Here's how the scene is set... Earth was attacked by ant-like aliens dubbed the 'Buggers' (Stay with me on this!). The second invasion was barely stopped by some lucky/brilliant military strategies. The novel follows the story of Ender, a young child groomed to be a great military commander who's goal it is to thwart any future attacks by the Buggers and exterminate them permanently (Like Raid Bug Spray, right?)...
Okay, it doesn't sounds like that original of a plot in a world where alien invasion stories are a dime a dozen. Here's where "Ender's Game" shines.
The story is told from the perspective of Ender Wiggin, who at a young age is selected to join a special military academy held on a training center orbiting Earth. This is going to remind a lot of people of "The Hunger Games" (It reminded me!). The difference being these children are being trained with the single goal of humanity's survival in mind.
It is a very fascinating topic thinking about how children behave in battle situations compared with adults. Children do not have the breadth of experiences that adults do to rely on, which can be an obstacle and a very good thing. It's easier for a child to be taught to simply react as a soldier because they may not have a past negative experience to draw on and make them hesitate. Children always seem to think in ways slightly differently than adults, which at times can be quite creative.
The children-soldiers learn the art of zero gravity combat and military tactics while pitted against each other in "Games" within the "Training Room". An ongoing theme of the book is how to beat a stronger enemy, as demonstrated on a very large scale by the battle against the enormous army of Buggers.
Ender is physically smaller than others and in order to beat children physically larger and quicker than him during training, Ender has to rely on his intelligence. A constant theme of the book is learning to use intelligence to defeat stronger foes. Teamwork and leadership are also central lessons. Another extremely important theme that is described in many ways throughout the story is the use of pre-emptive force to prevent future conflicts (When you have your enemy down, keep them down so they never come after you again). There are also many minor military tactics demonstrated (Like flanking your enemy). As an individual with no military experience I found that Card made these military principles easy and interesting to understand through Ender's experiences.
There are a few topics in the story I wish were elaborated more upon, most of all is the Peter/Valentine story. So much more could have been written about this fascinating sub-plot and the reader is left slightly hanging. This may be resolved in the subsequent books in the series, but I cannot comment on that as I have only read the first book, "Ender's Game".Overall, I have to say that character development in this book is good, but the main driver of the story is the plot. The pages turn quickly through the escalation of Ender's training and the epic conflict with the Buggers.
I find that many of the military principles described throughout the book can apply to just about anyone (On a smaller, less violent scale of course) in many different work and personal circumstances. That, coupled with the excellent twist ending, makes this a great book! Go on out and give "Ender's Game" a read see and see it in theaters later this year! Based on the trailer that was recently released, it looks like the movie is well done and has some high-caliber actors involved. We'll see if it lives up to the lofty heights set up by the book...
