First of all: while I recommend reading this book, Orson Scott Card is a terrible person and who knows what terrible things he donates money to. If you read Ender's Game, please do it by buying it used or borrowing from someone, not anything (like buying new, borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from a library app, etc.) that could give that man royalty money.

There’s a lot to love about this book, but the author’s vibes are truly rancid and permeate the whole thing. I like what this book says about empathy, and some of the critiques of military culture and war. Despite some critiquing though, this book never manages to feel as anti-war/military as it seems like it should given the subject matter. The pervasive sexism clearly comes from the author instead of serving as another layer of the military critique. The portrayal of religion and its suppression is strange and doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the book. The way Card depicts and talks about young boys… really rubs me the wrong way.

Card was clearly enamored with the Battle Room and lingered on it a lot, and I think that’s to the detriment of what this story could have been, its themes, and the ideas I found a lot more interesting and nuanced. I would have liked to see a deeper exploration of the computers’ AI (that’s never called AI), and how it manifests in the game Ender plays on his desk. I also think the narrative doesn’t capture enough of Ender’s complexity and inner life. A lot of the characters just don’t feel as complex as it seems like they easily could be. The whole book feels more like a prequel than a standalone, and that’s a shame because there’s so much good material to work with.

Again, a lot to love and I loved this book when I was a kid. As an adult who can read between the lines though... oof.