Talk:Ender's Game
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[edit] Movie
The article states that the movie script was completed in 2003. I am trying to find a source for this, which will be difficult, but I know that as early as 1998 that there had been at least one draft of a movie script that Orson Scott Card had. Secondhand knowledge isn't wiki-material but I grew up in Greensboro, NC where OSC lives and has much of his family, and I know that one of his nephews that I went to school with was very excited about a movie that was being made, with a completed script, and they were talking about casting of it. This was in 1998. I'm only putting this out there, because perhaps someone has some solid information or links regarding earlier scrapped scripts and productions. Personally hoping that they make this movie as dark as they should, and not some StarWars I mushy thing. It's a very sad ending obviously, and should not end on a high note. 71.174.183.251 04:32, 18 July 2007 (UTC)DavidFisher
- How is it a sad ending? He was pushed way beyond his limits and triumphed over a totally superior race. While he didn't know that he was commiting mass murder (not technically xenocide) he still attemps to atone for his guilt giving it a more hopeful ending than anything else. Kaoskaix 18:16, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Plot Summary
It seems that the plot for this page has been characterized as too long. How about this:
The book takes place somewhere in the near-distant future of Earth. Mankind has made contact with an insectoid alien race known to humanity as the Formics, of colloquially as "Buggers." The buggers have attempted to invade earth twice, having been narrowly defeated the first time by a man named Mazer Rackham, and the threat of the third bugger invasion looms large over the earth.
Enter Ender Wiggin, a six-year-old boy and third son of his parents, an audacity under the population restriction laws, permitted only by special sanction by the government who is seeking the next brilliant military commander. Young Ender is approved by the government for training at the elite Battle School, a space station where children train in armies commanded by older children in mock 40-on-40 battles. Ender chooses to accept the government's offer, leaving behind his parents, his sister Valentine whom he deeply cares for, and his sadistic and manipulative older brother Peter.
Upon arrival at Battle School, Ender is immediately singled out by the administration and kept at arm's length from the camaraderie of the students there. He moves quickly from army to army, annoying many of his commanders with his brilliance which serves to reflect their inadequacy, and he quickly becomes the top-ranking soldier in school. Ender finds a way around the teacher's psychological segregation of him by forming his own nightly "practice" sessions, instructing anyone who wishes to come in zero-gravity battle simulations, teaching other students battle strategy and tactics regardless of their given army alliance.
Meanwhile, Ender is participating off and on in a fantasy video game created by the administration to monitor their students psychologically. Ender progresses farther than any student before, and the computer struggles to come up with images to show Ender as he goes beyond the programming of the game. Ender acts out scenes of gruesome violence and ultimately compassion as he struggles with the images the computer is creating for him. Eventually, the images become too gruesome and unbearable for him, and he refuses to play any longer.
Back on Earth, Ender's brother and sister have begun trying their hand at popular politics, assuming the virtual identities of Locke and Demosthenes. The latter, written by Valentine is a hot-headed rabble-rouser who stirs up discontent and whose main purpose is to provide a counterpoint to Peter's Locke identity, whom Peter is using to gain real power and influence over the world stage.
Ender is quickly promoted to commander of a brand new army, and he molds these young soldiers into an unbeaten team, despite the teachers stacking every game against him. Some time after an especially brutal victory against one of Ender's former commanders, Bonzo Madrid, Ender is cornered in the shower by Bonzo along with a few of Bonzo's soldiers. Unable to escape the situation without violence, Ender convinces Bonzo to fight him alone and Ender defeats him soundly. As Bonzo's unmoving body lies on the shower floor, the school administration comes in and takes Ender from the shower directly to a shuttle for command school after a brief stop on Earth to visit his sister Valentine.
Ender is taught at command school by Mazer Rackham, kept alive into his own future by sending him away at near lightspeed and then turning around and bringing him back at near lightspeed. Mazer instructs Ender in a game very similar to the Battle room, only this time instead of commanding soldiers, Ender will command ships in a 3-d space battle. Mazer puts Ender through a grueling pace of games, followed by critiques and then more games. At this point, Ender is reunited with the closest people to him from battle school as his subordinates in this battle game. Ender commands them directly, and it is up to them to carry out his commands. Ender is told that from now on, he will play against Mazer directly, and that it is these tests that will determine if he is ready to command the fleet that Earth is sending against the Bugger threat. There is a new weapon Ender is given in these tests- The Molecular Disruption Device or MD Device. It is an energy ray which causes solid matter to deconstruct itself down to the molecular level, and that deconstruction causes a sphere of energy to expand around the target. Any additional matter caught in this sphere is drawn into the process and chain reactions to additional matter around it. Ender finds this weapon particularly useful against closely-grouped fighters, but much less effective once Mazer learns to keep his ships separated.
