Tuesday, May 17, 2011

It Began With An End[er]

One memorable day, sometime during 8th grade, my mom brought Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card home from the bookstore and suggested I read it. I was slightly skeptical about it at first, "A science fiction novel?" I thought, "Isn't that pretty nerdy?" Not that I wasn't a nerd already, I watched Star Trek quite diligently and was caught up on every season except for Deep Space Nine (my least favorite), but I thought thoroughly immersing myself in the genre of SciFi was going a little too far. But the more I looked at the cover the more I intrigued I became. I finally gave in and set out to read my first science fiction novel.

From the first page I was captivated. The world Orson Scott Card created was fascinating, thought provoking, and sometimes frightening. I loved learning about and experiencing the future through his eyes. When I was finished I immediately got the sequels and began to read everything Card had ever written. I was hooked. But was I only in love with Card's writing style or was it the genre itself? When I finished all of Card's books I moved on to the master of science fiction, Isaac Asimov. I thought his idea of Psycohistory was so inventive and I loved his Robot Series. Douglas Adams closely followed Asimov and I began to realize how easily science fiction can combine ridiculous humor with serious social commentary. I felt I had found my niche.

Reading Ender's Game was a turning point in my life. I had always liked to read but Card's novel won me over and opened my mind to a genre I would never have given any thought. Thanks Ender!

1 comment:

  1. It's great to get the story of you falling in love with a genre and a book. But I would like to be taken into Ender's Game to know what it is in there that you found so worthwhile. I also wonder if others connected the same way that you did or to the same aspects of the book.

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