Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, Chief / Warrior
Ender Wiggin, Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
Tor Books, 1985
What? This is supposed to be about Romantic Heroes!!!
Keep reading!!!
Let me start by saying that I am not a big fan of science fiction and Ender’s Game is not a romance. However, Ender’s Game is one incredible book and so worth reading, even if you don’t like sci-fi. [For those that need it, it has a happy ending, of sorts.]
I’ve taught this book to my middle school and high school students because it offers such a great study of character and character growth. Ender is a kid–a 6 year old–who is thrust into the very adult world of war. He is the savior–the hope for the future.
What makes this such an interesting book is the way Card develops Ender. He’s taught to rely only on himself. The people charged with raising him [the administration at Battle School] do whatever it takes to ensure that Ender depends upon no one but himself. This is accomplished through mental, physical, and emotional anguish. He’s faced with difficult and/or dangerous situations [both in training and against his fellow classmates], is taken from his family completely, and manages to rise to the top of his class with minimal effort.
Stats:
Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is the youngest of 3 kids. He lives during a time when families are allowed only 2 children. Because of the failures of his older brother Peter [too violent and aggressive], and his sister Valentine [too meek and kind], the government allows the Wiggins to have a third child. That child is Ender and he’s a mixture of Peter and Valentine. He’s the savior that the government has been waiting for–the one person who can save the world from the alien invasion of the “Buggers”.
He’s a trained warrior and becomes the reluctant leader of the children [other prodigies] at Battle School.
The Look:
6 years old at the beginning of the book, Ender grows up, both emotionally and physically. He pure warrior, but beneath his carefully created exterior is the broken man he grows up to be. He realizes he was a pawn in the government’s war.
What Would Ender Be Like…
…if he were a romantic hero? Could he love? Could he give himself to another? He cares most for Valentine, his sister, and it is through her that we see into Ender’s heart. When I decided to write about Ender, I started to think about how carefully crafted he is a character, how damaged he is a person, and yet how important and heroic he also is. He’s conflicted, layered, and Card created an amazing character that writers can learn from and who readers love to read about.
The Bottom Line:
Ender Wiggin is a complicated character who’s larger than life. His story takes him on a complete journey and we root for him the entire time, have empathy for him in his situation, and feel the entire range of emotions that he goes through. He’s a truly heroic character, against all odds, and that’s part of what makes him so memorable.
Even if you’re not into sci-fi, I SO recommend this book! Read it!
Question of the Day:
The film rights have been optioned for this book and a screenplay has been in the works since 2003. As of now, Ender’s Game, the Movie, is in pre-production and there’s no news about it’s status. I have mixed feelings about seeing this book made into a movie [although I did hear that Orson Scott Card himself has written the screenplay].
What do you think of movies made from books? Do you love them? Hate them? Does a movie’s characterization take anything away from the way you visualize and imagine that character in the book?
September 9th, 2008
Misa 
in
Chiefs, Misa's Columns, Misa's Heroes, Warriors |
Everyone loves a good hero, but what do readers, agents, editors, and writers love most? Join us as we delve under the covers and find out!
September 9th, 2008 at 10:17 am
The only book I’ve seen made into a movie, where the movie did it justice was Gone with the Wind. There is something lost when a book goes to movie. They delete characters, events, scenes and often change the ending to statisfy audience appeal. I’ll be curious how Twilight does the book justice. The De Vinci Code was a big disappointment, as was Map of the World, and From the Heart. Both great books that fell flat as movies. Lord of the Rings was good, but they did leave out some of my favorite scenes, due to length. Harry Potter I think was another acception, for a book going to the movies. Those movies were good…And very visual, which helps.
Since this has been a long process with Hollywood, maybe that is a good sign. Maybe they’ll show the respect on the silver screen the book deserves. Hopefully…
September 9th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I agree with Gone With the Wind being one of the best cast movies, though so much of the underlying character growth of Scarlett isn’t in the movie and that’s a shame. Joy Luck Club was a book I loved, and the movie is excellent. I do think it’s possible to do a good job, but so many are botched that it’s a crap shoot.
Anyone read or see White Oleander? It’s on my book shelf and I’ve avoided the movie for years so I can read the book first! Excellent actors in the movie, so I’m always tempted to break down and watch it.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Ender’s Game is a must read, just stop before the sequels.
Dexter the series on Showtime in much better than the novels. The novels are so short that they read like an outline to the much richer series. And Dexter portrayed by the actor is much more sympathetic. Although, I like the ending of the first novel better than the first season of the show.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Usually it depends on what my first experience is. For example, a couple of Nora Roberts’s books were made into Lifetime Movies. I had read the books and loved them, imagined the characters a certain way. When the movies came, they weren’t anything like I had imagined (of course) so it ruined the whole experience a bit. Same for a movie I like and later read the book — I always have the actors faces in my mind. I know Misa is going to shake her head in pity, but Clark Gable as Rhett is blocking me from picking up and reading the book. It’s all in my head I know and someday I’ll get over it!
September 9th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Hi, I’m Cathie and so thrilled to be able to post here now and join in! I love chatting about romance books I read and want to read! And of course the heroes! Thanks for the emails helping me get in! I had alot of email to catch up on so I’m finally here!
I’ve never read SF that wasn’t a romance (I have of fantasy). But both are new Genres to me that I started reading through romance ebooks. My son is a big reading of both SF and Fantasy and he’s always asking me when I’m going to read the Harry Potter books! I’m not much of a movie watcher or TV so I haven’t seen any really of Fantasy or SF except for some children ones but that was when my children were young. So I’m doing horrible with this question, LOL.
I loved Penelope Williamson’s OUTSIDER. A beautiful western Amish-like (called Plain People) historical romance. And Showtime did a wonderful movie (2002) of it with Naomi Watts and Tim Daly. Gosh it was so great. They did it close to the book and gave it its worth. It went to DVD and I watched it a few times already. I haven’t seen the PRIDE & PREJUDICE with Colin Firth since, sadly, its not closed captioned for the deaf. But saw earlier ones with Sir Lawrence and loved that one,. I do need to re-read P&P since its been since I was a teen! I want to see NORTH AND SOUTH. As you can see I love historicals! So I’d like to see ANNIE’S SONG by Catherine Anderson go into a movie! I don’t know actors or actresses names to suggest any, LOL. All I know of is Richard Gere when I used to watch whatever came out of his back then.
But I do love those I saw so far and I’ve yet to see GONE WITH THE WIND, but I got it not long ago so I have it here to watch. There may be more out there of movies related to books but just haven’t seen them.
September 10th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Caffey–
I’m glad you’ve joined us! Please let me know how you like the Gone With The Wind movie! I need all the encouragement I can get!