Lori Lesko's Reviews > Ender’s Game

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book - I found it to be a real page-turner, and I truly grew to care for the main character Ender. It holds up both as a fun read and as thought-provoking literature.

The sci-fi is more of a backdrop - the story takes place in a future earth that is threatened by an alien race, and young Ender is sent to train on space-age ships and weapons. His mock battles are described in detail, and sometimes require a lot of visualization to follow. If that's not your thing, or if you are looking for more sci-fi innovation or fantasy elements, this may not be your favorite book. Both the psychology and strategy of battle and war are handled here, and through the training of Ender, powerful questions are posed about what price is paid to train warriors, what makes us human, and morality. I think the book also poses interesting questions about the dehumanizing nature of video games, and in that sense, even though this book is 25+ years old, it is completely relevant.

So that's my take - as long as you are expecting the military/battle/strategy emphasis, you will probably love this book. It is a great story in any case.