Shannon Yee

This is one of the books that Brian has had me read for him and then summarize so it’s like he read it but without the effort or time wasted… He is very efficient in that way. He is already compiling a list of what he wants me to read next.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card took a bit to get involved in. It is a short science fiction novel about a kid genius who is chosen and trained to fight and command armies to fight aliens and save the human race. It is a bit of a coming of age book, but not really as it only covers Ender’s life from 6-12 years of age. It is very much about the power of love and friendships as well as compassion and the power of fear, isolation and death. I found the way that the book started and continued without setting up the scene to be annoying rather than a fun puzzle to put together. I also found myself irritated at the interest in preserving the whole at the cost of the one – sort of a Jesus figure without giving him the choice. But Ender wasn’t the sacrifice per se as it was the aliens who died, but Ender became what he hated as he hurt others to get what he wanted/needed so he did die in a sense. It’s a bit heavy as a kid’s book and as usual Eila asked me to read her some, but I found that I could read her much less of this book with all of the violence and fear-mongering than I could of Twilight – a vampire book.