Ender as living literature
I had forgotten what it means to be reading something that is alive, that is still being written.
It had, until a moment ago, become habit for me to assume some fairly intimate knowledge of the world a saga took place in from the moment I picked it up, if not before I purchased it at all. (and I'm speaking of SciFi and Fantasy, just because the 'saga' phenomenon is more prevalent there...) I would set up, as part of my beginning knowledge of the fiction, the exact volume of work devoted to it, knowing that there would come a point at which the text would end, as the author has either moved on, has passed away, or is writing either other material, or in a sufficiently different style to as to 'betray' the original canon. (Yes I am that critical of writers, having spent much of my time as an aspiring one myself.)
Suffice to say, that was one of the boundaries of the fictional world--this is how much information we REALLY have on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and we can never get any more. Not really. That changes the way you look at the writing, and changes how you accept the endings given, the threads tied up or left loose, and the writing style used in general, the level of detail the world is presented in.
I began assuming this for all my reading because, for the vast majority of my reading, I have been consuming the work of dead or inactive writers. I start from the place of 'this will give me some perspective on the whole picture of what they're showing me.' (If you know me at all, you know I'm very much a big picture kind of guy.)
So, this is the attitude that, many years ago, I took on as I picked up Ender's Game for the first time. It's an easy mistake for a kid to make--picking up a little paperback, highly recommended by friends, and the front cover littered with awards and quotes. Clearly the book has been around, has been read by everyone that matters. More than that, but I'll talk more about the book itself in a bit. It was established, acclaimed. More than established. And I loved it. Truly loved it, more than many other books I've read, I took Ender's Game to heart and it stayed in there. I read the original quartet, loved it all, and gave it up for finished.
Some years later (it had taken me a while to get through Children of the Mind, one of the few books I've had to begin multiple times to finish once) I stumbled across Shadow of the Hegemon in a bookstore. I was struck with fear, and I never even picked it up. Orson Scott Card? I thought, Even HE has submitted to the artificial formulations of sequel-mongering? And to Ender? How sad.
I never even gave it a chance. Never even glanced, afraid I would be dreadfully disappointed. I wanted nothing to ruin the incredible magic I felt (still feel) toward Ender, toward the universe he inhabits. I didn't want them poisoned by sequel-writing.
That's why it took me this long to read them. A couple weeks ago I picked them up at a used bookstore, expecting to be disappointed. Moments ago (well, minutes ago now, as this has taken me a little while to write) I polished off Shadow of the Giant, last of the 'Shadow quartet' written as a parallel to the original Ender quartet. And I loved it almost as much as the original. And I realized something.
He's still not finished writing them.
It was such a magical thought to have, such an epiphany that this book was written in 2005, and he's not finished with the saga that already contains nine books (as of 2009 he just published Ender in Exile, a direct sequel to Ender's Game which I do not have yet). He wrote in (or rather didn't write in), at the END of a self-proclaimed quartet, a thread left unfinished, completely unattended to. I kept waiting for him to resolve it, and then to hurry up and resolve it. And he didn't. That takes guts to go from there and write on a completely different storyline.
Robert Jordan fans, eat your heart out.
Point being--Orson Scott Card is still around and kicking, and still churning out Ender books, albeit unpredictably. However, I know for certain that he will write at least one more, and until that thread is resolved, I will keep that knowledge securely. But it is alive. The books are being written by a man who is, currently and actively, reshaping the canon, adding to and molding the fictional universe that so many people have come to love. It is still his child, and he is asking it to grow more. Such an amazing feeling to, for a single moment, directly connect with that creation, to feel the pulse of that universe as yet more life is breathed into it from the author.
Back to Ender's Game however. I don't think it is a popular book anymore, because it is so much more than that. Not everyone has read it, certainly not everyone that matters (forgive the popular euphemism used above). But if you talk to someone who has read it, it more-than-likely means a hell of a lot to them. It has become the anthem of a generation without a banner. An anthem for a generation who does not understand the world, and does not see themselves as a part of anything else. An anthem for people nostalgic for the childhood camaraderie that they have lost as they grew up. An anthem for people unwilling to lose all that their childhood was, whatever the cost.
[Notes:
Personal examples of terminated sagas in different types--
Author passed away: Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Saga
Author moved on: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter Saga (vowed to never write again?)
