Ender's Game

[Harika]

Ender's Game, and the preceding series as well as parallel "shadow" series:

 

Have you read it?

What are your thoughts?

 

I have yet to read Ender in Exile, First Meetings, and Shadows in Flight.

 

There is a movie based on Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow coming out in November. I am not yet decided on if I will not see it to not ruin the books, or watch it just because I enjoyed the books.

[UltanBoyd]

I love Enders Game, having read the 4 enders, ender in exile and 3/4 of the shadow series. The whole speaker of the dead/children of the mind thing looses it's way towards the end but is an awesome trilogy after the main book. The Bean book that shadows Ender's Game is fantastic but I did start to get bored in shadow of the hegemon. I hadn't heard of First Meeting or Flight.

The film I want to see. However the battle station just looks too white and clean. Maybe it's being British but to me something Gerry-built (A name from when we built 'temporary' and cheap things when the Germans had cleared parts of London) in a time of war would look a lot starker and not so clean and bright. I have such a distopic vision of that, I almost don't want to watch the film for loosing that. However I have wanted this film for ages and Han MoFo Solo as Hyram Gryff is such a good casting call.

[Meera Reed]

I just can't get passed Orson Scott Card's extreme bigotedness. I usually subscribe to an separation between the author and a work, but I just can't with do that with him. He's too open about his hatred.

[UltanBoyd]

I agree in a way. I like how the film has distanced it's self. Have never read any of his homecoming stuff and don't intend to. However the ender stuff is brilliant and can be found in charity shops so he'll get no additional monies!

[Harika]

What do you mean bigoted? It is fairly rare for me to know the author of a book or series, and especially to know much about the person.

 

I learned about Flight from Wikipedia (used to get all the titles and order), it was to be the final book connecting the main and shadow series but I think it was broken into two.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Card is a huge homophobe and gay hater, sits on boards in California responsible for the attempted repeal of marriage equality and such.

Sent from my iPhone- please forgive length and autocorrects (yes, I'm blaming it on the phone).

[Harika]

I simply do not understand why someone (person A) would care what/who someone else (person finds sexually attractive or actually has sex with unless that someone (person A) wants to have sex with that someone else (person or the person that person B is attracted to/having sexual intercourse with. I am far more concerned about people that take the time, effort, and energy to give a crap about what others do sexually, are they horny for everyone that would be affected? o_O?

[Krisis]

But back to the topic at hand - I love Ender's Game!  I don't like the rest of the books.  I haven't tried to read past Ender's Shadow because they're just bleh.  Hubby LOVES Speaker for the Dead though.  

 

I'm so excited for the movie.  It comes out just before my birthday and I can't wait! 

 

We're having a Comic Con here in Salt Lake and I'm thinking of dressing my 5 year old in an Dragon Army battle uniform or something that says WIGGIN on it.  Just to see who can figure it out :-)

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I'm very meh on the movie at this point, I don't think the kid playing Ender is going to pull it off.

Sent from my iPhone- please forgive length and autocorrects (yes, I'm blaming it on the phone).

[Harika]

Instead of Ender, perhaps a different character? Movie previews and things will cause non-readers to pick up on it, sort of how so many people know of 42 but do not really get it. Personally, I would pick Bean, but I liked Ender's Shadow as the 2nd rewrite of the original mini-story. Perhaps Bean's real name or brother would be too esoteric though, but I generally would assume others to have a better memory than I.

[Harika]

I'm very meh on the movie at this point, I don't think the kid playing Ender is going to pull it off.

Sent from my iPhone- please forgive length and autocorrects (yes, I'm blaming it on the phone).

What leads you to suspect that? Previous works, high expectations, or trailers?

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

The trailers, they look like its being dumbed down into some action movie with kids and over the top graphics.

Sent from my iPhone- please forgive length and autocorrects (yes, I'm blaming it on the phone).

[CalvinHobbes]

The trailers, they look like its being dumbed down into some action movie with kids and over the top graphics.

Sent from my iPhone- please forgive length and autocorrects (yes, I'm blaming it on the phone).

Agreeeed. 

