can manipulate others in order to achieve something, no matter what are the individual feelings or their families'. It is more scary when they use physiological manipulation in children. A very different type of story, interesting in general but the boring descriptions about the "game"

Science fiction was a new genre to some us in the club, but we gave it a go. We thought young male readers would really like this book, that they would be able to relate to it, especially with all the "war" video games geared towards this demographic.

Some thought the book lagged a bit when it kept repeating how alone Ender was while he was being bullied over and over again. There was some conversation surrounding the lack of reasoning given for this one family's ability to produce three "gifted" children. It was even suggested the author missed an opportunity to create a unique twist by saying Bugger DNA was used on these children and that was why Ender was able to think like them and ultimately destroy them.

Despite being written in a space fantasy tone there is much that can be learned about human behaviour in this book and much the reader can take away from it even if this genre isn't always their first choice.

This book got mixed reviews from our club. The majority of the group loved it, but there were a few who did not like the sic-fi feel to it. It was very interesting how many of the ideas presented in this book, which was written in the 70's are in use today. i.e. social media concepts.

Everyone has told me how awesome this book is, but for me, it was just meh. I wanted it to be more of a mindf*ck than it was. It did have a slight twist, but it really only related to the second to last chapter. Also, never once did I believe Ender was really six.

This young adult book has been out for some time, but I had never read it before. The premise is a child (Ender, age 6) is a genius at war games on the computer and the adults will use him to win a war against the “buggers.” It will soon be a major motion picture. I felt that the story could have been told as a Western or other genre as easily as Sci-fi. The battle scenes were exciting while the psychological scenes were boring and mercifully brief. The book was interesting as a war/battle story but I was disappointed as I was looking for a classic, memorable tale.
Ender is a fully developed character and the reader is allowed to see how his mind is developed and manipulated as the story proceeds and Ender ages from 6 to 15 years or so. The brother and sister are less well developed, the brother only seen through the eyes (mind) of Ender and the sister. Several adult characters also appear in one dimensional form. They serve to guide (or manipulate) Ender through the intricacies of the “game” meant to train him for the coming war.
The end will not be a surprise to the adult reader. Book groups will want to discuss the psychology and manipulation of children. Morality and violence may also be topics as well as fear of others different from the norm.
3 of 5 stars.