By Have you ever finished a book and wanted to go deeper? You can always read it again, or if you’re lucky read the story’s sequel(s) or prequel(s). Even then, you sometimes need more. That’s how I feel about ‘Ender’s Game’ by Orson Scott Card. If you feel this way about ‘Ender’s Game’ too then the upcoming release of ‘Ender’s World’ from Smart Pop Books edited by Orson Scott Card is just the thing for you.
I really don’t like it when books are assessed for a motive and message. I hated those questions you would see on your English exam, “What does the character ***** represent?” or “How could this novel be described as an allegory?” Thankfully, not one of the essays or articles chosen for ‘Ender’s World’ examine these questions. They explore (and answer) questions like, “Why shouldn’t ‘Ender’s Game’ have ended with Ender defeating the Formics?” and “Why do teens love ‘Ender’s Game’ so much?” Some of the contributors are more reflective; they consider what ‘Ender’s Game’ means in the context of their lives, or examine Ender as an atypical child hero.
Did you read ‘Ender’s Game’ and see yourself as Ender, or did you feel you had more in common with another character? “‘Ender’s Game’, a Guide to Life” explains how we can all say “I am Ender Wiggin” and take his lessons into our lives. “Mirror, Mirror” explores which ‘Ender’s Game’ character you see in the mirror and which typical fairy tale character that makes you.
I’m not going to preview, or spoil (as I’d like to call it), all of the essays, but a couple did stand out to me.
I loved the conclusion to “How It Should Have Ended” which asked if the speaker for the dead ending was really necessary, “By providing Ender with a way to redeem himself, Ender’s Game ends exactly the way it should have ended.”
I also enjoyed reading about how Orson Scott Card broke his own writing rules. Mary Robinette Kowal, a previous student of his, writes in her contribution, “The Cost of Breaking the Rules”: “Sometimes there’s a cost for following the rules that is higher than for breaking them.” I for one am glad that Mr. Card broke his rules.
Anyone that is… not tall, will enjoy “Size Matters” which looks at why Ender being short is crucial, but atypical, and why Ender’s shortness is better in general.
By far my favourite piece was “Parallax Regained” by David Lubar and his daughter Alison S. Myers. It takes quite a conversational tone and looks at how both of them relate to Ender’s Game within the context of their lives. David sees things as a parent and Allison as a teacher. I found that both views resonated with me, probably because I’m both a parent and a teacher. My favourite quote from this piece is: “There’s an interesting relationship between practice and reality, where when you’re in ‘practice,’ there’s still a degree of reality to it, but in reality -haha- all practice is reality.” I even found myself tweeting David Lubar as I was reading it to say just how much I liked it.
Aside from the 14 interesting and varied articles, someone had the genius idea to have Orson Scott Card answer readers’ questions. These question almost punctuate the book and offer a massive insight into some of the most commonly considered ‘Ender’s Game’ questions. I know you will all be dying to know how Orson Scott Card feels about Apple ripping off his desk design with the release of the iPad or what the I.F. tests really measure. Regardless of the answers (you’ll have to buy the book for those) these questions and answers between the articles really break up the book, which means you can pick it up for a 2 minute glance or a half hour brood.
I really think Smart Pop have hit gold with this collection and I’ll will be recommending it to all of my interested friends. I hope you enjoy it too.
Ender’s World’ edited by Orson Scott Card, will be published on April 2, 2013. Pre-order it here. Or win a galley copy (advanced copy meant for review) right here.