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[Ghost]

I loved it untill the part where

Spoiler

Ender takes a chopper on the alien world and finds out they built his game world for real

...still liked it though.

I kinda ignored the fact that he was supposed to be so young, on purpose because it was so ridiculous, I always pictured him as a teenager.

 

[Tobor]

The Lord of the Rings books were originally intended for young adults. Intended audience doesn't automatically reduce quality.

Ender's Game blew me away in fifth grade, and I still enjoy rereading it today.

I stopped reading the series after Speaker of the Dead, one of these days I'd like to go back and check out the rest.

I loved it untill the part where

Spoiler

Ender takes a chopper on the alien world and finds out they built his game world for real

...still liked it though.

I kinda ignored the fact that he was supposed to be so young, on purpose because it was so ridiculous, I always pictured him as a teenager.

Man I loved that part.

Spoiler

They had no other to communicate with him. How else could they have left a marker for him?

 

[levious]

I'll never understand why people are so protective of their favorite book if it's labeled youth fiction or something. Big deal.

 

[Tobor]

I'll never understand why people are so protective of their favorite book if it's labeled youth fiction or something. Big deal.

There is a stigma attached to it apparently.

 

[Askani]

I still dislike the overuse of the word "fart" throughout this book.....

I also didn't like how painfully the story went out of it's way to not use "dirty" words. In the end, I kind of forgave it thinking they were just young kids trying not to get yelled at by adults. There's always swift retribution from adults who hear a kid use a word they don't think they should be using.

On a side note: I have two hours of commute time (1 to work and 1 home again, obviously), and I've been hitting the audiobooks pretty hard. At the end of the Ender's Game reading, there's a little addendum by Card. Basically he says that his son was a young age at the time and said something to the affect of, "if he was going to learn bad words at his age, it wasn't going to be from my book". It's not really justification, but it is from the source.

 

[Alucard]

I loved it untill the part where

Spoiler

Ender takes a chopper on the alien world and finds out they built his game world for real

...still liked it though.

I kinda ignored the fact that he was supposed to be so young, on purpose because it was so ridiculous, I always pictured him as a teenager.

That was the best part for me. After that, the book REALLY took off.

Also, the ages of the kids WERE utterly ridiculous and unbelievable, which made it slightly more difficult to read and actually believe.

Next up: Speaker for the Dead?

 

[levious]

Because it's usually used in a condescending... oh hell, I'll just c/p my post from two months ago.

it goes both ways... the fans who take offense often think, "no, this book can't have been made for/marketed towards/appropriate for children because those sorts of books aren't sophisticated like the ones I like."

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Is the Count of Monte Cristo a children's book?

They're both stories that can be attractive due to the fairy tale path their respective main characters inhibit, but they both also bring up a range of themes and ideas that establish them as something more than "just" a children's book. More-so, I think, with the Count of Monte Cristo, due to the depth and nature of the interaction between all the characters. OSC's prose can be a bit off-putting, I admit.

 

[JzeroT1437]

It is in the same way that The Little Prince is a children's story. Both were written for young audiences, but with a message for adults in mind.

 

[Eric P]

I'll never understand why people are so protective of their favorite book if it's labeled youth fiction or something. Big deal.

because most youth fiction is horrible

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

because most youth fiction is horrible

So is most adult fiction.

 

[nakedsushi]

I read Ender's Shadow before even knowing about Ender's Game. BIG D'OH.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide are both better books than Ender's Game so I don't see how you can say he should had ended the series after 1 book.

wut. Both Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide suffer from lack-of-ending syndrome. It was as if Card had no idea how to end either book and just kinda winged it, I mean ending the thrid book talking about Quing-Jin's life? wtf. Don't get me wrong, I love all three books I think they're great but the endings on the latter two are very bad.

To answer the OP, Ender's Game can probably be read by most kids 9-12 years of age but anyone at any age can identify with the themes in the novel, they are universal.

 

[I_D]

Ender's Game is indeed a bit of a children's book, but it has plenty of adult themes in it.

The side story Bean's Shadow is much less of a children's book, and the sequels to Ender's Game (especially Xenocide, which is just downright amazing) are definitely not children's books.

 

[Eric P]

So is most adult fiction.

so is most everything.

but i was trying to respond directly to his question

 

[Night_Trekker]

Alucard, whatever you read next, read Speaker for the Dead at some point. It's very different from Ender's Game, but it's a great book.

I have to get back into the series someday. That was the last one I read.

 

[Alucard]

Alucard, whatever you read next, read Speaker for the Dead at some point. It's very different from Ender's Game, but it's a great book.

I have to get back into the series someday. That was the last one I read.

