Kramodlog
Naked and living in a barrel
I've already seen the film.It's on my top books list so I'm far from unbiased, and I first read it decades ago when the tropes weren't so worn down. Though it's harder for me to read now that I have children (same reason I can't reread Game of Thrones). If the ends justify the means is explored and deconstructed in the book, not just taken as a given. And if you haven't already spoiled twists I suggest not reading any reviews or seeing the movie.
Now that I'm passed 100 pages, I can say the book is also a power fantasy for kids who are bullied and like to play video games. Maybe it was special in 1985, but nowadays it seems pretty common.
The writing is fine. Card's prose is simple, clear, it avoids the opacity of other sci-fi novels. I do find myself cheering for Ender sometimes too. Aside from Card's politics in the novel (and real life), the problem is that I just do not like the plot and the characters. I'm suprised it is a classic.
For other reasons, I've decided that it would take a tremendously good first book,thebest book, to get me to read more than the first book of a series. More often then not I felt cheated* by the following books in a series. Like the author builds is or her universe in the first novel and then stretches the plot over too many books just to make a buck. Discworld is intriguing because it isn't always the same characters of plot.BTW, if you do finish it, stop there. The other books in the series are something different, and reading Ender's Shadow last year (the same timeframe told from Bean's PoV) actively harmed my enjoyment of Ender's Game.
* It is a bit too strong a word.