Ender's Game
By Orson Scott Card
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
I still recall the intense culture shock I experienced when I
entered Stanford business school at age 23. I was an odd
outlier, admitted to the MBA program with no previous
business experience. While my classmates showed up with
polished skills in accounting or finance, or with an internship
at Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs under their belts, my
expertise was largely limited to music, literature, philosophy
and the arts.
But I was a great believer, then as now, in the power of
storytelling to guide real world decisions—and this was
perhaps my strongest connection with my professors and
fellow students. I looked at the case studies we used in the
classroom as quirky short stories, each filled to the brim
with characters, conflicts and an occasional cash flow
statement. And, on rare instances, someone in class would
turn to a novel or movie to illuminate some precept in
leadership or teambuilding. Films such as Twelve Angry
Men or Apollo 13 are full of lessons
for those willing to extrapolate
from the courtroom or spaceship
to the corporate boardroom. I still
remember fondly the time I unin-
tentionally caused an uproar in a
first year business strategy class
by trying to solve the problem at
hand with my personal inter-
pretation of War and Peace.
I wish I had known about Ender’s
Game back then. I would have
spared my classmates the lecture
on Tolstoy and gone straight for
Orson Scott Card. Most readers
enjoy this book for its fast-paced plotting, and a storyline
that pings and zings like the action in a pinball game. Indeed,
the premise of the book is that saving the galaxy is not much
different than winning at Grand Theft Auto or Super Mario
Brothers. But the real substance of the book is its detailed
exposition of the strategies and ploys relied on by its hero,
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, as he rises to the top of his class at
Battle School, and later Command School, before moving on
to an actual combat against an alien force. Give Ender some
credit: his case studies turn out to be a bit more dangerous
than any I chanced to encounter at B-school.
Other science fiction books have incorporated the concept
of games or competitive simulations into their plot lines, but
not with such careful attention to strategy and tactics. As
far back as 1948, A. E. van Vogt drew on the concept of a
human playing a computer game in a formal competition for
his novel The World of Null-A. But the rise of commercial
computer games in the 1980s and 1990s turned this into a
familiar plot line—both in movies (Tron) and fiction (Snow
Crash). Invariably these books leave out the game theory
even as they draw on the game as a source of conflict and
drama. A book such as Iain M. Banks' The Player of Games
(1988) can build its entire story around a series of elaborate
games, yet only offer the vaguest generalities about the rules
and techniques at play. Ender’s Game, in contrast, presents
a series of detailed case studies in how competitions are won
and lost—drawing on both conceptual and psychological
insights in the process.
This sophistication in the details here stands in stark
contrast to the simplicity of the larger plot, which is as
hackneyed as it gets. A young boy saves the universe from
ugly, ruthless insect-like monsters, known as "buggers"
(clearly Card hadn't spent much time in Britain before
writing this book). Such an unpromising story line would
normally suffice only for escapist young adult fiction, but
Card dishes up something more here, setting up a series of
conflicts and obstacles for his protagonist that dispense with
dragons and swords and the other familiar paraphernalia of
the genre, and instead draw on Ender's skills in leadership
and organizational analysis.
In various simulated conflicts, Ender’s team defeats older
and stronger opponents through the application of a range
of insights—which might involve the decentralization of
teams or reorienting the perceptions of combatants. A key
conflict is won by taking advantage of an opponent's
understandable tendency to apply concepts of up and down
to environments were such an orientation proves to be a
vulnerability. Other conflicts turn on the value of decoys
and misdirection, or the benefits of holding key resources in
reserve until the crucial moment in an engagement, or the
impact of various motivational methods.
