Ender's Game: A Reader's Guide to the Orson Scott Card Novel

By Robert Crayola

Ender's Game is a modern science fiction classic. It's fast-paced storyline and memorable characters have earned it countless fans. It also won the Hugo and Nebula awards.
This new guide enhances your understanding of Ender's Game, challenging you to think about the book in new ways, and opening up new avenues of exploration. Included are a biography of author Orson Scott Card, a character guide, an examination of the book's historical context, detailed chapter summaries, and analysis of critical questions and themes in the story. This definitive guide is guaranteed to add to your enjoyment of Ender's Game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Crayola
• Release date: Dec 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311045614

Robert Crayola

Robert Crayola is the author of numerous educational guides and videos, plus the following works: COMICS Prince Pander (2014) The Pubic War (2015) Batman LSD: The Living Nightmare (2016) Star Wars: Vader & Son (2016) ILLUSTRATED BOOKS & STORIES William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience (2011) The Little Girl and the Little Boy (2016) The Past is Still Happening (2016) There Is No Government (2016) SHORT FICTION Savage Tales (2013) DRAMA 18 Plays For Untalented Actors (2012) NONFICTION Cheat Codes For Life (2010) FICTION Dr. Jew (2010) Ueda Sensei Solves Crimes of Depravity and Perversity (2011) Ueda Sensei Vomits on the Garbage of Humanity (2012) Ueda Sensei Castrates the Insidious Underground (2013) SHORT TEXTS Prayer Magic: Conversations With Reality (2008) Vipassana Meditation: My Experiences at a 10-Day Retreat (2012) ALBUMS Alpha Cat (2011)

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Ender's Game:

A Reader's Guide to the Orson Scott Card Novel

by Robert Crayola

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Robert Crayola

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/robertcrayola

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CONTENTS

Introduction

The Elements of Literature

Characters

Glossary

Chapter Summaries & Commentary

Critical Questions & Essay Topics

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Ender's Game: A Reader's Guide to the Orson Scott Card Novel. This guide will expand your knowledge and understanding of Ender's Game, challenging you to think about its deeper levels of meaning, and helping you clarify any confusing aspects of the text. I will be revealing all major details of the book, so if you don't want spoilers, go and read the book first.

Ender's Game has become a bestselling science-fiction book, not just for young adults as the book was originally marketed, but for adults as well. Let's try to discover why that is. We'll begin by taking a brief look at the author, Orson Scott Card.

AUTHOR: Orson Scott Card was born August 24, 1951 in Washington state. He grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah, serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as Mormons. Highly influenced by both his Mormon upbringing and his reading, he cites Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels as the spark that turned his attention to science fiction. He says that the idea for the battleroom in Ender's Game came to him while he was still a teenager.

After returning from a missionary trip to Brazil, Card began writing for a theater group as well as short story magazines. He worked for a time as an editor until success from his novels in the early 1980s allowed him to devote himself to freelance writing. Ender's Game, published first as a short story, was released as an expanded novel in 1985 to popular and critical success, winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards, the most prestigious awards in science fiction. The Ender series would be expanded to include numerous books, short stories, comics, and a movie in 2013.

Aside from his fiction, Card is perhaps somewhat infamous for his criticisms of gay marriage, sparking boycotts of his works from some LGBT groups.

THE ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE

WHAT TYPE OF NOVEL IS THIS?: Let's start looking at Ender's Game itself. We're going to examine many of its components, but before we do that, let's find out what kind of a book this is. It has been marketed as a teen novel, and it can be seen that way. It also fits into the military science fiction genre. In fact, more than anything, it reminds me of Robert Heinlein's novels, particularly Starship Troopers (the alien enemy is even described as bug-like, like Heinlein's aliens) and his juvenile novels. On top of all this, Ender's Game is a Bildungsroman – a novel that shows a character or characters as they come of age, transitioning from childhood to adulthood. We begin following the main character, Ender, at age six, and he is quickly forced to grow up whether he wants to or not.

STRUCTURE: Ender's game is divided into fifteen chapters and has a standard novel length of about 230 pages.

SETTING: Setting is the time and place of a story. The time is the future, most likely the 22nd century. We know that it is at least eighty years since the last war against the aliens. The events take place in several locations. The book begins with Ender on the East Coast of the United States. He goes to Battle School, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and also the Command Center of the International Fleet, far