Shoot Straight - Chapter 6: The Giant's Drink

An Ender's Game Reread

From here on out there is a huge spoiler warning: do not keep reading if you haven't read the book and are afraid of having something ruined for you. Go finish the novel! Then come back and chat with us. :)

New Characters: Pinual, Alai

What Happens

International Fleet: Anderson is upset because Ender has not only split his launch group into two angry halves but also seems, well... suicidal: he's stuck on The Giant's Drink in the Mind Game and apparently the only other person who kept going back to try his hand at the Giant's seemingly rigged game was Pinual, the only student to ever commit suicide in Battle School history. Graff insists that Ender be left alone -- he's not suicidal, just persistent -- because he wants to find out how the boy fixes the troubles he's having with his peers. Anderson disagrees but then relents like always. Pushover. ;)

Ender: Finally, the Launchies get to try out the Battle Room. Ender spends quite a bit of time moving this way and that, practicing pushing off with his feet, landing, drifting, etc. In a bit of strategical bridge-building, he gets together to practice null-gravity maneuvering with Bernard's friend Alai and they both find out that the guns they have been given freeze their flash suits. Truly acting their age for the first time, they decide to get together with Bernard and Shen and wage a quick war on the rest of the Launchies -- and, in doing so, bridge the group's gap.

Lost the source for this - email me if you have it!

Time for the Mind Game! Ender is frustrated because the game keeps sending him back to the Giant's Drink, this depressing, apparently unbeatable scenario where a Giant offers him two drinks and tells him to pick one. One is poison, the other is not, and no matter what Ender decides, he always ends up dying and starting over. Frustrated and exhausted of the Giant's smug face, the boy knocks both glasses over and digs into the giant's eyeball and climbs in.

Right?

And this is my favorite part of the whole book: The giant falls over and when Ender climbs out, he is greeted by a little bat who is very surprised to see him. "How did you get here?" he asks. "Nobody ever comes here." And then Ender grabs some of the giant's eyestuff -- great word -- and offers it up to the bat. "Welcome to Fairyland," the creature replies in thanks. I love this book.

But Ender is simply not to be amused. Instead of going and exploring Fairyland which sounds like it might be the coolest place ever, he turns his desk off, takes off his clothes (??), and sulks under his blanket. He has killed a video game character, just like Peter would have done.

Or anyone else. Because it's a video game and that's usually the point, even in the future.

Thoughts

- Alai might be my second favorite character and, after spending a tiny bit of time with Suraj Partha, one that has me really excited about the upcoming movie. Perfect casting, nicest kid.

- I am not even kidding when I go on and on about how much I love this bat. I have doodles in my notebooks of Ender holding up EYESTUFF to the bat and his little "Welcome to Fairyland!" response. I'd show them to you but I can't draw at all and I'm shy.

Fairyland bat spin-off, anyone? I'd read it.

Favorite Quotes

When it came time to choose their launch leader, Alai was the most unanimous choice. Bernard sulked for a few days and then he was fine, and everyone settled into the new pattern. The launch was no longer divided into Bernard's in-group and Ender's outcasts. Alai was the bridge.

 

And instead of pushing his face into one of the liquids, he kicked one over, then the other, and dodged the Giant's huge hands as the Giant shouted, "Cheater, cheater!" He jumped at the Giant's face, clambered up his lip and nose, and began to dig in the Giant's eye. The stuff came away like cottage cheese, and as the Giant screamed, Ender's figure burrowed into the eye, climbed right in, burrowed in and in.

 

He hadn't meant to kill the Giant. This was supposed to be a game. Not a choice between his own grisly death and an even worse murder. I'm a murderer, even when I play. Peter would be proud of me.

 

 * * *

 « Chapter 5: Games | Index | Chapter 7: Salamander » 

Shoot Straight - Chapter 5: Games

An Ender's Game reread

From here on out there is a huge spoiler warning: do not keep reading if you haven't read the book and are afraid of having something ruined for you. Go finish the novel! Then come back and chat with us. :)

New Characters:

What Happens

International Fleet: I think this may be my favorite conversation between Graff and Anderson because it's the only real time Colonel Hyrum Graff seems sheepish. Kindergartener broke his arm! Whoops. Apparently Graff had been listening to the entire incident behind the curtain and was waiting for Ender to call for help which, as Major Anderson rightly points out -- and I now picture Viola Davis rolling her eyes at Harrison Ford -- is exactly what Graff claimed to love about the kid in the first place: he settles his own problems.

