📚心得【戰爭遊戲】｜Review《Ender's Game 》 by Orson Scott Card, 1985

#第一次接觸 #種族戰爭 #軟科幻 #有繁體版 #電影

「當我真正了解敵人的那一刻，了解得足以擊敗他，那麼在那一刻，我同時也是愛著他的；就在我愛上他們的那一刻，我就得毀滅他們。」

「我會讓他們再也無法傷害我，我會一直折磨他們，直到他們不存在。」

大家對這部作品應該都不陌生，2013年有拍成電影，當時票房也不差。會挑這本來看的原因，主要是在Goodreads的20世紀科幻經典書單上看到，想說通常電影版都會省略片段主劇情與各種細節，覺得這樣的經典自己應該拜讀一下。

讀完後第一時間的感想是：電影玷汙了原作小說。

雖然不能怪青少年演員們，但Ender在原作他人的眼中是天才嗜血怪物、在老師眼中是不得不欺負的少年救世主、在兄姊眼中是如鏡子般的存在、在自己眼中是疲勞的孤狼，這樣的心理意象並沒有透過演技表現出來，Ender不斷思考自己到底是小孩、軍人、被霸凌者、指揮官、救世主、法西斯種族滅絕者之中何者定位的心路歷程也精簡許多，說真的可惜了這麼好的原作。

整部作品多著重在主角訓練與和其他同儕、教官的相處過程，與人類這樣的獨立個體思維和蟲族的蜂巢思維何者是比較有利的演化方式，戰爭與遊戲本身雖然也占了不少篇幅，但就像主角Ender自己所說的：規則都訂好了，目標也訂好了，整體會如何發展都知道了，自己就像一隻被丟在設計好的迷宮裡的白老鼠，迷宮如何根本不重要，自己只是知道如何到達終點的玩物。

作品本身實在不能被算在硬科幻光譜，尤其後半段用了Xeno Tech，有了人造重力、無法被干擾的FTL瞬間通訊、分子雷射(Doctor Device)等，間接開啟了如人造黑洞、時光機、Star Killer等各種能毀天滅地的潛在選項，一不小心連自己也能輕鬆滅掉，設定方面不是很滿意。

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IMO總分：77分，劇情與角色心境都很注重、但科學部分很軟的優秀作品。

核心思想：★★★★☆ 核心討論議題是否有趣*5

劇情細節：★★★★☆ 綜觀整體劇情的質與量*4

角色刻畫：★★★★★ 角色群的必要性與深度*3

科學軟硬：★★☆☆☆ 是否符合現實物理現象*3

結局滿意：★★★★☆ 結局滿意度與有無餘韻*3

易讀程度：★★★★☆ 閱讀時章節是否難消化*2

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#First_Contact #War_Between_Races #Chinese_Translated #Movie

"The moment I truly understood my enemy, the moment I knew them well enough to defeat them, was the moment I also loved them. It was at that same moment, when I came to love them, that I had to destroy them."

"I will make sure they can never harm us again. I will torment them endlessly until they no longer exist."

I assume most are familiar with this work. It was adapted into a movie in 2013, which wasn't bad in terms of box office performance. The reason I chose to read it now was mainly because I saw it on Goodreads' list of 20th-century sci-fi classics. I figured that, as is often the case with movie adaptations, many details and subplots would likely be omitted, so I thought it would be worthwhile to read the original myself.

My immediate reaction after finishing the book was: The movie has defiled the original novel.

I can't blame the young actors, but in the original work, Ender is seen by others as a bloodthirsty genius monster of a human child in the eyes of his peers, a young savior who must be tormented by his teachers, a mirror image to his blood siblings, and a weary lone wolf in his own eyes. This rich psychological imagery wasn't conveyed through acting. The protagonist's journey of questioning his identity — whether he is a child, soldier, victim, commander, savior, or fascist exterminator of an entire species — was greatly condensed. Honestly, it's such a pity that this outstanding original work felt mishandled.

This story focuses heavily on the protagonist's training and interactions with his peers and instructors, as well as the comparison between human individual thought and insect hive-mind mentality in terms of evolutionary advantages. While the war and games do take up significant portions, they feel like a maze designed for the protagonist to navigate, where he just needs to know how to reach the end rather than caring about the maze itself.

Frankly speaking, this work doesn't fall under hard sci-fi, especially in its latter half when it introduces Xenotech with elements like artificial gravity, undisturbable FTL instant communication, molecular lasers (called "Little Doctor"), and more. These elements inadvertently open up potential options for even more destructive concepts like artificial black holes, time machines, and Star Killers, making it all too easy to annihilate ourselves as well — a direction I'm not particularly satisfied with in terms of worldbuilding.

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IMO Rating: 77. A work that carefully balances story and character development but falters somewhat on the scientific aspects. Still an outstanding piece despite its softer sci-fi elements.

Core Theme: ★★★★☆☆ (*5)

Plot Quality: ★★★★☆☆ (*4)

Character Development: ★★★★★ (*3)

Science Validity: ★★☆☆☆ (*3)

Ending Satisfaction: ★★★★☆☆ (*3)

Readability: ★★★★☆ (*2)