One might justifiably carp that a novel is not a business
school case study, and that it may provide valuable insights
into team dynamics while failing as literature. I can under-
stand this criticism, and will be the first to admit that
readers should not turn to Orson Scott Card for his prose
style or poetic sensibility. A certain brutal pragmatism
permeates these pages—one that has enthralled some
readers, but turned off many others. Yet I would counter
that stories are not diminished by imparting lessons, far
from it—many of the oldest tales, both from Western
cultures and elsewhere, clearly aim to embody the wisdom
of their society and pass it on to a new generation. This
functionality does not diminish the value of a story, but
rather enriches it. Ender’s Game would be a far lesser book
if it lacked these "teachable moments."
That said, I am less impressed with the political theorizing
that Card incorporates into this novel. A subplot about
Ender's siblings rewriting the rules of democratic engage-
ment is so preposterous, even by the loose standards of
science fiction, that I could hardly engage seriously with its
pretensions. Yet even as I read these pages in befuddle-
ment, I admired Card for taking such a daring stance in an
action-oriented novel. Readers may feel as if they had
stumbled out of Starship Troopers only to find themselves
lost in a bizarre version of The Federalist Papers from an
alternative universe. Certainly no one could accuse this
author of playing it safe.
Card revised the original text of his novel for later editions,
in an attempt to make the story less dependent on the
historical exigencies of its time of origin. (The novel,
released in 1985, drew on an earlier short story by Card,
also called "Ender’s Game," published in 1977.) I have
little concern, however, that this book will come across
dated 10, 20 or even 30 years from now. True, the
technological trappings of Card’s story may eventually seem
quaint or peculiar, but the psychological and sociological
qualities at play here strike me as essentially timeless. Like
those other crossover classics—1984 or The Handmaid's
Tale or Slaughterhouse Five—Ender's Game will likely
hold on to its place in the canon because it puts its faith
ultimately in the power of storytelling, and not just the
pageant and gadgetry of conventional sci-fi. Certainly
others have emulated its focus on game-playing as a plot
device, but none have yet matched the realism of its
exquisite gamesmanship.
By Orson Scott Card
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
I still recall the intense culture shock I experienced when I
entered Stanford business school at age 23. I was an odd
outlier, admitted to the MBA program with no previous
business experience. While my classmates showed up with
polished skills in accounting or finance, or with an internship
at Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs under their belts, my
expertise was largely limited to music, literature, philosophy
and the arts.
But I was a great believer, then as now, in the power of
storytelling to guide real world decisions—and this was
perhaps my strongest connection with my professors and
fellow students. I looked at the case studies we used in the
classroom as quirky short stories, each filled to the brim
with characters, conflicts and an occasional cash flow
statement. And, on rare instances, someone in class would
turn to a novel or movie to illuminate some precept in
leadership or teambuilding. Films such as Twelve Angry
Men or Apollo 13 are full of lessons
for those willing to extrapolate
from the courtroom or spaceship
to the corporate boardroom. I still
remember fondly the time I unin-
tentionally caused an uproar in a
first year business strategy class
by trying to solve the problem at
hand with my personal inter-
pretation of War and Peace.
I wish I had known about Ender’s
Game back then. I would have
spared my classmates the lecture
on Tolstoy and gone straight for
Orson Scott Card. Most readers
enjoy this book for its fast-paced plotting, and a storyline
that pings and zings like the action in a pinball game. Indeed,
the premise of the book is that saving the galaxy is not much
different than winning at Grand Theft Auto or Super Mario
Brothers. But the real substance of the book is its detailed
exposition of the strategies and ploys relied on by its hero,
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, as he rises to the top of his class at
Battle School, and later Command School, before moving on
to an actual combat against an alien force. Give Ender some
credit: his case studies turn out to be a bit more dangerous
than any I chanced to encounter at B-school.
Other science fiction books have incorporated the concept
of games or competitive simulations into their plot lines, but
not with such careful attention to strategy and tactics. As
far back as 1948, A. E. van Vogt drew on the concept of a
human playing a computer game in a formal competition for
his novel The World of Null-A. But the rise of commercial
computer games in the 1980s and 1990s turned this into a
familiar plot line—both in movies (Tron) and fiction (Snow
Crash). Invariably these books leave out the game theory
even as they draw on the game as a source of conflict and
drama. A book such as Iain M. Banks' The Player of Games
(1988) can build its entire story around a series of elaborate
games, yet only offer the vaguest generalities about the rules
and techniques at play. Ender’s Game, in contrast, presents
a series of detailed case studies in how competitions are won
and lost—drawing on both conceptual and psychological
insights in the process.