They both admit they are sort-of losers and have messed up, possibly "losing" Ender already. Let's find out how they get him unlost!

Ender: All the other kids are in the barracks with their beds already chosen, leaving Ender what they think is the worst spot but what ends up being the bed they usually bunk the chief officer -- ha ha. Ender ruffles through his locker and finds a bunch of jumpsuits, his desk, his flash suit, and what I always assume is a bunch of kiddo space-themed underwear, toothbrushes, pajamas, etc.

Dap shows up and gives Ender the flash suit 411 and introduces himself to the other boys as their "mom" -- the only one up there who's paid to be nice to them.

<--- You know, this guy.

Keep your jumpsuit on. Just a little movies-are-not-books joke. Let's carry on!

Dap is a genial fellow, making lots of jokes as he talks about opening the wrong door and being sucked outside, children killing each other,etc -- murder is strictly against the rules, Ender. By the time Dap leaves, he's won every boy over and yet they all seem to be near tears. He's just like a real mom.

Dinnertime doesn't really improve Ender's day as all of the other boys have decided to eat somewhere out of arm reach. An older student, Mick comes by and makes a fool out of himself, trying to give the younger boy advice when he himself claims he's "a fart in the air conditioning." Self-awareness is always a good thing.

On their second day, Dap takes the kids to visit the game room. The older boys don't really give the Launchies a chance at any of them so Ender stands to the side and watches them play, figuring out how the controls work and learning from the other boys' mistakes. He is initially blown off when he asks a boy to play him a round, but talks him into a 2 out of 3. Ender loses the first game but wins the others, which assures the boy he's not out of his league but sort of makes the reader wonder if the rest of the school is filled with assorted Micks.

Meanwhile, back in the barracks, Bernard is tormenting some of the other kids, particularly a young boy named Shen who they call Worm  because he's small and wiggles his bum when he walks. Charming. Ender effectively ends Bernard's reign over the rest of the Launchies when he comes to Shen's defense, breaking into the system and sending out desk messages with Bernard's name:

COVER YOUR BUTT. BERNARD IS WATCHING.
—GOD

I LOVE YOUR BUTT. LET ME KISS IT.
—BERNARD

Funny kid. Anyway, everyone knows it was Ender but there's no proof and Dap only thinks it's hilarious. Shen starts sitting with him at lunch, super thankful, and becomes Ender's first real Battle School friend.

Thoughts

-- Is the term "chief officer" ever used again in Battle School? Is this like the commander of a certain Launchie group?

-- How long does it take a broken arm to heal in the future? Bernard certainly doesn't seem out-of-commission very long. Perhaps they have Skele-Gro!

-- Two chapters ago, Graff said "[N]one of our boys who makes it through the first year has ever failed to receive a commission as an officer. And none has retired from a position of lower rank than chief executive officer of an interplanetary vessel." Do we think that's true of Mick? ;)

Favorite Quotes

I will not be the bugger of my group, Ender thought. I didn't leave Valentine and Mother and Father to come here just to get iced.

 

Dap came to the door that night and moved quietly among the beds, touching a hand here, a forehead there. Where he went there was more crying, not less. The touch of kindness in this frightening place was enough to push some over the edge into tears. Not Ender, though. When Dap came, his face was dry. It was the lying face he presented to Mother and Father, when Peter had been cruel to him and he dare not let it show. Thank you for this, Peter. For dry eyes and silent weeping. You taught me how to hide everything I felt. More than ever, I need that now.

"Yesterday someone sent a message that was signed GOD," Bernard said.
"Really?" said Dap. I didn't know he was signed onto the system." Dap turned and left, and the room was filled with laughter.

