Earth had been invaded twice by the alien race known as the Formics and the world lies in wait for the third invasion. The military,desperate, starts up a programme to help defend the planet. Due to over population, a family can only conceive two children unless they are asked to produce another,in which case this child will be stripped from the family at age six and taken to a battle training school. Ender Wiggens is no exception, as he has been shipped off to learn military defence. The superiors quickly learn that Ender may be the soldier that they have been looking for using a series of games . Unfortunately  for Ender, the superiors try their best to make Ender feel as uncomfortable as possible so that he may quickly learn to adapt by moving his position quite often, turning and using toture techniques. Ender endures this and turns out to be absolutely brilliant as well as compassionate and soon rises to be the leader of his troop. However, he has no intention to wipe out an entire alien race and so the question remains, how do you make a soft hearted boy fight a war? The superiors soon realize this problem and decide to fool Ender into fighting this battle by making him believe that it is simply a game. Ender wins the battle only to discover that he has not only won this game, but has lost what he stood for by taking out the Formics. Ender,feeling disgusted with himself searches for a way to redeem himself and decides to give up the enterprise and his team.This teaches us to get something that you ultimetly want, you must sacrifice something you love as he begins to formulate a plan that will right the wrongs he belives he has made.

Nyawira Mburia

Rating: 4 Interesting

The book is about a boy called Ender and Ender wins all of the games, but it is not so clear what that means. He thinks for a large part of the book that the games are no more than they appear, and he does not realize the real meaning of his final game until it is far too late. The difference between what is a game and what is reality becomes less and less clear as the story unfolds. My favourite character is Ender, he starts off being  shy and white but he has so much power, and he is a very respectful and understanding character. The book was so interesting that I had to read it again to find the clues and piece the puzzle together. I would recommend this book because it gives you an insight into leadership qualities and is interesting too. Once you start you can't stop reading it. I really enjoyed this book as I read it twice. I learnt that being a leader you must understand your enemy to then love them the same way they love themselves. Also, that a leader is equal to the rest of their team so they should respect everyone and let them voice their opinions because at the end of all of it you as a leader are just guiding them. Your team is trusting you to lead them, lastly I learnt that you should not keep secrets from your team as they would lose faith in you.

Rosa Kimweli

Rating: 4 Interesting

Ender’s Game is a science fiction novel written by Orson Scott Card and first published in 1985. The story follows a boy named Ender Wiggin, the third child in a family of geniuses, and his journey to achieve the daunting task of saving his planet from losing a galactic war between a highly technologically advanced race of aliens. Throughout the book, Ender faces prejudice and isolation as a result of his high intellect and third born sibling status in his family. However, in spite of those obstacles Ender perseveres through and later on, comes to embody the role of a mighty leader among his peers. While I found this to be a creatively constructed novel with a powerful message, I repeatedly found myself getting bored of this book. The many subplots, while crucial in portraying character development, can be confusing to follow, overly long, or just uninteresting. On the other hand the story did demonstrate steady character development that is subtle, but easy to follow. While I found Ender’s Game tedious to read, I do believe that my opinion of the book is an unpopular one. A number of review websites show that Ender’s Game is a successful book with a large and age-diverse fanbase. Even though the story didn’t appeal to me, that doesn’t mean that you won’t enjoy it. I suggest that Beacon Scholars try it out, as the message of the book is very eye opening to an aspirirng leader, and there will be a chance that you may come to enjoy reading it as well.

Mushabe Rutega

Rating: 1 Didn't enjoy 

On top of being richly enlightening, Ender’s Game is also a very emotionally captivating book. The key themes of the book are a very good guide to key eveyday life decisions and circumstances. A proper illustration of this is the underlying theme of Surivival vs Morality. Across the entire book, Ender Wiggin is faced with the difficult task of choosing between his own survival and his moral standing which constsntly conflict. As the book progresses, the author imparts the notion that it takes an unusually strong will to strike a balance between the two. Often Ender is forced to kill his enemies even when he doesn’t because it is the only permanent way of solving an continuous problem, a characteristic that earns him the interest of the Battle School. The underlying message being one that to stand out above the masses, one must possess the very rare and key instinct to strike that very important balance. As regards to style, I particularly liked the indirect discourse technique employed by the writer especially at the beginning of each chapter. Conclusively, despite the book being one about children and although on the surface may seem to be a mere children’s read, it tackles some very compelling and important issues most of which are very important especially to someone developing leadership skills.

Wise Musinguzi

Rating: 5 Recommend 

Trickery. Innocence. Unrelenting resolve.

These are the words that stayed with me as my eyes drifted over the last sentence of Ender’s Game. Having watched the movie many years before reading the book, I still found myself surprised despite having pre-meditated the ending. However, we ought to go back to the beginning. In the republished version, the introduction describes the novel as an “epic,” a poetic retelling of the lives of brilliant individuals. Indeed, I concur. The story takes us through Ender’s, a third-born whose brilliance surpasses that of his first-born brother Peter, life from being bullied in school to monitoring and selection into the Interplanetary Forces academy. Whilst training in Battle School, he continues to outperform and outshine his older, more experienced counterparts- every single time. This results in another round of bullying and attacks against him, while the teachers stack all the odds against his favour. Ender does not let himself lose. Ender fights with honour. In the end, Ender’s training contributes to the survival of the human race, but at a shocking cost.

This epic took us through the evolution of love, the fear of trusting others you are in competition with, the grief of childhood friendships turning into professional ones, and most importantly the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators- aptitude and fear. Everything Ender did, he did because he could think better than everyone else. Yet also, every outcome that formed a turning point in the plot, was as a result of him acting on the fear of becoming his brother Peter, whom he resembles more and more each day.

The writing is very simple and appeals to all audiences; the best stories are written simply. There is a wealth of meaning to draw form the plot. I believe the emotions of the characters were kept simple to maintain childlike innocence, but the motives were so complex and titillating. I would have liked to see a better resolution of his sister Valentine’s character development in this book though.
Of course, no book is well written of you haven’t picked up some new vocabulary. These are the words I learnt:
1. Hegemony
2. Dirigible
3. Vivisecting

Zawadi Mwambeyu

Rating: 4.5 Interesting/Recommend

Set in a futuristic society, this book tells a moving story about some extremely bright and talented children who are being trained to fight and defend the Earth from an upcoming invasion by an alien species. The running theme throughout the book is the power to understand others and Card portrays how different characters present and utilise this power. How one character finds out what people love about themselves and uses this information to flatter them; how another can peer deeply into people’s minds and think like them; or how one unearths people’s fears and uses it against them...love, empathy, and destruction. Card also explores the moral dilemma behind the shaping of a perfect military leader through the portrayal of the protagonist, Ender. He is not only naturally gifted at strategy and tactics but is also forced to undergo arduous training to become the perfect military commander. During all this, Ender struggles against the control and manipulation from the administrators of his training whilst fighting internal battles of guilt, morality, and survival. Ender is prepared to pursue winning at all costs... and what exactly is the cost? Card reveals at the end of the book. Overall, this is a compelling read and will appeal to lovers of science fiction.

Anne Arum

Rating: 4 Interesting