I actually just picked it up at the book store today, and am very much looking forward to it. As I said, the last third of Ender's Game was when I really started caring about the events that were going on, and I was very much sucked in by Ender's role as the Speaker. I'm interested in the concept of memorialization, and from what I read on the back of Speaker for the Dead, it will hopefully continue the greatness which began at the end of Ender's Game.

 

[Witchfinder General]

i read it at age 25 or so for the first time

it's basically the male version of the pretty princess fantasy that young girls harbor. they just KNOW they're actually a princess and that they're special and one day someone's going to scoop them up and take them to their magical castle and they'll get a pony and everyone will love them.

instead it's a boy who kills and hurts and excels at military school and he gets a friend and everyone loves him (except for the mean ol' bullies who just don't understand how special he is!)

Bingo.

Whilst I liked many of the questions the book raised and the themes explored, overall I really didn't like the "might is right" attitude and general warmongering.

 

[Haly]

I read Ender's Shadow before even knowing about Ender's Game. BIG D'OH.

Same, but Ender's Shadow is the superior work of literature.

 

[Alucard]

Bingo.

Whilst I liked many of the questions the book raised and the themes explored, overall I really didn't like the "might is right" attitude and general warmongering.

That's the thing though; it was the military who had this attitude, and Ender was manipulated into adopting it. I do see your point, however. There was a point where Card wrote something along the lines of "it is the power to kill that determines who rules." I think he was more speaking to a tragic truth of human history than anything else though.

 

[Witchfinder General]

That's the thing though; it was the military who had this attitude, and Ender was manipulated into adopting it. I do see your point, however. There was a point where Card wrote something along the lines of "it is the power to kill that determines who rules." I think he was more speaking to a tragic truth of human history than anything else though.

I agree about how the military were moulding Ender and Orson imbued the novel with a cautionary tale against being used, but overall message was still force by any means.

 

[Alucard]

I agree about how the military were moulding Ender and Orson imbued the novel with a cautionary tale against being used, but overall message was still force by any means.

I'm not so sure I fully agree with that statement. I felt there was enough in the book which spoke to the negative effects of violence, such as Ender's psychological problems ("I'm not a killer! I'm not like Peter! I didn't ask for this!"), and the problem of humanity and the buggers not getting along because of a communication barrier. By the end, when Ender becomes the Speaker for the Dead, I think there is a transition in philosophy, from "shoot first, ask questions later," to a more intellectual approach to conflict. This is also exemplified in the events which are orchestrated by Peter and Valentine, which essentially stop war from breaking out on earth. It is through communication and reasoning that peace is achieved, not necessarily through war.

 

[suffah]

I remembering reading this article a couple of years ago. Pretty crazy.

 

[Alucard]

I remembering reading this article a couple of years ago. Pretty crazy.

Well, there goes the "Is Ender's Game a kids book?" question.

 

[Teddman]

Did you know it was originally a short story that Card expanded into a book? You can read the story here:

http://www.hatrack.com/osc/stories/enders-game.shtml

 

[Alucard]

Seen it before, still retarded.

Hmm, I can see how one could make the Hitler and genocide argument (although this Ellaine woman seems to have an axe to grind, given her upbringing and her rebellious nature) , but the stuff after that is borderline conspiracy theory. Card DIDN'T write the book? The writer of this piece may or may not have been the target of a physical attack orchestrated by Card himself? Far too coincidental, and there is a bit too much induction going on there. Still, I would like to read the article comparing Hitler and Ender.

 

[SlickWilly223]

I really liked Ender's Game. I'll read Speaker of the Dead next, then Ender's Shadow. Then maybe the rest.

 

[Fafalada]

The original book is, the rest of the Ender saga isn't really.

I would like to know what people define as a children's book.
When I was little, I recall I was conned to read Little Prince under that very pretense, and that was likely the farthest thing from a children's book I've ever read, with only possible exception being the Yellow Pages.

I suppose Card can qualify as kids literature because his stuff reads very quickly and straightforward - but there are those that don't (like Pullman) that still get labeled same.

 

[Night_Trekker]

Bingo.

Whilst I liked many of the questions the book raised and the themes explored, overall I really didn't like the "might is right" attitude and general warmongering.

I really have no idea what you're talking about. Ender was horrified by what he had done (or rather, been tricked into doing). Read Speaker for the Dead to see how much it affected him.

 

[Tyrone Slothrop]

I would like to know what people define as a children's book.

as somebody who has some familiarity with the publishing industry i can say there are a lot of factors in what defines a book into a certain category or genre. the lines can get pretty blurred at times

that said, EG isn't stocked in the sci-fi/fantasy section at barnes and noble for a reason