 

* * *

 

 « Chapter 4: Launch | Index | Chapter 6: The Giant's Drink »

Shoot Straight - Chapter 4: Launch

An Ender's Game reread

From here on out there is a huge spoiler warning: do not keep reading if you haven't read the book and are afraid of having something ruined for you. Go finish the novel! Then come back and chat with us. :)

New Characters: Bernard, Major Anderson

What Happens

International Fleet: The plan for Ender is pretty simple: he's to be isolated at Battle School, otherwise he'll "adopt the system" like the other boys and be completely useless to the IF. To get his plan rolling, Graff jokes that he will make sure all the other boys in Ender's launch group either fear or despise the boy by the time they reach the station.

Ender: They've put a bit of a spectacle together for the launch: camera crews are everywhere, filming the group of boy geniuses as they leave Earth. Even in the future, a crowd gathers for a shuttle launch! Ender imagines what he would say if he were interviewed by some of the press. He pictures himself running to the camera to tell Valentine goodbye, not realizing it would be censored out of the video if he did because these 6 year olds are meant to be heroes, not crybabies who miss their sisters.

The launch group consists of 20 boys all together - no girls, of course; evolution hasn't prepared females for games where one has to be brilliant, apparently. Anyway, I actually really like this scene because Ender's description of the other boys always makes me laugh. You know how a group of boys behave when they get together, right? Shoving each other, fart jokes, friendly punches and obnoxious laughter. I always picture Ender standing off to the side staring at them, all "You've got to be kidding me." He's afraid, which makes him serious, and he can't come up with anything that would help him fit in with this group of strangers.

I'm not sure Graff is going to have to try too hard.

Ender's description of the shuttle is where we are first introduced to the disorientation one experiences in Null G. He notices all the walls are carpeted like floors, a thought which initially makes him nauseous. He begins training his brain to get over it by picturing himself climbing up and down walls while the other boys are busy flopping around in their seats and throwing spitballs, probably.

He imagined the ship dangling upside down on the undersurface of the Earth, the giant fingers of gravity holding them firmly in place. But we will slip away, he thought. We are going to fall off this planet.

Graff is accompanying them all the ship, which pleases Ender. He is happy to find out the man is in charge at Battle School, thinking he will at least have one friend there.

They kids are all buckled in, sit through some dull video, and then they are off. As soon all gravity leaves the shuttle and Graff starts showing off his null-g acrobatic skills, many of the boys are nauseous and begin gagging. Ender is fine, though, because he's already oriented himself to the idea that the "up and down" which exists on Earth has no place in space. Graff knows he has figured this out and uses this to ostracize him from the other boys.

"There's only one boy on this launch with any brains at all, and that's Ender Wiggin. Take a good look at him, little boys. He's going to be a commander when you're still in diapers up there. Because he knows how to think in null gravity, and you just want to throw up."

In a childish act of retaliation, one of the boys unstraps himself from his seat and begins whacking Ender over the head. Knowing that Graff deliberately set him up, our hero realizes he can expect no help from that corner and decides to take care of it himself. He times the blows and, when the next assault comes, he reaches up, grabs the jerk's wrist, and pulls down hard. He only meant to slam the kid against the back of his seat, hoping that would be enough, but he hadn't counted on the fact that the body would behave differently in null gravity. The kid goes flying up and over the seat, bounces against the ceiling as well as several of the boys on the way, and slams into the bulkhead, breaking his arm. There's silence the rest of the flight.

"Was it a good flight, Ender?" Graff asked cheerfully.

"I thought you were my friend." Despite himself, Ender's voice trembled. Graff looked puzzled. "Whatever gave you that idea, Ender?"

"Because you—" Because you spoke nicely to me, and honestly. "You didn't lie."

Graff assures him he's not going to lie now, either. He gives him the same spiel he gave him back on Earth: the Buggers are coming and it is Graff's job to see to it that they have a Commander ready to meet them. Essentially, if Ender gets thrown under the bus on his way to meeting this goal, that's not Graff's problem. He points out that the other boys are probably watching him "suck up" to a teacher, so he best be on his way.

Anderson pops in behind Graff, asking if the boy that just left was "the one." Graff isn't sure, but  insists that if it's not Ender, his replacement better show up soon. He then admits that he is the boy's friend and that he absolutely dreads what they are going to have to do to him.

