I've never seen the film but it was obviously the recent transition to the big screen that brought Card's award-winning and well renowned take on the military and space adventure to the wider consciousness. Cautious though I sometimes am of big screen adaptations of the Sci-Fi genre I thought I would give it a try.
Synopsis
Set in the near-future it follows the story of Ender, boy born as a third child in a world where population is controlled and two is generally the maximum. But Ender was "requested" by the government because his genetic make-up shows promising signs of him being suitable to be trained up as a commander for the next phase of the ongoing war between the humans and the "buggers".
Ender's oldest sibling was deemed to be dangerously psychotic but his sister was described as being too passive. Ender was requested to be a balance in the middle.
The story focuses on Ender's training and deployment as well following his siblings and their roles in the ongoing political strife and turmoil back on Earth.
Verdict
I have to say that I was disappointed. I don't know whether it is that the book didn't deliver what I was expecting or something else but I just didn't take to this. It wasn't bad but it didn't grip me, pull me in or even excite me in any way beyond "this is OK".
I found that I didn't identify or empathise with any of the main characters and found some of their evolutions and their maturing through the book to be downright bizarre. I know that this is set in a universe outside our own parameters to an extent and therefore you have to approach things with an air of knowing that the same rules don't apply. But I found myself thinking that the likelihood of what happened with Peter and Valentine was stretching the limits of my credulity beyond the normal expected levels within this particular type of genre.
It was just that I found the concept of these two kids doing what they did and the world reacting in the way it did to be a bit, well to be honest, a bit far-fetched. Again, I know we are operating outside normal parameters but this felt too far outside the normal parameters and at odds with what I thought the rest of the book was looking at.
And as for the character of Ender, I just didn't get him. I understand the concept of what happens to him but I just didn't "feel" his reactions, his behaviour and his progression to be that natural. In fact I intensely disliked the guy by the end and (while anti-heroes aren't all sweetness and light) I don't think I was supposed to react to him in this way. Maybe that was the idea all along, but I doubt it?
The plot also felt stunted to me. There were lucid sections but a lot of it felt stapled together and I found the pacing to be frustrating and inconsistent. Again I had problems with Card setting up the universe in a certain way and then operating (what I felt was) outside these parameters. Maybe I was already biased at this point but I didn't find myself offering the benefit of the doubt when the story lapsed into quiet periods.
I didn't particularly enjoy the denouement either, it felt a bit forced and by then I admit I was just desperate to get through it!
So generally I didn't really take to Ender's Game. I know Card has written as vast amount of additional material set in this universe but to be honest I can't see me reading it. It is very rare for me to get into a universe and not become immersed but this just hasn't held my attention at all.
There are good elements and some of the descriptions and parts of the story/world were impressive, I just think there are better series out there and certainly better options for the big-screen treatment.
Verdict: 3 stars out of 5
Till next time,
DT
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