Ender's Game

No doubt about it, Ender's Game is Young Adult fiction because of the way it sometimes switches loose ends instead delving into the nitty gritty a bit more.

But it's still a five-star read and couldn't be anything else.

There's also the questionable way that children talk as adults, but not to the detriment of the book.

This book represents the stark reality of dystopian future perfectly, with power struggles at all levels between adults and kids, older and younger siblings, and powerful leaders and their subordinates, as a reflection of the real world and our perennial struggles.

Ender's Game has elements of Dune about it, too, although maybe not at such an epic level.

And anything that emphasizes to young readers that life's no bed of roses, I'm all up for that.

Although this book is written for and about young adults, it's rarely feels restricted. Ender lives through a perpetual lifestyle of being bullied, first by his older brother, next by the army, then by overwhelming odds presented by the enemy, as he fears becoming what he hates the most - a tyrant, an oppressor, or just another bully himself. And we all know what that feels like - to become something you despise and "just another brick in the wall" that makes no real difference.

It's the dystopian sadness and futility that makes this book surprisingly deep.

A book about boys and girls playing sports and video games to resolve the wider problems of mankind and the universe. Childish maybe, especially as aliens are called buggers (bugs).

These games and sports are played to decide who's best, instead of going through nasty war to battle for petty territories while causing the death of thousands of people. Why do it when points and high-score tables will do just fine? Kids understand. Send drones instead. Let them blow up machines and consoles. There's no need to actually kill each other.

If that sounds a bit wimpish, it's not. There are physical fights and confrontations that are live-or-die terrifying.

There's also a great section involving a surreal role-playing game similar to Alice In Wonderland, or Jack and The Beanstalk, in which Ender constantly gets killed and has to respawn like in any typical video game. The emphasizes the futility of playing against an AI that never tires of gets bored, which is fun until it turns into a grind.

It's the mix between virtual and physical that makes Ender's Game such a curious read.

Although it's about bullying and war as Ender focuses on continuous survival against oppressive environments and abstract odds, it's also a book about peace and how one man (or boy) can get on with everybody to achieve the wider goals of being a respected leader. A pacifist rather than an aggressor, taught to fight, survive and win, through his determination to never quit!

The system does everything it possibly can to break Ender, by waging impossible battle odds and bullying him in every possible way. But he never gives up or accepts total defeat and that's an inspiring attitude, especially if you can't find your own way with such a long path ahead of you.