Thoughts

- How often they send a new shuttle of geniuses up into space? Was it a rare occasion? Surely it wouldn't have been that often or there wouldn't be camera crews there recording the event.

- I like that we don't find out any of the other boys' names on this trip. Who do we think was the boy sitting next to Ender on the flight? Probably someone we don't know, but I like the idea that it could have been Shen or Alai.

- Is Combat School ever mentioned in the series again?

Favorite Quotes

They talked and joked and bragged and laughed. Ender kept his silence. He noticed how Graff and the other officers were watching them. Analyzing. Everything we do means something, Ender realized. Them laughing. Me not laughing.

Later, though, he would remember that it was even before he left Earth that he first thought of it as a planet, like any other, not particularly his own.

"There's only one thing that will make them stop hating you. And that's being so good at what you do that they can't ignore you."

* * *

« Chapter 3: Graff | Index | Chapter 5: Games »

Shoot Straight - Chapter 3: "Graff"

An Ender's Game reread

From here on out there is a huge spoiler warning: do not keep reading if you haven't read the book and are afraid of having something ruined for you. Go finish the novel! Then come back and chat with us. :)

New Characters: Colonel Graff

What Happens

International Fleet: The two Fleet personnel who may or may not be hiding in a black van down the street from the Wiggins' home are plotting. Bottom line: they want Ender to come with them to some mysterious place and know the only reason he may not is because of how much he loves his sister, Valentine. They're prepared to lie to the boy -- or tell him the truth, depending on how desperate the situation becomes.

Ender: You remember that anxious, nauseous feeling you would have in the morning when there was a reason to dread going to school that day? Perhaps you were getting back the results of an exam you probably failed, vomited the day before in front of everyone, or killed a kid with your shoe while waiting for the bus. Well, that's Ender Wiggin at breakfast this morning. Whichever you look at it, school day is going to blow. What are Stilson and his cronies going to do to him? "Probably nothing," Ender thinks. He has no idea how right he is.

Enter Colonel Graff, one of the mysterious plotting characters from the International Fleet. He rings the doorbell right in the middle of Wiggin family breakfast and this is why Ender is my favorite:

And Ender thought, Maybe I won't have to go to school today after all.

Hee.

Peter, unable to pass up the opportunity to be a wrecking ball, informs Ender that they most likely found out about what he did to Stilson -- how did he find out the kid's name? -- and have come to make him "do time out in the Belt."  It doesn't matter that he's six -- he's a Third and, according to Peter, has no rights whatsoever.

And Peter is half right. Ender is called into the living room by his very upset parents. Graff has informed them Ender has injured Stilson so badly he's in the hospital wink wink and demands an explanation for his behavior. Ender begins to cry, believing he's in trouble, but he's unable to think of anything he could have possibly done differently.

"Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win all the next ones, too. So they'd leave me alone." [...] "You took away the monitor," Ender said. "I had to take care of myself, didn't I?

As soon as his father suggests that Ender should have asked a grown-up for help, Graff  interrupts him. I imagine him shooting John Paul a death glare over his shoulder as he's basically all, "Ender, that is the best excuse for manslaughter I've ever heard," and invites him to join him at Battle School in the Belt.

So here's what happened: Ender passed all his monitoring days with flying colors, but the last part of the test was to see how he handled himself when the monitor came off. Annihilating his bully and not getting killed by Peter apparently earned him 10 out of 10. Graff is free to walk out of the house with Ender that very second as long as Ender himself wants to go. His parents are obviously a bit upset with the entire situation, but have no choice but to let Graff manipulate their son with them not in earshot.

And weirdly enough, what Graff tells him isn't too far from the truth: Battle school is hard, he won't even recognize Valentine when he sees her again, and his parents won't miss him much at all. Why? He's a third, and his parents vowed they'd never have more than the allotted 2 children because they both came from "noncompliant," religious families. He's a source of embarrassment even though his birth was requisitioned by the IF. They love him, but having him up in Battle School, away from the judgmental eyes of their peers would make their lives a whole lot easier.

