Book Review: Ender’s game

Title: Ender’s Game

Author: Orson Scott Card

Far in the future, mankind still can’t get over the devastating war with Buggers, alien enemies. Buggers almost destroyed humankind but despite the war that was almost 100 years ago, the threat is not over yet. That’s why the earth leaders decided to create an elite military school in space, which accepts only the best and most gifted children from Earth. Children are playing computer simulated war games and in that way are trained for the next war.

In this elite military school is accepted Andrew “Ender” Wiggin. He has older brother and sister but they were not suitable for military purposes – Peter was too violent and Valentine too tender. But Ender was perfect for military and proved himself on a test so well, that he was accepted right away, although he was not old enough. Being only six, he is the smallest and the weakest of other children but he’s standing out with his intelligence. Soon, the teachers notice that and are pressuring on him in every possible way. But Ender’s starts to play his own game.

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I really thought this book would draw me in and I wouldn’t be able to put it down. But it was not like that at all. It was enjoyable but I expected more from it. Especially, because Ender’s game is considered to be a classic of science fiction genre and I was expecting something truly amazing.

It bothered me, that I didn’t have a feeling that all the major characters in this book were children. I was truly surprised every single time when this was mentioned in a book. The characters were too grown up and too mature. I agree that they had to grow up very fast because of the situation but yet, they could keep some children playfulness and joyfulness.

Ender as a character was always the same. When he started with his schooling, he was 6 years old and (if I’m not mistaken) finish it when eleven but I couldn’t detect any character development. He acted the same when he was just a kid and later when he was almost a teenager. His iron willpower terrified me and the things he was willing to do for winning in every situation, repelled me. As well, that he was never able to ask for help, even when in the moments, when he almost broke. It was the same with other characters in this book and everything we learn about them is, that they are above average intelligent children and Ender is a genius.

Ender’s brother and sister who are also exceptionally intelligent and are living with their parents are not acting like normal children but are thinking about changing the world and they start with this mission on forums. Why was this part of the story included in a book, is still unclear to me. I didn’t felt that it was important in any way and it just made me confused.

I was also wondering, where were adults? Beside three characters from military school, there was nobody who would be in charge or who would supervise all children. They could do whatever they want and it was like nobody cared much about them.

At first, I enjoyed in battle descriptions which Ender had fought. However, the chapters began to repeat. Ender defeated some group, he advanced into another group where he came up against a new challenge but eventually he found a solution and won again. Every single chapter was composed in that way and eventually I got bored. Besides, the descriptions of battles were really confusing to me and I had a hard time to understand what’s happening. But I really liked how great friendships were born in this battles.

Halfway through the book, I started to miss a tension. I knew, that Ender can’t lose and I only wanted to know, what kind of tactic he will use to defeat another army.

As you can see, I was disappointed between reading and after finishing it. It was not bad but it was certainly not surplus as I expected it to be. I’m happy that I read it but I will not continue with reading another book from this series because I lost all interest in this story.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Did you read Ender’s game? What did you think about it? 

 

 

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite books outside your comfort zone

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey and here is official group site: Top 5 Wednesday. You can read all about the group and challenges there.

Today’s Topic is: Favorite books outside your comfort zone

It was hard to make this list because I’m always trying to read different book genres. I read almost everything if it’s interesting.

1. Me before you by Jojo Moyes

Probably you all heard about this book. I’ve seen it everywhere and I think that the movie will be out soon (is already out). I usually don’t read romances/chick-lit literature but still, I enjoyed reading this book. Probably because of the characters and maybe because of a not-so-ordinary story.

2. Gut: The Inside story of our Body’s most underrated organ by Giulia Enders

I read this book just recently and I was amazed how good it was. It’s nonfiction book, written from a medical point of view. From the title, you can figure out what is about. It was fun and educational and I highly recommend reading it. You can also check my review on my blog.

3. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

Graphic novels are not something that I would read often and when I do, I’m usually not impressed. But with this book, it was totally different. Amazing story and illustrations are just perfect for this book.

4. Three cups of tea by Greg Mortenson

I haven’t read much memoirs or biographies in my life. Haha, now I actually discovered a genre which is out of my comfort zone! Reading about other people’s lives is just not something that I would enjoy. But this book… yeah, it’s great. A story about an ordinary man who tries to change lives and make the world a better place.

5. Bombshell: Women and Terrorism by Mia Bloom

Another nonfiction book where theory is illustrated with examples from real life. If you’re interested in terrorism in general or you want to know more about it, especially about women’s role in terrorism, this is a great book.

Did you read any of this books or is my list similar to yours? You can also post your top5 in comments, so I can check it out!

 

Book Review: Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ

Title: Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ

Author: Giulia Enders

The human gut is probably the most overlooked organ in the human body. Nobody is particularly interested in it and people normally don’t think about what happens to the food after we swallow it.

This book, however, deals exactly with this – what actually happens with food once it leaves our mouth and comes to the stomach. In book Gut, it’s explained what is a process of digestion, what’s happening with food between it and what’s happening in human intestine even though people are not aware of all the happening inside them.

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I wanted to read this book just because it was really successful in Slovenia after the translation was published. Yes, I usually succumb to the general enthusiasm and hype about books and even though I’m not interested in a topic, I still want to read it. Because if everybody wants it, I want it too! And because everyone was so impressed with this book, I thought that it has to be something about it. And after I read it, I understand all the hype. I don’t regret reading it because this book really is good and worth of reading!

This book was fantastic because I discovered a whole new world inside of me, a part that I never thought about it and this is also a purpose of this book – to show people, what an amazing machine we have inside our body and we are not even aware of it.

It’s a nonfiction book, scientifically written because after all, the author is a medical student. There are a lot of medical researchers included but it’s written in a language and in a way that everyone can understand. It’s written for casual readers with none or little medical knowledge and it’s simple, interesting and fun. The result is this educational book. The most entertaining parts of this book for me were the ones about how and why do we poop, how it’s best to sit on a toilette, how food travels through our digestive system and what’s happening with it. Yes, I learned about some of this stuff in school, but I forgot a lot and I don’t remember this thing beeing so funny! I refreshed my knowledge of how the human gut is build, which microbes do we have inside our body and why are they actually there. In a humorous way (but educational) is explained why do people vomit, have diarrhea, constipation, and so on.

This book was really entertaining and I read it almost in one day. I learned a lot and I will use the information from this book in future. As a reader, I found a lot of practical information that can help to find out and learn about eating habits and improve them. But of course, this is still not a medical book which would deal with really specific topics – although there are some chapters, which are dealing with food allergies and intolerance to certain foods, this book is not offering specific solutions for people with that kind of problems. It just helps you in an easy way to explain how things work and what can/could lead to some problems. And it could be a great start if you later want to explore more about this topics.

If you want to read something interesting and informative, then I would certainly recommend this book to you. I believe that many people who think that they are not interested in this subject would be surprised how they will enjoy this book if they would give it a chance. And funny illustrations makes this book even more exciting.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Did you read any other book that is similar to this one? Please, leave a comment below.