Ender's Game - a book review, a movie review

There's been a lot of talk about the views of the writer, Orson Scott Card, author Ender's Game. Some people won't see the movie of his views. That's entirely their right, but personally I have a different opinion.

What a load of crap. I never agreed with the socialist views of Jack London and I still love his stories.

Ender's Game is a great book. I just read it again to make sure it was as good as my twenty-plus years of memory told me. It is a great read, probably one of the majestic tomes of science fiction.

Our society screams tolerance. I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you truly believe in tolerance, then you also truly believe the intolerant have the right to feel that way. Let it go and find your own freedom.

The lessons you take from the book will depend on who you are and might change in different phases of your life. That's okay and one of the things that makes Ender's Game a great read.

The book doesn't simply follow Ender - it also follows the machinations of his brother Peter and the entangled loves of his sister Valentine for both her brothers.

It also sums up the true beauty of the Formix (a variation of the Latin word for ant, used in the movie, not the book) and elaborates on the final encounter Ender had with them and how he became "The Speaker for the Dead."

I don't agree with some of the bizarre cultish things written in the end of the book, but it doesn't keep it from being a good read. After all, using our minds to discern our own belief and unbelief is one of the true joys of reading.

So the movie misses aspects of the novel.

It's still a fun movie. I like the way they handle Ender in the movie, in some ways better than the book. Certainly a film version more accurate to the book would be difficult to watch. The action sequences in the movie are top-notch.

I don't think I'll buy the movie, but I wouldn't wait for it to come to video either, so it gets an easy 7/10. If you aren't a big sci-fi fan, then you could easily wait for the DVD.

And who cares what the writer thinks? I only care if I like what he writes.

Just like a movie - because I sure don't agree with most of mainstream Hollywood on anything and I still like movies.