[Spoilerrific, as is pretty much anything I write.]

Because the book is currently being made into a movie, some of my friends have started reading/re-reading Ender’s Game. The movie is coming out in November. I read Ender’s Game so long ago that almost everything was fresh in the re-read. I only remembered the ending and some of the battle tactics. It was a quick read. I wish I could compare my thoughts on it now to my thoughts on it then, but I have no idea what I thought. I think that I wasn’t as interested in some of the deeper ideas. I mean, I never bothered to read any of the sequels and was happy with the book as it was. Now, I’m kind of interested in what happens afterward.

But instead of going to the future, I’m currently reading Ender’s Shadow, which I’ve never read. I feel like there’s a lot more action going on inside Bean’s head than inside Ender’s. Bean does a lot more observing. A lot of scenes in Ender’s Game you could easily see being translated to the screen, but it seems Ender’s Shadow would be harder to translate. Bean is also much weirder than Ender, which makes it harder to relate to him as a protagonist.

Stevie loves Bean. She should write about him.

I felt very sorry for Ender. He didn’t want to be a killer, but he was tricked into being one. It’s such a weird tension with how they used him. He did have a killer instinct. However, his empathy made him a better strategist. It makes him a better killer, but it makes him not want to kill. So, they had to trick him to use all his best traits. I just felt so bad because the whole time he’s afraid of being like Peter, and in the end, he wipes out an entire sentient species.