Back Cover:
"INTENSE is the word for ENDER'S GAME. Aliens have attacked Earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses-and then training them in the arts of war… The early training, not surprisingly, takes the form of 'games'… Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games… He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet?
-THE NEW YORK TIMES

List of Characters:
Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin - main character; child genius; loves his sister and gets isolated from all other children; able to improvise military strategy better than anyone; wins all the games as commander of Dragon Army; becomes Speaker for the Dead.

Valentine Wiggin - Ender's sister; loves him dearly; assumes the online persona "Demosthenes" to obtain political power for her other brother Peter.

Peter Wiggin - brother of Ender and Valentine; cruel, cold, calculating; hates his sister and brother because he was too mean to be selected like Ender was; assumes the online persona "Locke" to amass enough political power to become ruler of Earth after the bugger war; rules peacefully though.

Colonel Graff - manipulating military officer in charge of Battle School; tricks Ender into doing what he wants all throughout.

Mazer Rackham - beat the buggers in the first two wars; teaches Ender now.

Alai - Arabic student at Battle School; Ender's first friend there.

Bean - a very little student at Battle School who is taught by Ender; pretty much his protégé; quick-thinking and intelligent.

Billion billions of buggers - the alien race.

Bernard, Petra, Bonzo, Hot Soup, Crazy Tom, Dink - other students who either hate him or fight alongside him.

Favorite Character:
Well I'm not one to go with the main character as my favorite, but here there is definitely no question. Ender Wiggin is a genius and I love him to death. I strive to be Ender Wiggin. His ideas are masterful and the way he solves problems and deals with the C-R-A-P that the teachers put him through is just plain admirable. Peter was very good as a villain though.

Least Favorite Character:
Valentine. Oh she misses her brother, boo hoo. She's a pansy to the core.

Favorite Quote:
"I've been deciding whether to kill you or not." -Peter when coming across Valentine spying on his work in the woods.

Favorite Part of the Book:
Oh absolutely without a shadow of a doubt the games. The games in Battle School are the ultimate, though the simulator battles at Command School are awesome too. If you've ever done Laser Tag, you'll seriously empathize with the idea of obstacles and toon leaders and such. Just the way the teachers rig the game and the way Ender continues to foil them is just….well it's like the ambrosia of reading. When Ender and his friends are in the simulator training to fight the buggers and the last training battle against the planet comes up and Ender beats it….man I was tingly inside. Then they reveal the secret to you and you're like….whoa!!!!!! (I won't spoil it that much though)

Comments:
I'll admit that I had my reservations about this book in the beginning because of the disaster I faced with Card's Hart's Hope, but I'm glad that I went ahead with it. This is seriously one of the best books I have ever read, and I've read my fair share. Card's writings style is fantastic, though the ending of this book disappointed me. I'm rather reluctant to read the next three because it's pretty hard to follow such a book as this one and usually the second, third and fourth books get all convoluted and not nearly as good as the first, but I'm going to try them anyway. This is an excellent read and I recommend this to everyone.

Rating: 5+ out of 5 Stars

ISBN: 0812550706
Edition: M.M.Paperback