I got a letter from Tor!

[Shrain]

Oh, wow. I can't believe it. Hurrrraaaaay!

After applying for a summer internship at Tor, I actually got a response--and a rather positive one at that. They sent me a letter informing me that my resume is under consideration. Woot! Plus, they sent me a book and asked me to write a reader's review by the 20th. (yikes!) The book is none other than OSC's Ender's Game.

Embarrassingly enough, I haven't read it--at least, not all the way through. But in my defense, I started reading it as a really young kid, and, well, boys playing war games and harrassing each other wasn't really exciting to me. (Boys were still icky to me back then. Well, more ickier anyway. )

So at least I'll be less "biased" than someone who had already read it and discussed it a lot, right? That's my hope anyhow. So now I'm off to do some reading in addition to working like mad on my desktop publishing project. Wheeee!

[Spriggan]

Sweet. 

I read Ender's Game in my Highschool english class and was suprised on how good and quick of a read it is.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

One of my fellow editors was an intern at Tor. A very good career move.

Good luck. (Surprised you haven't read the book already, though.)

[42]

Congrats, Shrain!

Ender's Game is a fun read. A little dark and disturbing, but fun in the end. OSC has a good sense of pacing, so it's easy to read through his books.

[Nessa]

That's such great news! I really hope you get the job, you would love it.

Ender's Game is a great book. You'll like it.

[Shrain]

Hey, thanks, guys (and to Stacer and SE who heard the news on IM). Getting the package was so exciting it was also kinda, well, scary. So it's awesome to have a cheering section.

I've already started EG, and it's quite the read. I haven't gotten beyond what I'd read before yet, but it is indeed well-paced. Now, if I can just play my cards right, I might get more than just my foot in the door!

[dawncawley]

That sounds fabulous Shrain!! Good luck with the rest of the process

[Shrain]

Thnx, Dawn.

Finished the book yesterday afternoon. My, my, my. Good stuff indeed. I really liked the double revelation at the end. I already knew the main secret about Ender's training, but the stuff that happens after he wipes out the Bugger homeworld is pretty startling as well. Card sure does know how to wield irony.

Anyhow, I also have noted some of the not-so-perfect things about the book, so my review will be balanced and honest. I've already got some possible opening lines, and for some reason I do better when I have a strong opening fixed in my head.  Some sort of hook that sets the tone and subject of the review or paper or whatever. Tonight's the night; gotta get 'er done.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

It would be interesting to see your review when you're done.

[Shrain]

Oh, sure, Ookla. I'm going to have Jena and another friend or two take a look-see anyway just to catch any silly blunders I might make, content- or style-related.

The weird thing, as I said early on, is that I have to act as if the book hasn't been in print since, oh, way back in '77 and hasn't become a classic in the world of sci-fi fiction. What a cinch! haha. Good thing that I'm not all that bad at imagining stuff! Also, not having "grown up" with the book is a plus, I think, because I'll be working from my own immediate opinions rather than an accumulation of my own and others' opinions. Or so I tell myself....

[Shrain]

Review locked and loaded! What a good feeling to have it done. Whew!

I appreciate those who helped me out in the process.

I've submitted it as an article, so if you guys want to post it that way, cool. If not, I can just put it in this thread.

Edit: Curses! After I did some revisions to cut down on word count, I forgot to add back how Ender is eleven when he goes to Command School. Crap, crap, crap! I re-did some sections a lot as I was trying to keep it to two pgs, and I just totally forgot to put that detail back in. *sigh* Well, maybe they won't notice that because the rest of it is so awesome. Here's hoping.... But I can at least ask Nessa to fix that for me when she posts it.

[Shrain]

Sorry for the triple post...

Nessa posted my review. See it here: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1531

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Is it your fixed version with the part you accidentally left out?

[Shrain]

Yeah, Nessa added the phrase back in for me. (Thanks, Nessa!) So this one's the best version. So, anyhow, I'd be curious what others think about it.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

I think it's well-written, and you bring up some very good points about the novel's weaknesses. Though I have to say (though I agree with the angle you're looking at it from) the questionable nature of Ender & Valentine's relationship is not necessarily something a mainstream book publisher would see as a weakness, and in just flatly stating it as such you bring across your own editorial moral views. Of course, that may have been your intention. If I were writing the review and came to a topic that bothered me for moral reasons, I would couch my review of that section with specific first-person language identifying my opinion—I wouldn't just say "this is a weakness."

It's also a bit heavy on the summary, and I'm not sure that is entirely helpful to your cause. Is this review meant to be read by a company higher-up who (theoretically) hasn't read the book, or one who has read it and already knows what happens in it, and is looking for your input on its weaknesses?