I believe my brother was in 8th or 9th grade when I first heard of Ender. His English teacher had assigned them to read Ender's Game. He told me some very little about it. I remember seeing the book. Honestly, I believe I thought it looked and sounded stupid.

Another 3 or 4 years of my life passed. My brother went to college. He then went on a mission. He often told me to read the book Ender's Game. One Christmas my sister bought me the first three books in the series. By new years I had read Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide.

It must be noted that I read them so quickly, because I tend to read everything quickly. Ender's game interested me and at the same time unnerved me to some extent. The stories are very riveting, but they also come from darker times and worlds. It is nice to see the smart guy "win" so to say, but at the same time it was unnerving to see how even in Mr. Card's imagination, the smart people are manipulated, used, and extremely under appreciated. I honestly can not tell you why I like these books. I believe that I have struggled with that question for a long time now. They provide a real world that will cause you to view many things in an entirely different light. They are the kinds of books that will change people; hopefully for the better. If you are afraid of this kind of journey, it may be wise to turn back now.

While reading the books, I became very agitated. Why had my brother demand that I read them? This bugged me for many months. During this time, I believe, I reread them all at least once. I don't really remember when it happened, but I asked my brother why. His answer shocked me. I will not try to explain his answer, because it is very personal to me. It has a great deal to do with our relationship. I hate to tell him this, but in a way, I feel he is like Peter, Ender's older brother. Not nearly as evil or cruel, but still. Anyway, his answer is obvious now. Ender reminded him a great deal of me. In many ways, Wesley reminds me of Ender as well.

I have only read the first five chapters of the fourth and fifth books in the series. One is yet to be published, the other I just haven't had the money or time to purchase. I do plan on it though. I do also plan on reading the many other books by Orson Scott Card. He is definitely a great author.

He seems best at creating worlds with a lot of conflict; often which leads to violence. They also tend to be stories placed well into the future and somewhere out in space, even if they start on earth. In the end, he does teach many good values through his stories and I am sure he will successfully pull you into his world.

I do have a few bones to pick with Mr. Card, though. His characters swear far more than is necessary. He tends to have at least one or two perverted things in each book. Maybe, he views these as necessary for development of his more evil characters, but I do think some of it is overdone. Mr. Card, thank you for your worlds and imagination, but please keep the language and perversions to yourself, Thank you.

I do highly recommend this author to anyone looking for a new book to read. I do suggest the Ender's Game series first. I have only heard good things about the rest. Because of that, and what I thought of his other books as I quickly skimmed them in the book store, you could start anywhere with Card and I would be happy.