Graff leaned over and took Ender's hands in his. "Ender Wiggin, if it were just a matter of choosing the best and happiest future for you, I'd tell you to stay home. Stay here, grow up, be happy. There are worse things than being a Third, worse things than a big brother who can't make up his mind whether to be a human being or a jackal. Battle School is one of those worse things. But we need you."

I really hope scenes like that make it into the movie. Sniff.

And, I mean, how can you stay home twiddling your thumbs after a speech like that? The Buggers are coming, they'll wipe us out, Mazer Rackham, etc. Graff lays it on thick and Ender agrees to go.

Good-bye,” Ender said to his family. He reached up and took Colonel Graff’s hand and walked out the door with him.
“Kill some buggers for me!” Peter shouted.
“I love you, Andrew!” Mother called.
“We’ll write to you!” Father said.
And as he got into the car that waited silently in the corridor, he heard Valentine’s anguished cry. “Come back to me! I love you forever!”

I just love them all so much. Even Peter, though it's him that's a "little pinheaded fart-eater."

Thoughts

- How did Peter know the kid Ender kicked the snot out of was named Stilson?

- When it comes down to it, which method does Graff choose? Does he lie to Ender or does he tell them the truth? Later, Ender believes Graff is his friend because he didn't lie to him. Is that true?

- The wording here is interesting:

We asked your parents to choose a daughter next—they would have anyway—hoping that Valentine would be Peter, but milder.

 Choose a daughter. Welcome to the future.

Favorite Quotes

"Conscripts make good cannon fodder, but for officers we need volunteers."

He didn't like Peter's kind, the strong against the weak, and he didn't like his own kind, either, the smart against the stupid.

"Valentine loves me."
"With all her heart. Completely, unstintingly, she's devoted to you, and you adore her. I told you it wouldn't be easy."

* * *

« Chapter 2: Peter | Index | Chapter 4: Launch »

Shoot Straight - Chapter 2: "Peter"

Ender's Game Blog

An Ender's Game reread

From here on out there is a huge spoiler warning: do not keep reading if you haven't read the book and are afraid of having something ruined for you. Go finish the novel! Then come back and chat with us. :)

New Characters: Valentine Wiggin, Peter Wiggin, John Paul Wiggin, Theresa Wiggin

What Happens

International Fleet: It seems those same two unnamed people we were introduced to last chapter are actually observing Ender. They know his monitor is off and seem to have somehow watched the entire incident with Stilson from their location, which... where exactly are they? A black van across the street? Some Big Brother-esque IF Selective Services hub? Wherever they are, they seem to have video-recorded Ender's entire monitored life -- and have been reviewing it over the course of the past few weeks.

They've decided that, while Ender has "passed," they still want to wait and see how he handles his brother, Peter. We know from last week that Ender is desperate for his relationship with Peter to improve, but he seemed almost certain the lack of monitor would change nothing.

Let's see how he does.

Ender: Oh, Valentine. Ender's sister greets him at the door and we can already tell she's as different from Peter as night and day. She takes one look at the band aid on the back of Ender's neck and immediately rushes to console him but her younger brother insists he's glad it's gone. "What's gone?" Peter has entered the building. He's meant to be a beautiful, Alexander the Great-sort of boy, but as he's currently stuffing his face with peanut butter and being a huge jerk to Ender, I'm having a hard time picturing it.

Peter notices immediately that Ender's monitor is missing and, for whatever reason, this pushes all of his jealous brother buttons. We find out that Valentine and Peter had previously both worn monitors well, losing theirs as a much earlier age than Ender. Forget that the 6-year-old has now seemingly flunked out of the program; Peter is simply mad that Ender kept monitor longer. He goes on a bitter tirade and then, seemingly cheered, suggests they play Buggers and Astronauts -- yay, a game!

Except, for Ender, it might be the least fun game ever. Picture playing a two-person game of Cowboys and Indians with someone you suspect has always wanted to kill you and might have just realized that now is his big chance. Peter believes the younger boy is no longer being watched by the Fleet, and since his parents are out, he decides to take the opportunity to put Ender in his place. He knocks his brother to the ground and pins him there by pressing his knee down on Ender's breastbone so he can barely breathe.

