The buggers are the first intelligent life that humans have discovered within the galaxy.

But with that empathy and understanding comes a decreased desire to do that very thing. Ender has the empathy to understand the needs, desires, and motivations of the bugger race, and thus the ability to destroy them. The abilities Ender demonstrates at the Battle School are extraordinary, and the commanders quickly see that he is able to assess battle situations and command troops like no one they have ever seen. He does what is necessary to stop their aggression but descends farther into an abyss of self-recrimination and doubt. When he is persecuted by older students at the Battle School who are jealous of his abilities, Ender is forced to fight back. Haunted by his brother Peter’s cruelty toward himself, Ender fears that he too will become a cold-blooded killer. He is taken to the Battle School and, with a corps of other elite children, learns tactics and leadership through computer games and zero gravity simulators. This post has been over a month in the making, because while I read Ender’s Game quickly enough, it took me that long to obtain and read the three subsequent books in the series.Įnder’s Game is the story of a young boy genius named Andrew (Ender) Wiggin who is taken from his family at the age of six and trained to be a supreme commander in the war of mankind versus the alien “buggers.” Ender’s older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are also brilliant, but Peter’s cruelty and Valentine’s kindness are too extreme for the needs of the government, and so Ender is chosen for the task.

The abyss orson scott card