Sci-Fi Book Club – December 2012: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Happy December sci-fi fans! For our next science fiction book club we will be reading Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

“In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

But is Ender the general Earth needs? Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

Ender’s Game is the winner of the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.” – Amazon

Buy on Amazon US
Buy on Amazon UK

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Want to join in?

If you would like to join us you can visit our forums and add your name to the list here. Want to know how our Sci-fi Book Club works first? Read on!

Choosing a Book

All books are nominated and voted on by our members. Anyone can nominate a book and everyone can vote. This month it was a tie, so next month’s read will be Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. Check back next month for more information on our next book.

Spoiler Free Discussion

Sci-Fi Book Club begins on the 1st of every month. Once a book is started we discuss our books in a way that will not spoil the story. We limit how much you can discuss and when and break it down by week.

Week 1 – You may only discuss the first 1/4 of the book
Week 2 – You may only discuss the first 1/2 of the book
Week 3 – You may only discuss the first 3/4 of the book
Week 4 – Anything goes

We are going to go based on page count. So for example, if a book has 500 pages then week one you can discuss up to page 125 and then week two 250 and so on. Each week will have a separate thread, so as not to spoil the story for people who fall behind or come in late.

What if you want to read faster than that?

Not a problem at all. You are more than welcome to read ahead, but when discussing things just remember to post in the appropriate thread. And if you’re not sure when something happened, you can always use the spoiler tag to hide your post.

Should you not want any spoilers or discussion during the reading process, then just come after the end of week three and start discussing the book once you have finished. (This is how most book clubs operate anyway.)

We would love for you to join us! You can sign up for this month’s book club here or visit our book club section to see all our past selections here.

Happy Reading!

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