Each day the games become more and more grueling, and Ender is slowly being worn down to psychosis. Mazer confronts Ender, telling him that he will face a final exam, a simulation involving the bugger homeworld. The game begins, and Ender is outnumbered 1,000 to 1. His commanders express hesitancy at their odds and Ender, tired and angry at this unwinninable situation, comes up with a desperate plan. He forms his ships into a tight-knit group and sends them directly at the planet. When they are finally in range, Ender orders the use of the MD Device against the plant itself, destroying the simulated planet and all ships in orbit. Ender consciously makes this decision knowing that it is expressly against the respectable rules of war, thinking that his teachers will find his ruthlessness unacceptable and remove him from command.
Ender removes himself from the simulator after the game and finds that everyone in the room is rejoicing. It is revealed to Ender that every battle he has been fighting against Mazer was actually a real battle taking place in bugger space. The military sent ships at the bugger planets many years ago, and outfitted them with borrowed bugger technology, making instantaneous communication possible. Ender realizes that he just ordered the actual destruction of an entire race, and the guilt of those lives forces him into a four-day coma.
When he awakens, its revealed to him that Ender is being heralded as the saviour of the human race, and now that the bugger threat has been eliminated, mankind is expanding into the empty bugger planets and repealing the population laws. Valentine arrives at command school and convinces Ender to go with her on the first ship leaving for colonization. When they arrive on the bugger world, Ender finds a large constructed statue resembling images he saw in the fantasy game. As he walks through a cave nearby he discovers a single cocoon, the last unborn bugger queen. He resolves to atone for his destruction by finding a place to resurrect this bugger queen, bringing the alien life back into existence. The unborn queen shares a psychic link with Ender, and she is able to communicate that they didn't understand that humans were sentient creatures, and their defeat during the Second Invasion forced them to realize humanity's true nature, and they had resolved to never attack Earth again. Ender writes of the compassion and pain of the bugger race and titles his book The Hive Queen (which later becomes The Hive Queen and the Hegemon), and signs it "Speaker for the Dead." HolyMadjai 20:10, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
- I've replaced this summary into the page. HolyMadjai 20:50, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Vandalism
This page has been vandalized at least twice, most recently on 1/31/07 —Preceding unsigned comment added by The Ice Inside (talk • contribs) 12:39, 31 January 2007
- You'll find that's not too unusual for most articles on Wikipedia. Thank you for correcting the problem, however! -- Antepenultimate 20:32, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
Who did the damn halo vandalism to the opening bit of the plot? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.90.187.244 (talk) 07:15, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Children of the Mind
Why isn't there a article on the last book? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.160.129.109 (talk)
- Children of the Mind QueenStupid 15:17, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Infobox
I just spent some time completing and tweaking the infobox - any edition-specific information now reflects the first edition (as is preffered). I also replaced the image - actually reverting it back to what it was before, apparently, at least according to the image's previous edit summary and caption here. It appears somebody went in for some reason and replaced what was the first hardback edition image (preffered) with some random later edition paperback - and then failed to change the caption, still claiming it to be the first edition. Also, the image was completely unsourced and technically in danger of being deleted at any time anyway. I've fixed all that. I've also moved the "plot warning" template to the top of the page, as it is worded to be placed as such if need be. It was causing quite an ugly whitespace gap (especially after I expanded the infobox). Really, I'm not sure if that warning is totally justified (the summary is a tad long, but looks to be well written and this is a fairly important novel), but I don't think that's for me to decide. -- Antepenultimate 00:22, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
- I would want the plot warning. The summary is a spoiler. Una Smith 22:43, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] References
For references, are we allowed to cite the book the article's about? --Cheeesemonger 13:43, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
Oh. Apparently we are. It would be nice if someone who had the book would do that. I just have it on tape. --Cheeesemonger 13:53, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
I have a question. In Ender's Game on page 117(chapter 8 towards the end) it talks about Bonzo's misuse of Ender and how all the other armies had learned that getting out of their gate as fast as possible was the best idea. But, wasn't it Rose De Nose who ordered Ender to instantly come out of the gate on page 105 so wasn't it supposed to be Rose's mistake not Bonzo's on page 117?
This page is technically discussing the article about the book, not the book itself. (But a lot of the fan sites think that this passage was a mistake. :-D) --Cheeesemonger 18:41, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Mormonism
I see that this article has been categorized as "Portrayals of Mormons in Popular Media". Now I know Orson Scott Card is himself a Mormon, but beyond that, I don't remember anything having to do with Mormonism in this novel, but it's been a very long time since I read it. Can anybody shed some light on this? If the only connection to Mormonism is the religious orientation of the author, I don't think this article should be included in that category. Thanks -- Antepenultimate 17:36, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
- Ender's parents disobeyed the state by having more than two children. I gather that having many children is an important aspect of this religion. Ender's family seems Mormon in other respects as well, although this is not stated explicitly. (Why borrow trouble?) See also Speaker for the Dead. Una Smith 22:40, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
- Actually, it is said that Ender's mother, Theresa Wiggin, is Mormon and his father, John Paul Wiggin is a Roman Catholic. Ausir 03:54, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
Actually, the book states that his parents are ordered by the State to have another child (Ender) because their two previous children were close to what they wanted, but not close enough. You may have felt this was them breaking the law because the book also states that having more than two children is considered wrong and innapropriate due to the law and population control.