"I could kill you like this," Peter whispered. "Just press and press until you're dead. And I could say that I didn't know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and they'd believe me, and everything would be fine. And you'd be dead. Everything would be fine."

Well.

Valentine cleverly maneuvers Peter into a corner, convincing him he can't kill both of them and make it look like an accident -- and that she'd obviously tell anyone who would listen what really happened. But they can't possibly be together forever, Peter points out, and one day when Valentine is not around, Ender is toast. Jeez, what is with this kid? However, his sister already thought about this possibility as well and has hidden a letter in her secret file which is to be opened upon her death.

To Whom It May Concern: My brother Peter is a sociopathic little creep.

But none of this matters because Peter is just joking. It was all a game, he can make them believe whatever he wants, ha ha ha. "I'm going to kill you and chop you into little pieces and put you into the garbage hole." Please see above.

The children's mother and father come home later that evening and commiserate with Ender about the loss of his monitor which just makes him feel awful. They are clearly trying to put a spin on the situation but Ender knows they now they have a forbidden Third child with "no obvious explanation."

That night while in bed, Ender hears Peter -- how he shares a room and a bunkbed with the little psycho, I can't even imagine -- pop out to visit the bathroom. On his way back, he stops at Ender's bed and the younger boy is positive he's about to be murdered but he isn't. Instead:

[Peter] whispered, "Ender, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know how it feels. I'm sorry, I'm your brother. I love you."

Worst day ever.

Thoughts

- I really am very curious now how the IF was watching the incident with Stilson and his interactions with his brother later that afternoon. Admittedly, I'm mostly excited to see how it's done in the film at this point, mostly because the Fleet logo looks like an eyeball and I love the whole "we are watching you" feel in the trailer.

- Since they were watching, would the IF have intervened if Peter really would have tried to kill Ender that afternoon? How far would they have let it go?

- Here's the big question: in the last scene, was Peter really sorry or was he trying to manipulate him further, knowing he was awake?

Favorite Quotes

It would not be a good game, Ender knew. It was not a question of winning. When kids played in the corridors, whole troops of them, the buggers never won, and sometimes the games got mean. But here in their flat, the game would start mean, and the bugger couldn't just go empty and quit the way the buggers did in the real wars. The bugger was in it until the astronaut decided it was over.

"Ender and I aren't stupid. We scored just as well as you did on everything. Better on some things. We're all such wonderfully bright children. You're not the smartest, Peter, just the biggest."

I know I'm a third, I know it, if you want I'll go away so you don't have to be embarrassed in front of everybody, I'm sorry I lost the monitor and now you have three kids with no obvious explanation, so inconvenient for you, I'm sorry sorry sorry.

* * *

« Chapter 1: Third | Index | Chapter 3: Graff »

Shoot Straight - Chapter 1: "Third"

Photo © IF-Sentinel.com

An Ender's Game reread

Now that the introduction is out of the way, we can get started on Ender's journey. From here on out there is a huge spoiler warning: do not keep reading if you haven't read the book and are afraid of having something ruined for you. Go finish the novel! Then come back and chat with us. :)

Each week, I'll be including a list of any named characters we meet for the first time in that chapter as well as a "What Happens" section. This part will cover both the main characters' plotlines as well as the  International Fleet conversations at the beginning of most chapters. Below that will be my commentary and public discussion can take place in the comments! 

New Characters: Ender Wiggin, Deedee, Miss Pumphrey, Stilson

What Happens

International Fleet: Two unnamed people (who I assume are Graff and Anderson) are chatting about a particular boy who seems to be the answer to all of their problems. He has a brother and sister who "tested out" of something for various reasons but Graff has been watching this particular boy and believes he's perfect as long as he's constantly surrounded by enemies. Anderson seems to think this would equal a very unhappy childhood for a boy Graff claims to like but hey! As Graff pointed out, that's a far better deal than being dissected by the buggers next time they show up. Anderson agrees and gives the order to "take him." Yikes.

