Week Nine: Space Opera

    For this week, I wanted to re-read one first books of my favorite series, Ender's Game. I first read this book back in 2013 after seeing the movie, and I can say that although the movie was good, you cannot touch the book. My family actually already owned a copy because my brother was thinking about going to the air-force academy, and my aunt (who had three children there) recommended this book because it was very true to how the US military mindset runs.

   Despite not having read many of the 23 sequels and controversial things said by the author, Ender's Game is a great stand alone novel that has held up incredibly well after 32 years. The inventive technology is still understandable in creative today that they haven't quite become Sci-fi tropes. The plot covers the story of a genius for is trained by the military to command the "defensive" in the war against the insectoid alien species. There is also some controversy with his siblings and corruption (but that's the boring political agenda part).

    This story does an amazing job at creating sympathy for an interesting main character. I think it's hard to relate to someone who is so completely extraordinary, but the book captures the empathy with the instinct to protect children. It even fleshes out the antagonist alien race in an incredible plot twist that makes one really think about creatures and survival. It also brings up a great point in how humanity acts in regards to other civilizations such as the Native Americans when we first discovered them. It makes one wonder is we have really improved and fixed the barbarous nature since then.

    I think another this that is book was really inventive with was the idea of games. This book includes virtual reality and intensive strategy games long before they were invented and they are a critical key to the plot. During the time this book was written, video games had just had the great crash of 1983. Machine arcade games were popular and simple atari games with flat graphics were the norm. There wasn't any real video games described at the level in the book, but so many have been designed since then. This book was great at exploring the theme of when does life stop being a game. This book works so great because of these psychological questions.

    This book as a lot to offer for a sci-fi from the 80's and it's still very relevant today. This book in particular is easy to read even when one is a teenager and it's a great coming of age story. The sequels in the series were never as popular because after all, the main character is no longer a naive child, but a man dealing with adult problems. These sequels are much better for me to read again now (and I will) because I have a much better understanding of the struggles adults go through (kind of). I recommend this story very strongly because its honestly a fascinating read and the themes are really cool.