This sophistication in the details here stands in stark
contrast to the simplicity of the larger plot, which is as
hackneyed as it gets. A young boy saves the universe from
ugly, ruthless insect-like monsters, known as "buggers"
(clearly Card hadn't spent much time in Britain before
writing this book). Such an unpromising story line would
normally suffice only for escapist young adult fiction, but
Card dishes up something more here, setting up a series of
conflicts and obstacles for his protagonist that dispense with
dragons and swords and the other familiar paraphernalia of
the genre, and instead draw on Ender's skills in leadership
and organizational analysis.
In various simulated conflicts, Ender’s team defeats older
and stronger opponents through the application of a range
of insights—which might involve the decentralization of
teams or reorienting the perceptions of combatants. A key
conflict is won by taking advantage of an opponent's
understandable tendency to apply concepts of up and down
to environments were such an orientation proves to be a
vulnerability. Other conflicts turn on the value of decoys
and misdirection, or the benefits of holding key resources in
reserve until the crucial moment in an engagement, or the
impact of various motivational methods.
One might justifiably carp that a novel is not a business
school case study, and that it may provide valuable insights
into team dynamics while failing as literature. I can under-
stand this criticism, and will be the first to admit that
readers should not turn to Orson Scott Card for his prose
style or poetic sensibility. A certain brutal pragmatism
permeates these pages—one that has enthralled some
readers, but turned off many others. Yet I would counter
that stories are not diminished by imparting lessons, far
from it—many of the oldest tales, both from Western
cultures and elsewhere, clearly aim to embody the wisdom
of their society and pass it on to a new generation. This
functionality does not diminish the value of a story, but
rather enriches it. Ender’s Game would be a far lesser book
if it lacked these "teachable moments."
That said, I am less impressed with the political theorizing
that Card incorporates into this novel. A subplot about
Ender's siblings rewriting the rules of democratic engage-
ment is so preposterous, even by the loose standards of
science fiction, that I could hardly engage seriously with its
pretensions. Yet even as I read these pages in befuddle-
ment, I admired Card for taking such a daring stance in an
action-oriented novel. Readers may feel as if they had
stumbled out of Starship Troopers only to find themselves
lost in a bizarre version of The Federalist Papers from an
alternative universe. Certainly no one could accuse this
author of playing it safe.
Card revised the original text of his novel for later editions,
in an attempt to make the story less dependent on the
historical exigencies of its time of origin. (The novel,
released in 1985, drew on an earlier short story by Card,
also called "Ender’s Game," published in 1977.) I have
little concern, however, that this book will come across
dated 10, 20 or even 30 years from now. True, the
technological trappings of Card’s story may eventually seem
quaint or peculiar, but the psychological and sociological
qualities at play here strike me as essentially timeless. Like
those other crossover classics—1984 or The Handmaid's
Tale or Slaughterhouse Five—Ender's Game will likely
hold on to its place in the canon because it puts its faith
ultimately in the power of storytelling, and not just the
pageant and gadgetry of conventional sci-fi. Certainly
others have emulated its focus on game-playing as a plot
device, but none have yet matched the realism of its
exquisite gamesmanship.
| conceptual fiction |
Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
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Conceptual Fiction:
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Abbott, Edwin A.
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Time's Arrow
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The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules:
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules:
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia's web site
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and its
sister sites may receive review copies
and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Saramago, José
Blindness
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Verne, Jules:
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules:
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
Remembering Fritz Leiber
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Ted Gioia's web site
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and its
sister sites may receive review copies
and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.