posted
Great majority of us, hatrackers, likes EG very much. Many love it. Quite a lot considers it probably on of the best books they've read. Many as the best book they've read. I dont know in which if I can say that it is my favourite book, but i definitely am in the "on of the best" group. I am not only speaking of EG, but about SotD, Xenocide and CotM as well. And for the Shadow Series as well. It's all about Ender isn't it? Not about the person himself, but what he symbolises, what virtues he shows and so on. I hope you get what I am trying to say. I wondered recently why do I like it so much. In acknowledgments to SotG Mr Card mentioned and thanked someone for reminding him, that Peter and Ender talked before Hegemon died. This notice and the title of the last chapter: Speak for me made me sure that we will be actually able to behold dialogue between two greatest people in the world at the and. I was craving to read that. And then I though: why? Why do I want to read it so much? Those are just two characters of a science fiction book. They have great power, I answered myself. Big deal, I thought, there is plenty of greatness in nearly every book. Especially sf or fantasy. But, I answered to myself again, there is something more. And then I knew what- Mr Card wrote, unless I am mistaken, eight books about Ender, and short novels about Jan Paweł Wieczorek as a kid, first meeting with Jane, and the first meeting of Jan Paweł Wieczorek with Theresa Brown. Every time I was putting on of OSC's books on the shelf I felt it was very good. That there was SOMETHING. It was about so many things: greatness, love, sacrifice. It proved that Mr Card is a superb observer of the world politics, human behavior, science and so on. Ender was a symbol of a loving, virtuous and wise person. Even while reading it I considered him a legend. I wanted to know more about him, even though I was perfectly aware of the fact that it is only a book character. And after the shadow series we were able to see or hear rather, what these two great men talk about. Mr Card has made Ender legendary through these eight books (I mean, read in chronological (publish) line) he managed to create characters so fully, that I actually wanted to know more about them. I once daydreamed about talking with Ender.
And for all that I want to thank him.
Posts: 723 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I'm not sure what it is for me, exactly. I read the Shadow books, but I return to what I consider the "original" set of books all the time, yet I have never re-read the Shadow series (as much as I adore Peter). I prefer EG, ES, and the three "older Ender" books, I guess. I think I just like the more sci-fi/less-political slant that they have.
I know I really appreciate OSC's lyrical yet simple writing style. I've said somewhere else on these forums that there is a particular part in Ender's Game that moves me to tears every single time I hear it (since I tend to listen to the audio version frequently) because of the simple, beautiful way both Earth and Val's feelings about Ender are shown to the reader (or listener). It's a perfect bit of literature, in my eyes.
I've read Ender's Game way more times than I can count, ever since I was 15, and it is definitely right at the top of my list of favorite books of all time (I could never pick just one). But I'm not entirely sure why.
But, like you, I want to thank him - for EG and for all his writings that have moved me. If you read this thread, Mr. Card, then thank you. If I ever get a chance to meet you, then I owe you some cookies or something. It's the least I can do, since you've entertained me with regularity for the last 11 years. Wow. Weird to think that your books have been a very large part of my life for over a decade.
Posts: 1006 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
I think to me it is how personal OSC's writing is. Some scifi books, seem to just get so caught up in telling the surrounding that the characters become so flat!
My first time reading EG, I was in such a bad place in my life. Fifteen year old living in a war zone of a house and what better to read than a war book. I felt like Ender was my best friend, like I could have sat on his floor and talked with him in his command room about how I wanted all the games to stop too. I think the week I found EG I read it 3 times. And I keep reopening the book and reading it again when I am stressed or depressed. The recent find of the Audiobook will help with that some! Plus it will save some trees, I think I am on my fourth paperback, I cried when the signed paperback fell apart, but then I got smart and got a hardcovered edition and got that one signed.
But I will say I love all the Ender/Shadow series. They touch me one way or another. I do like the shadows series, because they cause me to think about how all people on all sides of a conflict must think and feel. I like the Ender series because they deal with the growth of accepting who you are in life!
Posts: 224 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I think each piece of the series' are enjoyed (at least for me) for different reasons. I break them into 4 categories Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Post-Game (Speaker-COTM) and Post-Shadow (SOTH-SOTG). Simply put Game and Shadow are so different from their sequels. Game and Shadow are about Battle School and kids growing up around a game and the world as it is hidden from kids and seen through children's eyes. Shadow is a political futurist theory almost. And Ender Series is about the possible problems could arise if we got involved in extra-terrestrial relations and interaction.
I think that the best sci-fi is the stuff that takes one leap in fiction and the rest makes sense in the world we live in, all be it 200-3000 years in the future.
I loved Game and Shadow because of the great connection with small kids and like most people here I'm sure I felt a connection with Ender and Bean each for very distinct reasons (for me moreso Bean).
In the Ender series it was great for me because aliens and extra-terrestrial life fascinates me and so all these very seemingly realistic problem that could come up if we encountered piggies and hive queens and descaladores (so far). And it felt like that future was possible and realistic. It also made me think we should be working harder and the colonization of the moon and Mars.
In the Shadow Series it felt like if there had been a focussed alien attack that united people and then was ended, that political fiasco and falling apart of nations and unification of the world and everything, could really happen based on what I know of today's society. It seemed like a future that had a significant amount of merit to it. That was why I loved that Series so much.
Now thats how I feel. Other people probably feel differently but thats why I love these books. Oh and if you were curious my favorite order would be (from favorite to not as favorite) Ender's Shadow, Ender's Game, Ender Series, Shadow Series (really close between the two Series').
Posts: 24 | Registered: Aug 2006
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