Hatrack River Forum: How old were you.....

This is topic How old were you..... in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002661

Posted by hookedonpepsi22 (Member # 7346) on :

How old were you when you first read an Ender book(s)(any works)?

Posted by Trashcan_Man (Member # 7345) on :

I was 15. I read it about a year ago [Big Grin]

. I read Speaker for the Dead not too long after and liked it better! The latter is sort of irrelevant to this topic but it really was great. How old were you, hookedonpepsi22 [Dont Know]

??

[ January 31, 2005, 08:56 PM: Message edited by: Trashcan_Man ]

Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :

Nine. My mother lent 'Ender's Game' to me along with 'Dune' and 'I, Robot', and I read and loved them all.

I was a precocious kid.

Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :

I don't know the exact age but I borrowed Ender's Game from my cousin because I was bored on a hunting trip with my grandpa. That was in the seventh grade and I am know a senior in high school. Since then it has become my favorite book and I have probably read it over twenty times.

Posted by hookedonpepsi22 (Member # 7346) on :

Oh, ya I was 10 or 11. My sister read it and loved it and i saw it in the store and got it wow wat a life changer [ROFL]

Posted by skrika03 (Member # 5930) on :

Gosh, I was 19 or 20.

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

I was 15 when I read Treason.

It was a couple of years later that I read Ender's Game and then started in on his other stuff.

Posted by Catseye1979 (Member # 5560) on :

11 or 12. Made the Mistake of starting to read it around 7 at night. Next thing I knew I was reading the last page around 5 AM thinking "wow..... that was a book...."

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

*ahem*.... [Blushing]

I was, uh, around 35. When someone bought Ender's Game for my kids.........

But I've made up for it by devouring all the OSC books I possibly could between then and now!

Farmgirl

Posted by Brian_Berlin (Member # 6900) on :

32 - bought for myself.

Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :

I never had a chance to read it when I was 9 or 10. I read it within a year of its being published, after my dad had read it. I was around 15.

Posted by Jqueasy (Member # 7085) on :

23 i think

Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :

16

Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :

11, I believe.

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

17. I got into Sci-fi a lot earlier, but it took me that long to find Ender. I read the Homecoming series at 13, but the library didn't have Ender's Game or Speaker for the Dead; they started at Xenocide. I didn't want to read out of order, so...

Posted by arevoj (Member # 7347) on :

Seven or eight years ago, so around 31. I picked up a copy of Ender's Game at one of the local bookstores, sat down in the cafe and began to read. When I finally looked up, almost four hours had passed and I was over halfway through the book. I've been hooked since.

Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :

14 (about a month and a half before I turned 15)

Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :

I think I was 15. It was right after I started reading longer novels in HS when my freshman English teacher made us read at least 5 books. Guess it was 87. I had seen my parents reading Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant so I thought I’d give them a try. I think they were nervous I was getting over my head and for Christmas that year Dad got me Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead after the local bookstore guy told him how good they were. At first I was like what the heck? You get me a book you’ve never read and don’t know if it’s any good? Not that I said this, but I guess the guy at the store had pointed out how it was the first time someone had one back to back Hugo and Nebula awards. I eventually gave them a try and was instantly hooked of course! Wow…. I’m getting close to being a 2 decade OSCer.

Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :

About 14 I think. I finished the Ender series not long after my 15th birthday, and have since read a whole lot more of his stuff. But Ender's Game was the first.

Posted by jjmelberg (Member # 7099) on :

9th grade. my sister had to read it for a class and gave it me. my life has never been the same since...

Posted by Steev (Member # 6805) on :

My dad gives me his books after he reads them. And since I was too busy getting through school I didn't ever go shopping for books to read so I would just read what he passed on to me. By the time my dad discovered Ender's Game in 1996 I was already 27.

Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :

quote:
my life has never been the same since...

No one who hasn't met a spouse through Hatrack can quite convince me that Ender's Game has made quite as big of an impact on them as it has on me. [Wink]

Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :

I was in high school--I don't remember the exact year. A friend encouraged me to read it years before, but I had looked it over in the library and thought it was just a lame "gritty war-in-space/hero soldiers" novel. What a fool I had been.....

Posted by urbanX (Member # 1450) on :

I was in 7th grade. That was 13 years ago. Has it really been that long? As a side note I didn't read Speaker til was 18. Since then I've read every OSC book I could get my hands on.

Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :

I was 7.....and then read it again at age 13....and again just recently...

Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :

7, eh? That's 1st or 2nd grade, right? Man, I was still reading picture books at that age and some kids were already reading Ender's Game... Anyway, I think I was 16.

Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :

Another 11 here. And about every five years after that, and it's been a different book each time.

Posted by Kabederlin (Member # 6304) on :

16 here. Read the book in November over the Thanksgiving holidays. I was really confused and I think Ender's Game truely got me back on the right track. I'm 18 now, and it's been about two years and ever since I read Ender's Game and the rest of the saga I find myself asking at every one of life's problems, "What would Ender do?"

Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :

I was 19 almost 20 when I read Ender's Game. I'm 25 now.

quote:
But I've made up for it by devouring all the OSC books I possibly could between then and now!

Exactly. My friend (JemmyGrove) who introduced me to OSC's stuff makes fun of me because now I've read more of it than he has! He also introduced me to Hatrack and now I'm the one helping him get used to the forum atmosphere.

I suppose I'm a little obsessive. Is that an oxymoron?

Posted by Katie DeShane (Member # 7026) on :

November 1994.. six months after I turned 14 years old.

Hidden on a dusty old bookshelf in the back of my 8th grade English Lit teacher's room.

I read many books that year. I can only remember three titles tho.

The Snows of Jaspre
The Dark Half by Stephen King

and of course the one book that singlehandedly changed my entire way of thinking from then on..

Ender's Game

Words won't describe how my changed... so I'll just quote something else that shaped me that year..

quote:

Melissa Etheridge - I Will Never Be The Same
From the album "Yes I Am"

So you walked with me for a while
Bared your naked soul
And you told me of your plan
How you would never let them know

In the morning of the night
You cried a long lost child
And I tried oh I tried to hold you

But you were young
And you were wild

Chorus:
But, I , I will never be the same
Oh, I , I will never be the same
Caught in your eyes
Lost in your name
I will never be the same

Secrets of your life
I never wanted for myself
But you guarded them like a lie
Placed up on the highest shelf
In the morning of the night
When I woke to find you gone
I knew your distant devil
Must be draggin' you along

Chorus:
But, I , I will never be the same
Oh, I , I will never be the same
Caught in your eyes
Lost in your name
I will never be the same

And you swore that you were bound for glory
And for wanting you had no shame
But I loved you
And then I lost you
And I will never be the same

Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :

Yep 7....and it was 1st Grade......the rest of my class was just then learning to read....the teacher would set me off in a corner to read while everyone else learned......I look back on it now and realize why everyone hated me.....but whatever.......

Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :

13, just a few years ago. I'd just started high school, and my English teacher took us all down to the library, mostly because she wanted to make sure everyone checked out something for a project. Truth is, I ended up choosing Ender's Game mostly because of its proximity to Michael Crichton's books (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain). [Big Grin]

--j_k

Posted by Dread Pendragon (Member # 7239) on :

Late 20s. My mom had been on my case for years to read it and I finally gave in. Thank goodness for moms!

Posted by Szymon (Member # 7103) on :

I was 14 and read EG in english. My first book read in a foreign language:)

Posted by Ksig (Member # 5625) on :

Oh i don't know. I think I was on a soccer trip and my mom had just finished reading it and said it was a good book, i think i was 9 or 10, and ever since then i've been hooked. I've read it about ten times since i think (no joke), i'm 15 now. I'm trying to read everything of OSC i can, but i'm not allowed to read homebody or lostboys i guess, so i won't be able to read EVERYTHING yet...

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

I wouldn't have any problem with my 15 year old reading Homebody...

but Lost Boys ....yeah. I even had trouble with that one myself as an adult. I probably would try to steer my kids away from it.

Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :

15 give or take grade 9; found it on ym english teahcers desk and umm... "borrowed it"....... and umm.... "returned" it ya umm... made me fall in love with science fiction. I find the audio casset is cr*p. The skip sentances and they don't even bother changing the voice actors.

Posted by Jasmine (Member # 7370) on :

I was 11-12. I thought it was boring until I skipped to a part that said laser gun [Big Grin]

Then I had to start from the very beginning.

Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :

Does any one else find this beutifull. (Tear) I mean we can all think of when and how OSC changed our lives. I mean thats pretty powerfull if you ask me. It makes me happy. Also happy valentines day everybody. [Smile]

Posted by Fusiachi (Member # 7376) on :

I don't remember. Presumable I was around 13; all that I'm sure of is that my first copy of EG came from a Borders in York, PA.

[ February 14, 2005, 04:07 PM: Message edited by: Fusiachi ]

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

I actually read Prentice Alvin first. And I STILL prefer the first three Alvin Maker books to all but Speaker for the Dead.

Posted by Ramdac99 (Member # 7264) on :

Hey SteveRogers, ya wanna toot that horn a little louder, I was a fetus when I.... ^_^ just kidding. I was 22 when I read EG.

[ February 14, 2005, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: Ramdac99 ]

Posted by Frosted Pheonix (Member # 7419) on :

I was fifteen when I asked my freshman honors english teacher for book recommendations. I remember him listing a few classical books I'd either already read, or sounded too 'boring' at the time.. and then Ender's Game. My first adventure into anything science fiction/fantasy. I remember that particular sleepless night, and the many that followed while I devoured the rest of the series. That same teacher also introduced me to Shakespeare, and I think I've reread Macbeth almost as many times as EG.

Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :

from his bio:

quote:
Card's first published fiction appeared in 1977 -- the short story "Gert Fram" in the July issue of The Ensign, and the novelet version of "Ender's Game" in the August issue of Analog.

So... let's see - in 1977 I was in high school (junior year). Then he wrote Ender's Game in the mid-1980's, it says. So I don't feel so bad that I was an adult before I read him -- I guess there was no way I could have been exposed much earlier, being this close to him in age...

[Big Grin]

Farmgirl

Posted by ctm (Member # 6525) on :

Thanks for the rationalizing, Farmgirl, that makes me feel a little better! I was probably 36 or 37 the first time I read it. Better late than never, eh?

Posted by mimsies (Member # 7418) on :

I was 32 (last year). My five year old just read the original Ender's Game short story a few days ago.

I'm the mom, I'm allowed to toot his horn!

Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :

I read Treason and Capitol when I was 15 or 16 -- that was around 1982/83. Then I didn't read any more OSC (or other SF really) until after college -- I think I started with Ender's Game ~'92. Speaker for the Dead is my fave.

Posted by St. Yogi (Member # 5974) on :

I was 15 when I read Ender's Game for the first time.

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

I was probably 19 or 20 when a friend recommended it to me. I wasn't all that impressed by it, but he convinced me to give Card another chance with Speaker for the Dead. After reading that I was hooked.

Posted by Soara (Member # 6729) on :

4.

just kidding. 12. and to be different, i'll say i read it in a week and a half. [Big Grin]

Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :

I was 11 when I read Enders Game. I didnt like it at first, but then I had to read it again for school last year, and I loved it!

Posted by theamazeeaz (Member # 6970) on :

I was 16 when I first read Ender's game. A friend of mine was reading a tatered, aged hardcover of Xenocide in homeroom. The book looked like the epitome of bad eighties sci-fi (can someone EXPLAIN the covers to me). But there was something about the way that she said the book was amazing that made me remember the title and author in the school library that day. Even though I never read them all, I was never satisfied if I couldn't find at least three books to take home with me. I hunted down Xenocide and discovered it was the third in a trilogy; Ender's Game was there, so I took that instead. The rest is history. That was two and a half years ago.

Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :

10 for me... Ah fifth grade... Fun year! Though, perhaps reading it at that young and reading what Peter was talking about wasn't so good for me... Kinda... changed a few things, what with my plans for world domination from 5th-7th grade... heheh.

Posted by UTAH (Member # 5032) on :

I can't believe that so many of you read Ender's Game at such a young and tender age. I started reading it to my sixth graders once and found that I couldn't.
I actually read Seventh Son, etc. first. Then a friend told me that her husband really liked Ender's Game, but told her she probably wouldn't like it. I thought I'd give it a try and it instantly became my favorite book of all time. I started trying to get everyone I know to read it. I was in my 30's.

Posted by adamsfrood42 (Member # 7464) on :

I was in 8th grade. My teachers used to call me quote-unquote "gifted," but I can't imagine what they'd say if they found some of you guys, reading EG at SEVEN...

Anyway, you asked exact age. It was right at the beginning of the school year, so I had either just turned 14 or it was a few weeks before my 14th birthday...I read it in 2 days [Big Grin]