I wouldn’t mind reading this one again . . . it’s been a while 
I wonder if it’s a good re-read, now that I know the ending?
Anyone who has read Ender’s Game should appreciate this joke. If you haven’t read it then it won’t make any sense to you.
They are making a movie about the book. Should be out by 2008. If they stay true to the book should be awesome.
I got hooked because I was listening to the radio on my way home once and there was a Book Review show featuring a reader who loved Ender’s Game. She really loved the book and since I’m big on sci-fi, I decided to give it a shot and go to my local bookstore.
It’s a classic. I’ve passed it on to my brother, who also read the sequels and the companion series (Bean’s story). I’d recommend it to anyone!
Every time I have seen Starbuck obsessively watching gun-cam footage in Scar I think of Ender obsessively watching the vids of the Buggers.
The votes are all in, and this month’s book is Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.
Here’s the pertinent information:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_game
Via BN: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780812550702&itm=1
Via Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812550706?ie=UTF8&tag=galactiwaterc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0812550706
And, of course, you can find copies of this classic at pretty much any bookstore near you. Hopefully you’ll pick up a copy (or break out the one you already own) and join us in a group read, discussing your thoughts and experiences here.
I’m unsure how this could work in films, a lot of the greatness comes from the inside of enders mind, knowing whats going through his head as he does his actions, I think it’d be tough to reflect this properly in a film format.
So whats the policy on spoilers here, I mean we’re only two days into november so If I was to talk about the ending now I’m sure that would upset a few people. My personal suggestion is that each week we get to discuss another quater of the book, i.e. upto sunday we should only discuss the first quater of the book (from “Third,” to “Rat,”) then from the 4th we can discuss upto “Dragon,” then from the 11th we can discuss upto Ender’s Teacher and then on the 18th we can discuss the whole book.
I mean that’s just my suggestion to stop people getting annoyed by spoilers, if anyone has a better idea or think that sounds naff I don’t mind.
So heres the question I want to ask people, how likely do you think it is that the world will become so overpopulated that the entire population will be recorded with incentives for fewer children and punishments for greater numbers and how will the world tolerate those that defy these rules?
meh, it’s hard to predict how the general populace(not just of a country but of the world) will react to said punishments/incentives… there will be too many variable groups of thought, as there are for any major event that grips humanity as a whole, gradual or sudden
as for my thought of it actually happening… I feel that if things don’t change we’re heading down that path, people are living longer, I haven’t seen any evidence of birthrates slowing. And really would we change? people want to live longer, its a (mostly) worldwide characteristic of humans, and nobody wants to be told to stop one of the fundemental traits of humanity… or life as a matter of fact, giving birth to and raising children to advance the race.
on a side note, this question is particularly interesting given that its almost a complete opposite problem on the same thing (population and lack/excess thereof) then what exists in the BSG universe
That being said, props on the book choice, this is a personal favorite of mine and I don’t go long without rereading it, after all; it’s so short and easy to read, why not go through it again? =)
actually this is why I tend to feel let down with most, or perhaps all (i’d have to think about it) book to movie adaptations, my favorite aspect of reading a book is the fact that you can get inside the head of a character so well.
adaptations are able to do well if done carefully, but usually there has to be a major shift in the way the story is told, especially if its a character book like Ender’s Game
Yeah, you either end up missing out a lot of important stuff about character composition or you have ridiculous dialogue along the lines of “THIS MAKES ME MAD” (althought usually a bit more subtle)
China right now has implemented incentives for having fewer children (in fact, they are encouraging just one) and the population there seems to have accepted it somewhat. Unfortunately, male children are seen as preferable there which has led to an increase in terminations of female pregnancies. This has led to an imbalance in the current generation; I have seen numbers indicating that the next generation will be about 55% male and 45% female.
Also, while there is a lot of concern over population growth, some people are starting to worry about population collapse. It seems that as a population’s standard of living increases, the number of children it has decreases. Some European countries are extremely concerned as they may not have enough workers to support their population as it retires. So, the prospect of an overly crowded future may not be as realistic as was once thought.
I finishished listening to an audio (that counts-right?) and remembered that not too long ago I heard an interview that Orson Scott Card that he gave to Snapecast (a Snape centered Harry Potter podcast, yes I know…) in their episode 19. If he’s willing to give them an interview, maybe after some more people have finished it he’ll give GWC an interview? (what could it hurt to ask?)
As there are lots of twists and turns in Ender’s Game, be sure to enclose anything in this thread that might give away spoilers in spoiler code. Or, if you’ve already finished the book and want to talk spoiler-free, jump over to this thread:
AHH! I’m scared to read ahead on this thread as I’ve never read the book and starting tonight. Chuck, didn’t you have the cool idea of having one thread per portion/chapter of the book so you could disucss with people at your part of the story?
Wanted to see if that’s still happening.
thanks!
S
Vague Historical Trivia:
I certainly am not sure of the dates but I have a pretty clear memory of Ender’s Game as a story in Analog Magazine, probably circa late 60’s or early 70’s. It wasn’t the entire story, that came out in 1977, iirc. Also not sure it was titled that… but then memory can be a funny thing.
Anyone else remember that far back? :eek:
You are absolutely correct. Ender’s Game originally appeared as a serial in Analog. It was so good Orson took it, rewrote it and published it.
It the “super definitive author’s” (or whatever they’re calling it) softcover edition I picked up recently, there’s a lead-in note that confirms this. Good info, Solai!
Super definitive author’s edition…now with tasty prose and half the adjectives!