A War of Gifts,
An Ender Story,
by Orson Scott Card
Tor, Tom Doherty Associates, New York, 2007. 126 pages.
Here’s a Christmas story that takes you into Ender’s world. We follow the story of Zeck, who’s been brought up to believe that Santa is a form of Satan. When Zeck is sent to Battle School, he refuses to participate or ever fire a weapon, because he also believes that War is not a valid field of study.
Then a Dutch boy puts out his shoe for Sinterklaas, and gets a Sinterklaas poem. This starts a trend of the students, where religion is forbidden, finding subversive ways to celebrate Christmas, claiming it’s a national observance, not a religious one.
As the “war of gifts” escalates, Zeck’s life is touched in a way that he doesn’t expect.
A nice Christmas story, quite different from typical ones. Ender fans will especially enjoy it.
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