I recently listened to the audio book of Ender’s Game (20th anniversary edition), and it was sooooo good. I thought maybe I had read the book before because I knew a lot about it; but maybe it was 20 years ago and I don’t have a good memory. Anyway, whether it was the first time or second, listening to the audio book has made me fall in love with the first book of the series and brought back my interest in reading other books in the series. I need to know what happens to Ender!
If you aren’t familiar with this Timeless Thursday pick, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is a science fiction story set in a futuristic earth about a very young boy who is recruited by the powers-that-be to command fleets against the Buggers, alien beings called Formics. The young boy is named Ender Wiggins, and he is taken to Battle School where the world’s most talented children are being trained and tested through a series of computer games and “battle” exercises against other children. They are being prepared to fight in the third invasion of the Buggers. Ender’s Game won the 1985 Nebula Award for best novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for best novel.
One of the best parts about the audio book is that the author of Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card, tells about his writing career, writing process, ideas for Ender’s Game, and struggles to get it made into a movie on most of the last CD. Being a writer myself, I might have appreciated this part more than the average person, but my husband actually found it interesting, too; and believe me, he hears enough about a writer’s struggles. It’s always nice to hear how a successful author started, how he worked on Ender’s Game to get it just right (which was actually first published as a novelette in a magazine), and how he still has to struggle to get his story out into the world the way he wants it. For example, many movie producers who wanted to buy the movie rights to Ender’s Game insisted that Ender had to be 16 years old in the movie version, and he had to have a love interest. Card understands that his book will have to be changed somewhat for the big screen, but changing Ender to 16 will not work for the story. Card explains why and his fight to find someone else in Hollywood who thinks the same way. And he found this person! YEA! This still doesn’t mean we’ll see a movie any time soon, but keep your fingers crossed.
Even if you are not a huge sci-fi fan, I think you’ll love Ender’s Game whether you are a middle school student, high school student, or older. The drama and characters will appeal to anyone! If you teach older kids, this would be a great book for discussion–there are a ton of moral dilemmas to debate. This would also be a great pick for a parent/teen book club.
There’s still a chance to win Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs until 8:00 p.m. CST tonight. Go here.
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