[sethyang]

I read it, then read it again, then read the rest of the series, and the Shadow series, the extra books, and the original short story, and several other books by Orson Scott Card. Then I learned C++ in order to learn OpenGL and FLTK just so that I could program a video game based off of the simulations at the end of Ender's Game. I have owned several copies of the book, but have to keep buying new ones because I keep giving them away.

 

So...yeah.

[Harika]

I like that you are spreading the love for the series so well. I just assume the people will go to the library if my pitch works. 

 

I met someone that called his son (under 7 years old) Ender, and I was correct in assuming his son's name was Andrew. 

[Meant2Move]

Loved Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow, have 0 interest in the movie. I usually won't see the movie if I liked the book - hate that so much must be left out. 

 

Speaker for the Dead was barely OK, seemed to go on forever!  I'm thinking I read one more, maybe Shadow of the Hegemon? Didn't like it much, may not have finished it.

[Krisis]

What!  I am so excited for the movie I can't stand it.  my husband, on the other hand, is not thrilled at all.  He thinks Asa Butterfield is waaay too old to play Ender.  I agree (kind of) but I also don't think it's feasible to have a kid age 6 years over the course of a movie using the same actor.  

 

I do think Asa Butterfield is a phenomenal actor and has the range to play Ender, but we'll see I guess.  I will DEFINITELY see :-)  And I'll report back to you when I do :-) 

 

DH just read Card's newest series, which is about the first Formic War.  He said it was really good but I had no interest in reading it.  

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

What!  I am so excited for the movie I can't stand it.  my husband, on the other hand, is not thrilled at all.  He thinks Asa Butterfield is waaay too old to play Ender.  I agree (kind of) but I also don't think it's feasible to have a kid age 6 years over the course of a movie using the same actor.  

 

I do think Asa Butterfield is a phenomenal actor and has the range to play Ender, but we'll see I guess.  I will DEFINITELY see :-)  And I'll report back to you when I do :-) 

 

DH just read Card's newest series, which is about the first Formic War.  He said it was really good but I had no interest in reading it.  

 

It's completely possible. They do it with adults all the time, ever seen Mr. Holland's Opus? They age him 40 years, I imagine they could figure it out for kids. Seriously, the Asa kid is like 15.

 

I'm seriously considering not seeing it. Which bothers me, as I've been looking forward to the movie for years.

[Siha]

I'm really excited about the movie, too! (I agree OSC is a massive jerk, but if we disregarded media and literature from all the folks we disagree with we'd have an incredibly narrow scope of things to enjoy.) It will be what it will be, and I'm going to give it a fair shake.

Most of the film styling, honestly, doesn't bother me. I think the kids being older will hold more appeal for broad general audiences and net better performances all around. And I like the sleek, poppy, modern look. It'll be fun to be surprised by someone else's vision of Ender's world.

I adored the book. I actually listened to it on audio book by accident, just because it was on the shared drive at my old job and I needed something to keep me entertained at the computer. Took me for a total ride! I loved it! That being said, I took the 'wrong' fork and went the Speaker for the Dead route vs the Shadow route, and I did not like those all that much. I still need to read the Shadow series.

[sperocras]

I'm really excited about the movie, too! (I agree OSC is a massive jerk, but if we disregarded media and literature from all the folks we disagree with we'd have an incredibly narrow scope of things to enjoy.) It will be what it will be, and I'm going to give it a fair shake.

 

This.  I love the Ender Saga, but I always share this love with the disclaimer that I believe the author is a thoroughly unpleasant person.  I've read the Shadow series and "First Meetings" as well, and they were alright, but they don't have the same power as the original quartet for me - I've reread the quartet more than a dozen times, easily, but only read the Shadow and First Meetings books once each.  I haven't read any of the other books he's written from the same 'verse - mostly because they came out since I realised what a jerk the author is, and I feel a bit nauseated when I think of giving him income. 

 

I will probably watch the movie, though I might make some kind of non-verbal lgbttiqq2sa statement when I go    This will sound pathetic, but I'd like to think I trust Harrison Ford enough as a decent human being to keep OSC's crazy out of the film.

