Month: March 2021

Background

Published in 2003 and made into a movie in 2009, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a book about a man who keeps jumping forward and backward in time.

My Thoughts

The premise was an interesting literary device but that’s really all the good I have to say about the book. The science was ridiculous, the language was foul, and there wasn’t a lot of morality in the characters. There wasn’t much that I could identify with so in short, I didn’t like it.

My wife asked me if I had heard about this book before and I hadn’t so I decided to read it. I had no idea they made a movie until I did the background searching after reading it. Such a sad surprise…

Recommendation

The worst book I’ve read in a while.

Background

Ender’s Shadow was written somewhat to give some depth to the screenplay for Ender’s Game. Originally published in 1999, it followed the other book by a full 14 years.

Ender’s Shadow is the story of of Ender’s Game from the perspective of one of the main characters, “Bean”. It shadows Bean through his upbringing and how they used him to help Ender to his goal.

My Thoughts

I didn’t even know this book existed but I read the postscript after Ender’s Game stating why it was written. Having read “Speaker for the Dead” and “Xenocide” before, it was part of the Ender saga story I hadn’t been exposed to as of yet.

It was a good book but not amazing. It makes sense why it was written and why it was important to give some perspective to the movie. Having known this beforehand I think I liked the book better than I would have otherwise. I will wait till I finish all the books before I see the movie but I’m more excited having read this.

Recommendation

This isn’t an important read but I enjoyed it.

Background

First published as a short story, Ender’s Game was published as a novel in 1985 but was first published as a short story a decade before. It is a science fiction story of an Earth in the future which has been invaded by aliens. These aliens were repelled but the humans want to be ready for the next time. Thus they build there military arms and look for the commanders of tomorrow. Ender Wiggin might be one of those commanders if he can survive the training.

My Thoughts

Such an enjoyable book. We teach a course using it at the Marine Corps University to spark discussion about tactics and such. I first read it when I was 10 or so and enjoyed it even then. Now, several decades later, I was still able to get into the story and enjoy it again.

I particularly enjoyed the post script in this version of the book with Orson Scott Card telling the story of how the movie came to be. That was worth the read and gave me a lot more respect for the author. I resolved to read the rest of the series based on that feeling.

Recommendation

A must read for every young man