Ender: It's Monitor-Removal Day and Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is having a rough time of it. He's been pulled from school and sent to a doctor's office where he's being mothered over by an absolutely condescending nurse, Deedee. She cheerfully informs him he's going to have this monitor removed, it won't hurt a bit, and isn't this just the best day of his whole life? Ender humors her by nodding, and while he's waiting for the doctor to arrive, he contemplates life with "the little device missing from the back of [his] neck." He thinks of his brother Peter, who sounds like a real peach, and ends up admitting to himself that his lack of monitor won't really change much in their happy relationship.

The doctor comes in and begins the simple procedure, which leads to Ender convulsing on the table when the monitor is yanked out. All's well that ends well, though, and the boy is sent back to school for the last 15 minutes of class. Which -- couldn't he have just gone home for some shut-eye after all that? You'd think if anything would get you a sick note, it'd be almost dying on an examination table. Anyway, the poor kid is back in school, disoriented and confused, and his teacher, Miss Pumphrey, is really no help whatsoever. Thanks, Miss Pumphrey.

So, here's the problem: even though he's slightly drugged, Ender is still 100x smarter than everyone else in his class, and his peers know and hate it. His classmate Stilson, knowing Ender is no longer being monitored, confronts him after school. The bully and his cronies are probably just looking to push him around a little bit, but Ender is having none of it and drop-kicks Stilson to the ground before he really even gets started. Wanting to prevent anyone from seeking vengeance the next day, Ender proceeds to kick the kid violently in the groin and face while he lies bleeding on the sidewalk. He absolutely crushes him and then heads to the bus stop, spending the time until the bus comes crying that he's just like his brother Peter.

Thoughts

- Where did Ender have his monitor removed? In the book, I almost get the impression that this clinic was located in Ender's school, simply because there was no mention of Ender's parents in the waiting room and it seems he almost walked back to class on his own. I mean, next chapter you even find out no one in his family, including mom and dad, were even aware Ender was having his monitor removed today. Weird, right? You'd think at least the parents would get a heads up. Anyway, was monitoring children for the first few years of their lives so very common in Ender's world that schools would be equipped to remove the device or was Ender taken to and from some fancy I.F. hospital?

- When one of his classmates sends a message to his desk calling him a Third, Ender remarks that it isn't his fault, that the government authorized his birth. 

How else could a Third like Ender have got into school?"

Interesting. I think I always assumed that every Third would have been authorized, though not particularly welcomed in society. However, if only the authorized ones were allowed to go to school, apparently some people went against the government and just had a Third willy-nilly. An entire group of people ostracized from society and Ender was simply in the weird position of being an approved Third. Huh.

Favorite Quotes

"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get."

Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.

I have to win this now, and for all time, or I'll fight it every day and it will get worse and worse.

* * *

« Intro by Orson Scott Card | Index | Chapter 2: Peter »

Shoot Straight: Introduction by Orson Scott Card

Hey guys! Welcome to the first installment of Shoot Straight: An Ender's Game Reread. Over the next months leading up to the release of the film (with a short break for SDCC), I'll be reading a chapter of the novel a week and reporting back here on the weekend with my thoughts. I'd love for you guys to follow along and participate in the comment section of each post.

I'll be reading from the 1994 revised mass market edition of Ender's Game. It doesn't particularly matter which edition you're reading, though if you're a lucky owner of a copy of the book published before '91, the introduction will obviously not be included.

I'm admittedly not really a huge fan of introductions in books; I find them tedious and sometimes full of spoilers so I tend to avoid them. When I first read the novel back in 1999, I remember reading the introduction to Ender's Game, but I don't believe I've made it all the way through since. I guess that's going to change now -- let's see what interesting tidbits we find!

About the Introduction

The introduction to Ender's Game was written in 1991 and first published in "Phoenix Rising," a magazine composed by a group of students at a residential program for gifted teens at Purdue University. Card sent them the intro and allowed them to publish it before it appeared in his novel as a response to a letter they mailed him in March of 1991. 

Card jokes in the first paragraph of the introduction that, while many people had written to him to exclaim over how much they loved the novel, no one had mentioned that it particularly needed an introduction. However, since the novel was being reprinted in a hardcover edition, he wrote the intro to "mark the occasion."

Summary

In the intro, we learn how Ender's story first unfolded in Orson Scott Card's mind, as well as how it transformed from a short story to a full-fledged novel. Card also speaks quite a lot about the novel's reception and the importance of fiction in society -- the latter being the part of the intro I liked best.