[eekscarykat]

I borrowed Ender's Game from a friend. I didn't hate it. I live in Greensboro, so it was kind of nifty reading about a fictional character interacting with places in town. I refuse to give anymore money to Card though. I never liked the book enough to keep reading, really. Seems like Ender solved the problem at hand in the first book.

 

Unfortunately, Card writes a lot for things that aren't fictional books. He's openly blamed JK Rowling for stealing his book and making it her own. He tries to parallel the Ender character to Potter and so on. He almost throws a convincing argument. Too bad for him I've read both and the only similarity is a kid being put in faith to save the world. On that thread, he might as well have attacked Tolkien for Frodo Baggins (assuming a time machine would be involved in that argument), but I guess one must have some sensibility about how batshit crazy they come across in the world. I think he was just butt hurt about Rowling's financial success. 

 

Google other things he writes... look up "Card" and "rhino times." That should give you his editorials in our now defunct local conservative paper. There might be a few golden tidbits in that collection. Being highly immersed in the gay community in my state, I disagree strongly with some of the things he had to say during the Amendment 1 show down. 

[Raxie]

I just can't get passed Orson Scott Card's extreme bigotedness. I usually subscribe to an separation between the author and a work, but I just can't with do that with him. He's too open about his hatred.

 

This is why I'm soooo glad I found out about OSC's personal life 3 years after reading the series.  It totally would have ruined it for me.  While I was reading it, and even now, they remain some of my SF books.  I doubt I would have allowed myself to enjoy them as much had I been privy to all that while reading. 

 

ANYWAY.  I've read all 8 of the "original" (Ender & Shadow) and thought they were excellent.  I think Speaker for the Dead is actually the best book in the series.  I own some of the more recent ones but haven't gotten around to reading them yet.  I think Children of the Mind did kind of get a little too weird towards the end, but the Shadow series kept pretty strong all the way through. 

 

I am not thrilled about the movie.  If I'm absorbing the previews correctly... it almost seems to me like [without trying to give any spoilers for those who haven't read the book] Ender knows what's going on throughout the movie and at the end.  Which would...basically ruin everything IMO.  But maybe I'm wrong.  I hope I am becuase I'm sure the movie is going to be visually stunning and it would be awesome if it were at least a little true to the book as well.

[Thetemplarreservist]

I love the original Enders Game one of the foundations for the modern military scifi writers nowadays.  I love it from beginning to end just couldn't get into the rest of the series way to metaphysical for me.  Love original and can't wait for the movie.

[Raxie]

I love the original Enders Game one of the foundations for the modern military scifi writers nowadays.  I love it from beginning to end just couldn't get into the rest of the series way to metaphysical for me.  Love original and can't wait for the movie.

 

I know a lot of people who loved Ender's game but couldn't get past Speaker... which is completely understandable as they are totally different types of SciFi.  However, I'd suggest looking to the Shadow Saga series (starts off with Ender's Shadow) if you haven't yet.  It goes back to the roots of Ender's game and is a lot of military awesomeness set it the future/space/etc.

[Tas]

I'm definitely excited for the movie! I know a lot of people are hesistant, and normally I'm right up there with my concerns when it comes to book to movie adaptations.

 

But, has anyone listened to the audiobooks? At the end Orsen gives a big talk about his thoughts and views on Ender's Game, how it came to be, and even the process that went into movie planning. Granted this was from the mid 2000's, so who knows what has changed since then.

Basically Orsen was approached by many producers over the years to make a movie, and he kept turning them down because they would clash with his views on it. Most producers wanted it to be a teen date movie, and to include a love interest (which would ruin so much of the story!!) He held to his convictions, and refused to budge until a producer would allow him to leave enough of the story alone that Orsen would be content with it. He preferred no movie, over a bad movie.

 

Also, being based on Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow intrigues me. He made that choice specifically because he knew a movie could not get into the mind of Ender the same way the first book did. But bringing in Bean's perspective means they don't have to resort to heavy narration, or anything like that.

 

Oh yeah, can you tell I'm excited?