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Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Is this book as good as people say? My dad recommended me this book and I've only read two pages of the introduction Sad

Posted: Dec 04 2009 01:44 am

The book is pretty good, but quite bizarre. You really need to read past the first chapter or so, and then it picks up.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

That's exactly what I needed to hear, thanks!

Posted: Dec 04 2009 12:02 pm

apparently this is the ultimate geek novel. i have never read it myself, but i am looking forward to reading it.

and, apparently, this is also hackers favorite book too

Posted: Dec 04 2009 01:06 pm

Hahaha, tread lightly, this way leads to madness...

Posted: Dec 04 2009 01:37 pm

"Ender's Game" is one of my favorite books of all time. I only had room to bring one book while I was in boot camp, this was the one I brought, and I swear it did more to help me pull through it than anything else. Its an amazing story.

I guess it would be kind of 'weird' reading it for the first time, and it does start off slow (and NOTHING like what the rest of the book is.) So if you can get past the set-up chapters and into where Ender begins his tenure at Battle School, you're in for a hell of a ride.

Now I will say this: once the book is done, you are almost certainly going to want to read sequels, and the sequals are indeed awesome. However, "Speaker for the Dead" and "Xenoside" are VERY different from "Ender's Game" in scope, focus and message. It threw me for a loop the first time I read them, and for the longest time I thought I didn't like them. But they are brilliant in their own right, you just can't think of them as "true" sequels to "Ender's Game," its more like "Ender's Game" sets up the characters and circumstances for them.

If you want a TRUE semi-sequel to "Ender's Game" when you've finished, go with "Ender's Shadow." It's basically the story of "Ender's Game" but told from the perspective of one of Ender's Battleschool comrades. I do highly recommend the two real sequels though, ESPECIALLY "Speaker for the Dead." If you can get past how unbelievably strange and different from "Ender's Game" it is, I think you'll find the read well worth it.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Thanks for taking the time to write all that. It helped me so much and now I can't wait to start reading it.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1479

Two real sequels? Does Children of the Mind not count?

Title: Comic Author Joined: Dec 12 2008 Posts: 1179

There was also another sequel released very recently, Ender in Exile. It fills in a lot of the gap between Ender's Game and Speaker For the Dead. I picked it up last year, it's pretty good.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

This book and its ending was only the second time I've ever read a book with my jaw on the floor (Cat's Cradle being the other). I can't bring myself to read the sequels or re-read the book because I'm afraid they'll spoil my perception of it. I say go for it, but don't take it as light reading.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Wow, thanks Greg. I am definitely going for it. Just trying to find the time to devote to a book right now.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Thought I'd bump this and tell you guys that I finally started reading it. I'm around page 110 and it's very awesome and addicting.

Posted: Jan 28 2010 05:02 am

Awesome! 110 is...about halfway through-ish? I honestly can't remember. It is though, its where the story goes from being "really really good" to "fucking epic." And then gets better from there. Very Happy

What *part* are you at? I'd be able to identify that a lot quicker hehe.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Yes, the book has about 320 pages or so. I'm a little past the part where he got traded to the other army from the Salamanders.

Banned Joined: Sep 13 2008 Posts: 3129

Ooh you're going to love what happens to him after that

username wrote:

apparently this is the ultimate geek novel. i have never read it myself, but i am looking forward to reading it.

and, apparently, this is also hackers favorite book too

Yeah it is. I loved Ender's game when my dad put the E-Book on a Ipaq pocket PC that he let me use.

The ending chapters are such huge shockers if you can't piece something together

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

I finished it awhile ago. It was a great great book.

Title: Pretty Sweet Guy Joined: Oct 21 2009 Posts: 139

pineapple wrote:

I finished it awhile ago. It was a great great book.

That's great man. I borrowed Char's copy a while back and I was blown. Actually, it made me want to start writing science fiction/space shit again. glad you enjoyed it.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

It's a little sad but whenever I feel lazy, I think of Ender and what he went through. It's a lot of motivation.

Posted: Feb 09 2010 03:56 am

^ I'm so glad you liked it! It has that exact same effect on me, too.

Posted: Feb 09 2010 11:48 am

i bought a used copy at bookmans about a week ago. when im finished w/the WoT book, i'll probably give this a go

Posted: Feb 10 2010 02:29 am

I read this book in Grade six and immediately started hating the establishment.
Also how is Orson Scott Card Mormon? His humanistic overtones lead me on the path to shunning religion, and he is a Mormon!

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

username wrote:

i bought a used copy at bookmans about a week ago. when im finished w/the WoT book, i'll probably give this a go

You're going to love it.

Posted: Jun 27 2010 04:46 am

alright, i started this book about a week or so ago (i only read on the bus on my way to work) and i just finished it right now.

good stuff man. the conclusion seemed rather rushed, but overall i thought the pacing was great thru-out the whole book.

now, what sequel should i start with? theres speaker for the dead & xenocide, but fernin mentioned ender in exile, and leshlush mentioned children of the mind. and then SH mentioned enders shadow too.

any suggestions?

Posted: Jun 27 2010 01:51 pm

Heh, the ending does seem to happen awfully fast, but given how they ARE rushing him through the battles in the story, it kinda makes sense.

As for which to read...that depends. If you want to find out what happened to Ender after this, and are prepared for a quite different, non-battle school story dealing with politics, religion, and a grown-up Ender, jump right into "Speaker for the Dead" and "Xenocide." If you absolutely want more battle school and more of the Game, read "Ender's Shadow" and then "Ender in Exile" to ease you into the true sequels.

That's my take on it anyway. Like I said, I jumped right into the "real" sequels and was put off for a few years; it took me some time to realize just how wonderful they are.

Posted: Jun 27 2010 02:30 pm

thanks for the input SH.

and i meant rushed as in EVERYTHING was rushed. the league war happened and all it talked about was him sleeping. then it got resolved. then he became governor and bla bla bla. thats like 3 different stories right there covered in the span of 8 pages, or whatever it was.

i guess, ultimately, it doesnt matter. basically, he finished his game, and won. anything else might be superfluous.