Thoughts

- It's very interesting to think that it was the idea of the Battle Room and not Ender himself that Card first developed, especially since it is the character that we are all so attached to now. How the gravity-free game came to him is equally as fascinating: with an older brother in the military and a love of war stories, Card began to ponder what it would be like to train soldiers in the future. He surmised, after reading Issac Asimov's Foundation triology, they would be trained in space and forced to redo their patterns of thinking with no up and down at all: the Battle Room.

- As a huge musical theater fan, the thought of Orson Scott Card beginning his career in theater and working as a playwright makes me inordinately happy.

- I know it's not news, but the thought of Ender's Game existing at first in Card's mind as a set-up for Speaker for the Dead never fails to blow my mind. They are such different novels, different stories. Sometimes I find it very hard to reconcile the weary Ender at the end of Ender's Game with the well-spoken, kind man he is in Speaker. Though, I'll admit that Ender in Exile came a long way in bridging that gap for me.

- Crystal and I actually spoke about the negative reception to Ender's Game in the most recent episode of EnderCast. Namely, one teacher's accusation that Card's "depiction of gifted children was hopelessly unrealistic."

? ---> While the story is fiction, do you believe there are aspects of the portrayal of children in Ender's Game that are spot on? Since obviously none of us are genius 6-year-olds, what is it about the story that we really relate to?

Favorite Quotes

"I learned that history is shaped by the use of power, and that different people, leading the same army, with, therefore, approximately the same power, applied it so differently that the same army seemed to change from a pack of noble fools at Fredericksburg [...] and then, finally, to the disciplined, professional army that ground Lee to dust in Grant's long campaign. It wasn't the soldiers who changed. It was the leader."

"The story of Ender's Game is not this book, though it has that title emblazoned on it. The story is one that you and I will construct together in your memory. If the story means anything to you at all, then when you remember it afterward, think of it, not as something I created, but rather as something we made together."

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 « Index | Chapter 1: Peter » 

Shoot Straight: Let's reread "Ender's Game!"

Hey Launchies! With the movie's release date drawing ever nearer -- and in an effort to promote literacy and brain activity while everyone is lounging about this summer -- I decided it would be fun to throw together an official Ender's Game reread.  

(Thanks to Hailee Steinfeld for inadvertently naming the reread!)

This is especially for those of you who haven't read the book yet. Seriously, what are you waiting for?

Let's keep it simple: starting May 19th, I'll be reading read one chapter of Ender's Game a week and will be coming back here every weekend to post a short summary and my thoughts/comments. And since I prefer an audience, you guys should read along as well!

In the comments section of every post, I'd love to have a discussion about the material: what we've read, our favorite parts, amusing quotes, details we never noticed before, etc. Most of all, I'd like to rekindle our passion for Ender's story before the film's release this November and remind everyone that the movie is a fun bonus for fans -- not a replacement of the original material.

The reread should be fun, lighthearted, and casual. The first person to allude to the movie "ruining the book" will be iced.

Here's the schedule:

May 19-25 Introduction by Orson Scott Card
May 26-1 Chapter 1: Third
June 2-8 Chapter 2: Peter
June 9-15 Chapter 3: Graff
June 16-22 Chapter 4: Launch
June 23-29 Chapter 5: Games
-- Break for San Diego Comic-Con 2013 --
July 28-3 Chapter 6: The Giant's Drink
August 4-10  Chapter 7: Salamander
August 11-17 Chapter 8: Rat
August 18-24 Chapter 9: Locke and Demosthenes
August 25-31 Chapter 10: Dragon
September 1-7 Chapter 11: Veni Vidi Vici
September 8-14 Chapter 12: Bonzo
September 15-21 Chapter 13: Valentine
September 22-28 Chapter 14: Ender's Teacher
September 29-5 Chapter 15: Speaker for the Dead


Starts Monday - first post will be the weekend following! And if you're into that sort of thing, this might be a good opportunity to go out and pick up a new copy of Ender's Game with the movie tie-in book cover available at Barnes and Noble.

Happy reading!