Ender Wiggin

In the 1980's in a Catholic military high school in Aurora, Illinois--the fabled home of SNL's "Wayne's World"--lived a group of "Dead Poet Society" wannabes who called themselves Kafka (a nod to our boy Franz). Also in the 1980's were hairstyles on girls that were big. I mean BIG hair. Kafka called these "rad wiggins". And up until a couple of weeks ago, those were the only wiggins I was aware of.

And along came the story of Ender Wiggin. My friend--the bright-eyed 22 year old--now has another reason to call me "Grandpa Simpson" because I had never read "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Of course he was about 5 when the book came out and I was in a college fraternity and drinking heavily at the time (ironically just as the 22 year old is today). It's a wonderful book; it's science fiction, but people who don't like science fiction usually really like this book. I'm thinking about getting it for my oldest son, who really enjoys reading. The book tells the story of Andrew Wiggin, a five year old boy who everyone is counting on to save the world. Not a lot of stress, eh? When I was five I was more concerned with digging holes and riding my Big Wheel. After reading this book, I have found out there there is an entire series of books in the "Ender Saga". The next book is called "Speaker For The Dead", but I've been encouraged to read first a collection of 4 short stories published in September, 2004 called "First Meetings: In The Enderverse". This collection includes the original short story "Ender's Game" as well as two stories about Ender's parents, John Paul and Theresa. These two stories are a prequel to the first book; also included is a story that bridges the first book to the second in the series, "Speaker For The Dead". I, too, recommend "First Meetings" before you continue on in the series.