The Player of Ender's Game

Two books following a common theme this week - and one that is very dear to my heart indeed. I didn’t intentionally stack these up thus, but I got through both The Player of Games (Iain M Banks) and Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card), two classic sci-fi novels which I’ve somehow managed not to read so far in my life.

The Player of Games is actually the second novel in the late Iain M Banks’ Culture series. I’ve been meaning to read some Iain Banks sci-fi for years - and this was recently brought up again by the sad news of his cancer and recent death. I’ve read novels he’s written under his ‘Iain Banks’ name, but never ‘Iain M Banks’. The Culture series comes highly recommended, but several people encouraged me to start with Player rather than Consider Phlebas, the series’ first novel.

I was certainly not disappointed. This is the first ‘hard’ sci-fi I’ve read for quite a while, where I really felt that the setting was something so ‘other’ as to require getting your head around to appreciate. In the Cuture, Banks created a society which, at leisure, really does seem to be a credible Utopia (readers of the other books may have information that contradicts this, but I’m only going on what I have seen!), even twenty years after the novel was written.

The novel focuses on Jernau ‘Morat’ Gurgeh, a famous and extremely talented Culture game player (the title ‘hero’, if he can be considered such), who is experiencing feeling increasingly disaffected with his lot in life - in spite of, and in fact due to, the comfort and ease of life in the Culture.

“...the true gambler needs the excitement of potential loss, even ruin, to feel wholly alive.”

“The game’s the thing. That’s the conventional wisdom, isn’t it? The fun is what matters, not the victory. To glory in the defeat of another, to need that purchased pride, is to show that you are incomplete and inadequate to start with.”

“The individual is obsolete. That’s why life is so comfortable for us all...No one person can have any real effect anymore.”

This disaffection prompts a few erratic turns in Gurgeh’s behaviour, until, finally, the chance of a true, meaningful challenge is dangled in front of him. Everything unfolds from here, and delivers with increasing satisfaction.

I’d recommend this to even those who are not fans of ‘traditional’ science fiction. The setting requires a small amount of getting your head around to truly understand the motivations of the Culture characters, and where their perspective is routed - maybe this is something you already have if you’ve read the first book, I’m not sure. But the book is extremely compelling, and every payoff satisfying.

Ender’s Game has a very different pace and structure, but I found almost as enjoyable. There are some ongoing controversies ongoing with the author, Orson Scott Card. I say ‘controversies’; I actually don’t think it’s all that controvertial - Scott-Card is a bigotted dick - but I remain of the opinion that we should be able to separate artists from their art. There is a more important question raised around the upcoming film adaptation of Ender’s Game (with Harrison-freaking-Ford!), but I digress...

Ender’s Game tells the story of Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin, an exceptionally talented tactician being hand-reared to apparently defend humanities future from the alien race known as the ‘buggers’. Told almost entirely from the six-year old Ender’s perspective, with a few teasers at the start of each chapter pointing to the bigger picture, the story unfolds with Ender being put through Battle School, to test his abilities and develop him to become the commander they need.

I don’t want to go into too much detail for fear of spoiling things, but it’s a really interesting analysis of the psychology of strategy - to such an extent that it’s recommended reading for various ranks of the U.S. Marine Corps. It’s a short and easy read, so definitely think this is worth picking up.

Ender’s Game is actually intended as a short introduction to a longer series of novels with an apparently very different scope and nature. I’m told that the rest of the series is interesting, if less worthwhile. I’m trying to avoid getting locked into too many series at the moment - which is frustrating, as I’ve read some very strong openings (or seconds, in the case of The Player of Games), but I want to keep a bit of variety going on right now.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m managing to stay just ahead of the curve, currently on 31 books right at the start of week 30 - so expect a couple more updates soon.

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman (2006)
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (2011)
The Revolution of Saint Jone - Lorna Mitchell (1988)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John Le Carré (1974)
I Can Make You Hate - Charlie Brooker (2012)
Looking For Jake and Other Stories - China Miéville (2005)
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (1989)
The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter (1979)
Jobs* - Walter Isaacson (2012)
The Plague - Albert Camus (1947)
Ready Player One* - Ernest Cline (2011)
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut (1969)
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Phillip Pullman (2010)
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1931)
Storm Front* - Jim Butcher (2000)
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman (2005)
Fool Moon* - Jim Butcher (2001)
Iron Man: Extremis - Warren Ellis (2006)
Ultimate Thor Vol.1 - Hickman, Pachego & Vines (2010)
How To Eat Out - Giles Coren (2001)
How To Be A Woman - Caitlin Moran (2011)
In The Garden of Beasts* - Erik Larson (2011)
Pirate Cinema - Cory Doctrow (2012)
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (1953)
The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter (2012)
The Illustrated Man* - Ray Bradbury (1951)
The Long War - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter (2013)
The Player of Games - Iain M Banks (1988)
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (1985)
Stardust - Neil Gaiman (1998)
The Knife of Never Letting Go* - Patrick Ness (2008)

Currently Reading:

Facing Violence - Sgt. Rory Miller
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman