I have not finished the book yet, but I want to make sure I'm clear on a couple things. Peter was not kept becasue he was too mean and unreliable. Valentine was not kept becasue she was too nice. Is that right?

So Ender, who is very intelligent, learns quickly, and can obey is selected to move on. However it appears that in several instances Ender reacts like Peter would in some circumstances. Even Ender realizes this. He is not punished however. Are they trying to instill a killer instinct in him?

Also he is a "third", so was he conceived simply to fight? His parents were very sad to see him go and yet it sounds as though they knew he would eventually go off to fight.

Sherrie, to try and answer some of your questions about the book. I finished it Friday and didn't like the book until the end. I am not a huge sci-fi fan. And you are right about Peter and Valentine...Peter was thought to be too mean and too uncontrollable and Valentine was thought to be too nice. Ender is a third and his parents had to get special permission to have him. They wanted him to have some of Valentine's traits and some of Peter's killer instincts. That is why he made it so far...he was the perfect combination. As far as his parents, they had to sign a contract that if they had a third, then he would be "the systems" and they could do with him whatever they wanted. Hope that clears up some of your questions.

Randy

Thanks Randy, that helps me too!

I just wonder if Peter would have turned out so rotten if he had been the one who was chosen instead of having to watch Ender (a Third of all things) be picked. I know they said that the reason he wasn't chosen was because he was so aggressive, but I think being on the losing end of the competition made things worse for him. By the end of the book, I was hoping that Peter was maybe a little nicer after he had found his own little niche in the world.