Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, 5/5

The storyline is excellent, the characters interesting, the setting detailed and the writing skilled, but what has always struck me most favourably about this book is Card’s abnormally well-developed theories on the psychology of leadership and the natural, believable ways these theories are embodied in the characters he creates.  The actions and motivations of the characters do not seem artificial or forced–Card avoids the contrived, stilted interactions and scenarios that many less skilled writers resort to when attempting to be “psychological.”

[Why I read it: I wanted a refresher of the book before submitting myself to the shallow spectacle, the hollow shell of any meaningful narrative, that will be, if current trends in the film industry are any indication, the movie version.  I am not seeing it solely to complain, however (though that could surely be fun)–my brother is writing a short paper comparing the book to the movie and, since I teach him writing, I want to understand his thought process.]