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