Ender's Game (2)

I just finished the last book in the first series of Ender’s Game, Children of the Mind. This was the most philosophical of the whole series while Xenocide was the most religious. Orson Scott Card plans to write one more novel that will tie the first and second series together, most likely set mainly on the planet Lusitania where most of the action has taken place in the last three books. Lusitania is the planet where Ender Wiggin finally settled, got married, and died.

While it is unusual for the hero to die half way through a novel, Ender isn’t really dead, at least not fully. This is Card’s attempt to explain his philosophy of man’s nature. His views are interesting and thought-provoking and he deals with many of the major issues in this philosophical debate. Card sees man as possessing an immaterial soul that takes on a body at birth. Humans are not defined solely by their memories or their soul; rather, both memories and soul are essential to personhood.

Children of the Mind also tackles other major philosophical issues. One of the main themes is the human tendency to fear that which is different, leading humans to be quick to judge others. Humans tend to jump to conclusions about others without taking the time to really understand them. The whole series revolves around the issue of the fear of alien species which appear to pose a serious threat to the survival of the human race. Cards point is that we need to take the time to understand those who fear and seek to communicate fully instead of defending ourselves as a knee-jerk action. This principle is also applied to inter-human personal relationships.

This issue was also dealt with in great detail in The Hive Queen, Ender’s first book, where Ender tries to atone for his act of xenocide by seeking to understand the enemy he nearly annihilated. As a Speaker for the Dead, he seeks to communicate the history, culture and true intentions of the alien race that had attacked earth and which he nearly blew into oblivion in a preemptive strike on their home planet. By seeking to fully understand an alien species that nearly destroyed earth, Ender becomes the chief paradigm for empathy and love for those who are different and seemingly dangerous.

While the first book, Ender’s Game, is appealing to a wide audience, the later books in the series have a narrower appeal. Children of the Mind is probably the least appealing of the series since it has less action and more philosophizing and psychologizing. I also recommend that the first three books be read first, since much of the Children of the Mind depends on all that has happened in the first three books.


Here are the books in the Ender’s Game series with the books I have read marked with an (x):

ENDER’S GAME

FIRST SERIES:
Ender's Game (x)
Speaker for the Dead (x)
Xenocide (x)
Children of the Mind (x)
Ender in Exile: Ganges (working title)

SECOND SERIES:
Ender's Shadow (x)
Shadow of the Hegemon (x)
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant (x)
Shadows in Flight

Other:
First Meetings

Ender's Game

I have been listening to the ENDER’S GAME series and have enjoyed the novels. The book Ender’s Game has become very popular and it (combined with its companion novel, Ender’s Shadow) is being made into a movie that will come out this year. If you like science fiction, like I do, then this is a good series to read. Orson Scott Card writes well, though he isn’t the best science fiction writer I have read, but he is better than most. His style reminds me a little of Ben Bova, one of the greatest science fictions writers of all time.

I just finished Shadow of the Hegemon and I hope to find the rest of the books I haven’t read so I can finish both series. I recommend these series because Card does a good job of combining multiple perspectives into a coherent story. He uses psychology, history, religion, military strategy, politics and sociology to weave stories with a lot of depth and insight. While I enjoy the story and I also feel that I am gaining valuable insights along the way. I don’t always agree with Card’s perspective (He’s a Mormon), I am always challenged to deepen and broaden my perspective on many subjects.

One of the ways in which I was challenged by these books was considering the dynamics of global politics. Card’s characters either struggle to gain world dominance or try to stop others from gaining hegemony, revealing the thought processes, strategies and tactics that might have taken place in the minds of Hitler, Alexander, Napoleon or others. International politics is a complex subject, but I feel that the Ender’s Game series has helped me at least start to think about global issues in a better light, hopefully laying some groundwork for future reading and study.

If you enjoy science fiction, I highly recommend this series. Here are the books in the Ender’s Game series (the ones marked with an “x” are those I have already read):

FIRST SERIES:
Ender's Game (x)
Speaker for the Dead (x)
Xenocide (x)
Children of the Mind
Ender in Exile: Ganges (working title)

SECOND SERIES:
Ender's Shadow (x)
Shadow of the Hegemon (x)
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant (x)
Shadows in Flight

OTHER:
First Meetings