Adam Shields

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Comparing Versions)

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Ender's Game by Orson Scott CardSummary: A comparison of the difference in storyline between Ender’s Game and Ender’s Game Alive.

After I listened to Ender’s Game Alive last week (a radio-styled audio drama) I decided to re-read Ender’s Game in print.

Ender’s Game is a story that has had lots of versions.  It was originally a short story.  Then Card expanded it into a full length book.  Then Card revised it to the ‘Author’s Definitive Version’.  And now there is Ender’s Game Alive and the Ender’s Game movie.

In addition there have been a number of short stories that have expanded on scenes from the book or provided background.  There is a whole book that was falls between the last two chapters of Ender’s Game and a whole series that starts by telling this same story from a different character’s perspective.

So when I listened to Ender’s Game Alive and commented on my disappointment with the abridgement I got a little push back.  I was going to re-read Ender’s Game anyway.  But I read it with an eye to see the places that were handled differently.

Having read both within a couple days of each other, I agree, Ender’s Game Alive is really a different version of the story more than an abridgement.  But I stand by the fact that I think it does not give enough character development to Ender.  (Stop reading now if you don’t want any spoilers.)

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4 Kindle Tools You Should Use: Dictionary, Wikipedia, Translation, Content Errors

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Obviously I am a fan of ebooks.  But I am a fan, not just because they are portable, are sometimes cheaper, or because they don’t take up shelf space.  I am a fan of ereaders because of the tools that they bring to reading.

There are three in particular that most ereaders have that everyone should use.

bDictionary – almost every ereader now has a built in dictionary.  For kindle all you need to do is touch the word (on touch screen kindles) or move the cursor to the word on non-touch screen kindles.  That will either pop up a dictionary or bring up an entry along the bottom of the page.  Everyone needs a dictionary at some point, so you might as well get used to using it.  The new Kindle Paperwhite also has a flashcard game that uses the words that use lookup in your dictionary to help teach vocabulary.

Wikipedia – Everyone knows that Wikipedia should not be used to write papers.  But it is a good enough system to give a good overview of almost anything.  On the new Kindles the wikipedia is a tab on the dictionary popup.  So if there is not a good definition in the dictionary then you should try wikipedia.  It is particularly helpful with names and places.

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Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment by Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom

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Is the Reformation Over?: An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism

Summary: A very clear and balanced look at how the Evangelical and Catholic churches are moving closer but still have theological issues that hold them apart.

I have read a lot of Catholics (or Evangelicals that have converted to Catholicism) lately.  So Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom’s book is a different take at Catholicism.

There are some great parts of this book and some weaker parts of this book.  The weakest part is the back and forth discussion of the many discussions between Protestant denominations and Catholics.  This was interesting, but repetitive; it seemed to just keep going on and on.  Many of the issues between Protestants and Catholics keep coming up again and again.  However, I do not know a better way to present the data, and it needed to be presented.

The discussion of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together statements were more interesting.  For one, there were a number of interviews with the participants.  These were mostly high profile and interesting people.  I was disappointed that Noll did not speak specifically of his involvement narratively.  (He was one of the original signers.)

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Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism by Molly Worthen

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Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism by Molly Worthen

Takeaway: The strength and weakness of Evangelicalism as a movement is its attachment to culture and it flexibility around authority.

Evangelicalism is my tradition.  I grew up Baptist, often going with a friend to an Evangelical Free Church youth group.  I participated occasionally in Young Life.  I went to Wheaton College and I now attend a non-denominational mega-church.  I am solidly Evangelical.

Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism is a history of modern Evangelicalism. And like hearing about your family as an adult, you hear things you thought you knew about, but from a different perspective than what you thought you understood as a child.

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Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power by Andy Crouch

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Takeaway: Power is too important for us as Christians to not think deeply about.

This has been a hard review for me to write.  I finished Playing God nearly three weeks ago now, but have been unable to bring myself to write up the review.

This is an important book, whether you agree with the basic thesis or not.  Power is part of the order of the world.  Some have more power than others, some are given it easily and others struggle with it.  Some use their power wisely and others use it to abuse.  But we all have power.

Andy Crouch suggests that the highest power is creative power.  And the best use of power is creating in a way that empowers others.  This is power in God’s image.  He created us and through that creation gave us the ability use our own power.

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Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Divergent #3)

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Short Review: I wanted to like it more than I did. But not nearly as bad as many of the reviews.

Allegiant is the highly anticipated third book in dystopian trilogy.  Starting with Insurgent and then Divergent, Allegiant tells the story of a post-apocalyptic Chicago.

Five factions (essentially small tribal groups) formerly to ruled the city.  But after Tris and Four released a video at the end of the last book, everyone realizes there is something outside the border, something that is influencing how the factions work.

Tris and Tobias leave the city as part of a larger group to find out what is outside the city.

Early reviews of Allegiant have not been good.  As I started writing this review on Friday the 25th, just 3 days after it was released there are already 746 reviews on Amazon, 300 of them are 1 star reviews. (Monday morning the 28th, 6 days after released there were 1311 reviews with only 502 of them being 4 or 5 stars.) The fans that have been waiting more than 18 months for this third installment are not happy.

I think some of the criticism is valid.  The beginning was a bit rough.  It took me a good quarter of the book to get into the real groove of the story and be invested in the characters again.

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Ender’s Game Alive (Full Cast Audioplay)

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Summary: Interesting as a new version of the classic, but not as good as the full book.

I am not an objective listener to Ender’s Game Alive.  I have read Ender’s Game more than any other books (I would guess around a dozen or so times.)  I usually say it is my all time favorite book.

So when Orson Scott Card started promoting a full cast audioplay (an old fashioned radio drama) I picked it up. (Of course it was timed to release right before the new Ender’s Game movie which released Nov 1.)  Orson Scott Card got his start writing as a playwright.  And as a stand alone play, it is well done.

Stefan Rudnicki (who is my favorite narrator) performed and produced the audioplay.  So he was a familiar voice (he narrators and produces almost all of Orson Scott Card’s audiobooks.)  And there are very good (and familiar) other voices that are a part of the audioplay.  The production values are very good, this is just like the best of the old fashioned radio plays.

But there were two things apparent to me almost immediately.  First, this is a book that is mostly about children. But all of the voices were adult.  I don’t know what I expected.  It is not something that I thought was odd when I have listened to the regular audiobook or other children’s audiobooks.  But audiobooks are narrated by one or two voices and I don’t have an expectation of hearing children’s voices.

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