Author writing other material: Stephen King, Dark Tower Saga
Author style change: Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon (no writing compares to the original book, though the 'saga' is about 8-12 books long now, by various authors)]
It had, until a moment ago, become habit for me to assume some fairly intimate knowledge of the world a saga took place in from the moment I picked it up, if not before I purchased it at all. (and I'm speaking of SciFi and Fantasy, just because the 'saga' phenomenon is more prevalent there...) I would set up, as part of my beginning knowledge of the fiction, the exact volume of work devoted to it, knowing that there would come a point at which the text would end, as the author has either moved on, has passed away, or is writing either other material, or in a sufficiently different style to as to 'betray' the original canon. (Yes I am that critical of writers, having spent much of my time as an aspiring one myself.)
Suffice to say, that was one of the boundaries of the fictional world--this is how much information we REALLY have on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and we can never get any more. Not really. That changes the way you look at the writing, and changes how you accept the endings given, the threads tied up or left loose, and the writing style used in general, the level of detail the world is presented in.
I began assuming this for all my reading because, for the vast majority of my reading, I have been consuming the work of dead or inactive writers. I start from the place of 'this will give me some perspective on the whole picture of what they're showing me.' (If you know me at all, you know I'm very much a big picture kind of guy.)
So, this is the attitude that, many years ago, I took on as I picked up Ender's Game for the first time. It's an easy mistake for a kid to make--picking up a little paperback, highly recommended by friends, and the front cover littered with awards and quotes. Clearly the book has been around, has been read by everyone that matters. More than that, but I'll talk more about the book itself in a bit. It was established, acclaimed. More than established. And I loved it. Truly loved it, more than many other books I've read, I took Ender's Game to heart and it stayed in there. I read the original quartet, loved it all, and gave it up for finished.
Some years later (it had taken me a while to get through Children of the Mind, one of the few books I've had to begin multiple times to finish once) I stumbled across Shadow of the Hegemon in a bookstore. I was struck with fear, and I never even picked it up. Orson Scott Card? I thought, Even HE has submitted to the artificial formulations of sequel-mongering? And to Ender? How sad.
I never even gave it a chance. Never even glanced, afraid I would be dreadfully disappointed. I wanted nothing to ruin the incredible magic I felt (still feel) toward Ender, toward the universe he inhabits. I didn't want them poisoned by sequel-writing.
That's why it took me this long to read them. A couple weeks ago I picked them up at a used bookstore, expecting to be disappointed. Moments ago (well, minutes ago now, as this has taken me a little while to write) I polished off Shadow of the Giant, last of the 'Shadow quartet' written as a parallel to the original Ender quartet. And I loved it almost as much as the original. And I realized something.
He's still not finished writing them.
It was such a magical thought to have, such an epiphany that this book was written in 2005, and he's not finished with the saga that already contains nine books (as of 2009 he just published Ender in Exile, a direct sequel to Ender's Game which I do not have yet). He wrote in (or rather didn't write in), at the END of a self-proclaimed quartet, a thread left unfinished, completely unattended to. I kept waiting for him to resolve it, and then to hurry up and resolve it. And he didn't. That takes guts to go from there and write on a completely different storyline.
Robert Jordan fans, eat your heart out.
Point being--Orson Scott Card is still around and kicking, and still churning out Ender books, albeit unpredictably. However, I know for certain that he will write at least one more, and until that thread is resolved, I will keep that knowledge securely. But it is alive. The books are being written by a man who is, currently and actively, reshaping the canon, adding to and molding the fictional universe that so many people have come to love. It is still his child, and he is asking it to grow more. Such an amazing feeling to, for a single moment, directly connect with that creation, to feel the pulse of that universe as yet more life is breathed into it from the author.
Back to Ender's Game however. I don't think it is a popular book anymore, because it is so much more than that. Not everyone has read it, certainly not everyone that matters (forgive the popular euphemism used above). But if you talk to someone who has read it, it more-than-likely means a hell of a lot to them. It has become the anthem of a generation without a banner. An anthem for a generation who does not understand the world, and does not see themselves as a part of anything else. An anthem for people nostalgic for the childhood camaraderie that they have lost as they grew up. An anthem for people unwilling to lose all that their childhood was, whatever the cost.
[Notes:
Personal examples of terminated sagas in different types--
Author passed away: Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Saga
Author moved on: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter Saga (vowed to never write again?)
Author writing other material: Stephen King, Dark Tower Saga
Author style change: Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon (no writing compares to the original book, though the 'saga' is about 8-12 books long now, by various authors)]