by Orson Scott Card

isbn: 0812550706
subject: Fiction and Literature, SF
finished: 1/7/1999

Ender's Game is about Ender Wiggin, a six year-old who is taken to Battle School, an orbiting boarding school for prospective fleet commanders who are badly needed to support humanity's war against the Buggers, aliens who have almost succeeded in two attempts to invade Earth's solar system. From the start, Ender belongs to the military -- his birth was requested because although his siblings are geniuses, his brother Peter is too vicious to be a good commander, and his sister Valentine is too kindhearted. The Battle School administrators cruelly and endlessly manipulate Ender's environment to force him to become the best possible leader, and they succeed. A subplot deals with Peter and Valentine's entrance into world politics using an internet-like network to disguise the fact that they're children.

I first read this book while I was in high school, and it became an instant favorite -- it's good solid SF and Card really captures what it's like to grow up smart. I see now that another reason why I liked it so much is that it takes as a premise a common fantasy of smart kids: that there really isn't anybody smarter. Ender's Game is a good book not because of the SF, but because it explores questions about ends and means, about who and what matters, and about personal responsibility.