Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Published by Orbit: London, 2000.
First published 1985.

 As a fairly well-known science-fiction book with a film adaptation that I enjoy (not love, but enjoy), I was looking forward to reading Ender's Game, particularly because I know that fans of the book have not always been big supporters of the movie version.

Having read the book, I can understand where they are coming from. Its not that the film is now 'disappointing' to me - it is still a fun science-fiction blockbuster - but the book has a number of subplots that are not even touched upon in the film, and the story is so streamlined (as is inevitably the way of movies to some degree) that at times the film seems to be paying only lip-service to the source material, despite hitting the same major beats.

One of the biggest examples of this is in the different portrayals of Ender's older brother, Peter. In the book, Peter is a calculating genius, cold and uncaring, threatening to kill Ender and their sister Valentine, torturing squirrels, and planning towards literal world domination even as a child. A large portion of the subplot is taken up with Peter's plans to influence world events and put himself in a position of power, with Valentine seeking to help him while softening his edges and preventing him from succumbing to his monstrous side.

In the movie, Peter is an extra. He turns up in an early scene to bully Ender (which admittedly does happen in the book as well), sits at the table during a family dinner, and then is gone forever. No more plot.

As a result of these sort of subplots, the book does have quite a bit more going on than the movie ever manages to achieve. The book version of Ender is also much younger at the start of events - only 6. His time in the 'Battle School' is much longer too, taking place over four years, with Ender changing squadrons more often, facing more adversaries, and learning the necessity of coping on his own face more than in the movie.

I enjoyed this book. It is classic feeling sci-fi, with a little bit of a 'hard edge' as some science fiction leans towards. And knowing there are a number of sequels is intriguing as well. They haven't had movies made of them, so I might even be more surprised by the plot!

Completed 4 June 2020.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Image
Published by Tom Doherty Associates Books/TOR Fantasy: New York, 2014. Book 2 in 'The Stormlight Archives' series. Preceded by ' The Way of Kings .' Followed by (spin-off) ' Edgedancer ' and (main series) ' Oathbringer. ' Well, I finally read the second Stormlight book, this one even longer than the last  at a whopping 1080 pages, and once again found myself enjoying Sanderson's world immensely. The plot does take longer than strictly necessary in places - particularly in the storyline following Shallan Davar as she journeys towards the Shattered Plains - but overall is still a page-turner. By the middle of Words of Radiance our three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin) are finally in the same location, something that was never achieved in the first book. In keeping them apart for so long, Sanderson is able to give his readers a real understanding of what makes each character tick, and this becomes quite interesting as when these character
Read more