Book 12: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Wow, it's already May and I am only up to 12 books so far this year. Not terribly impressive, I know, but at least I'm reading. Ender's Game is a book that my husband loved when he was young, and he has been telling me I need to read it for years now. At just over 300 pages, it's a relatively short book, and I pretty much devoured it. If you are one of the few people who aren't familiar with this book, it's one I definitely recommend.

The New York Times says, "Intense is the word for Ender's Game. Aliens have attacked earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses - and then training them in the arts of war... The early training, not surprisingly, take the form of 'games'... Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games.... He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet?"

Little kids training to be war commanders. And I'm talking six years old leading a group in a war game and being expected to follow the rules and be excellent at every moment. Because of Ender, I had to know what happened next. He is a brilliantly drawn character. A clever mix of both killer instincts and compassion. This is one of the few books I've read in a long time that had no romantic story, but there is a love story here - between Ender and his sister and his friends. It's just not a kissy face type of love story. Who knew I could enjoy a book without a romance? But I did. Excellent book! Published first as a short story in 1977, then fleshed out into a novel in 1985, Ender's Game is one of those novels that will be on the shelves finding new readers for decades to come.