39. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.

Ok, so I was really meaning to read the last Otori book before I started something new, but these have been sitting on my shortlist for quite some time, and they were calling out to be read, or at least sampled. It was worth it, because I finished the whole series in just over a week.

Ender's Game is about Andrew (Ender) Wiggin, who is taken away from his family when he is six years old, with the intention of training him for battle against the vicious Buggers, an alien race threatening humanity. He has shown great potential to be the commander of the fleet they need, but will he work out?

I very much like this book, and reading it has boosted Orson Scott Card from 'interesting writer I haven't read anything by yet' to 'add all his books to my library NOW'. Ender is a very detailed character, and the relationships between people unfold naturally. I liked the idea of the simulators they train in, and Ender defeats some pretty long odds while he learns. It's definitely a book that will attract loner types, but it's a well-written, complex read that deals with some philosophic conundrums that were also interesting to reason out.