| $@%&! level: Medium “Bedroom” level: Medium-Low (mostly it's just nudity and some crude humor) Violence level: High (given that an entire sentient species gets wiped out) Back Cover: “Once again, Earth is under attack. An alien species is poised for a final assault. The survival of humanity depends on a military genius who can defeat the aliens. But who? Ender Wiggin. Brilliant. Ruthless. Cunning. A tactical and strategic master. And a child. Recruited for military training by the world government, Ender's childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School. Among the elite recruits Ender proves himself to be a genius among geniuses. In simulated war games he excels. But is the pressure and loneliness taking its toll on Ender? Simulations are one thing. How will Ender perform in real combat conditions? After all, Battle School is just a game. Right?” |
On the other hand, it was deep and thought-provoking. You end up asking yourself insightful questions like, How far will humanity go to protect itself? How much expediency is acceptable, and what will we let people get away with in the name of national (or in this case planetary) security? How much do we allow people to have authority, when all the authority they have is by our allowing it? At what point do we stop following orders and think for ourselves? And especially, What do the people in charge really want?
The most tragic part is that, after all they put this child through (he started Battle School at 6 years old, and was preparing for it before that, and he commanded the fleet at the age of twelve), and all the death and destruction, and the mental and emotional strain on all these kids, the whole thing never even needed to happen. It's sort of the story of Ender's life that he constantly wins but at the same time he loses. It's no wonder that after a while he gets to the point where he just doesn't care anymore as long as he gets to stop trying to win.
So yeah, thought-provoking as a social commentary on the futility of war and the abuse of power, but pretty pointless as a story about a boy growing up and saving humanity.