- Ender's parents were indeed ordered by the state to have a "third". Further, it is briefly mentioned in this book that both his Catholic father and Mormon mother renounced their respective religions, because they were ashamed that their families were "non-compliant" (had more than two children). One character states as fact that the feelings Ender's parents have towards their respective religions are ambiguous, despite the fact that they both refuse to admit where they were born (Poland and Utah), lest people suspect their family to be non-compliant. So, one character in this book is mentioned to come from a Mormon family, but hides that fact for fear of persecution. While not a central theme to the book, I imagine it has some significance to Mormons. I'd suggest that that would qualify as Mormon depiction. Temple 10:06, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
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- That's a point of trivia rather than a significant factor in the book. I really don't think Ender's grandparents being Mormon merits inclusion in the category. (In contrast to many of OSC's other books.) Scott.wheeler 23:50, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Criticism section
The criticism section isn't really explicitly criticism, it's merely stating a fact about the book. Unless you consider "moralistic" to be intrinsically a criticism... I'm going to remove it for now, though it probably deserves its own section eventually, describing the "Moral Philosophy" of the book. Timbatron 16:14, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
- How about the essay by Elaine Radford, which appeared in Fantasy Review in 1987 ... she argued that Ender's Game was an apologia for Adolf Hitler, and noted several parallels between the character's and the dictator's lives.[1][2][3]Steve 13:46, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
The "criticism" that existed on the page until today was a one-sentence uncited remark from some user about parents reading the book first. That may or may not be good advice (certainly reasonable people will disagree), but it's not the type of specific criticism that would belong on a Wikipedia article - otherwise, I suppose we can go out and add the same "criticism" to about 300,000 other books... BlackberryLaw 17:44, 19 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Ender Will Save Us All
I think I am going to remove the reference to the "Ender Will Save Us All" song, as that song really has nothing to do with the book (apparently it was named this way due to the lead singer's name being Ender). Thoughts? enderminh 23:05, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
whether or not the reference is intentional, it is a fair bit of trivia if nothing else. someone should just ask him-_- 142.167.237.127 00:48, 8 May 2007 (UTC)
The song is referencing the fact that the lead singer (whose name is not Ender) gave a copy of Ender's Game to a friend of his, and it rekindled their dying friendship. HolyMadjai 21:04, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Translations
I believe this book deserves more detailed translations section with translated titels and (if needed) round-trip translations, as it was done for Terry Pratchet's books, for example ("Soul Music", "Sourcery", etc.) This is important information for the book which was translated in so many languages. Verdi1 05:40, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
- Can you also add in the translation for the Russian title? Pnkrockr 14:04, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
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- OK, I did it (it is a literal translation) Verdi1 16:06, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Ender's Game Merger
Scratch the merger -- the information is already contained elsewhere. I've shifted the other article to a speedy delete request. --Mhking 02:24, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Spoiler tags
In the interest of preventing an edit war before one starts, spoiler tags should not be included in sections covering plot summaries, according to WP:SPOIL. Pnkrockr 14:58, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
- The spoiler tage screws up the page layout. I tried fixing it but I reverted it since I only made it worse.--Cadet hastings 15:14, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
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- A lot of things not revealed until the very end, are revealed here. Glad I finished reading the book before reading this page. Someone who knows how to add a spoiler tag properly, should stick one in. Do you normally give out the ending of a book for Wikipedia pages? Are there any rules about that? Does it kind of ruin it for anyone that might want to know about the book, to decide whether to read it or not? Dream Focus (talk) 17:17, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
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- Wikipedia is not censored in any way, including spoilers. ~QuasiAbstract {talk/contrib} 08:07, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
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[edit] Wolfgang P. or Ridley S. = "just talk"
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070419s.php
[edit] Gruesome Game
The game that ender plays in the game room is currently described in this article. It is currently said that he stops because the images become too gruesome, but in the actual story it seems to be that he stops because he finally wins (Valentine is with him, even though the other faces are Peter). Thoughts? PeEll 21:52, 2 September 2007 (UTC)
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- I agree. In the book he quits at times for various reasons, but always got started again, until finally defeating it, overcoming his fear of Peter. That should be changed. Dream Focus (talk) 00:43, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Another error
The article seems to imply that he writes The Hive Queen after The Hegemon. I seem to recall that the only reason he initially wrote The Hegemon is because Peter read The Hive Queen, understood immediately that Ender had written it, and then asked Ender to write his story too. If I've gotten this wrong please correct me, otherwise someone should fix the article. --98.217.18.109 (talk) 23:05, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
