Having already read my Christmas book, and knowing I'd have no time for the very last in the Thomas Covenant series 'Against all things ending" (that's one I had been eagerly awaiting, but need uninterrupted reading time for) I handed that back in unread and picked up a slim volume from another of my favourite authors.
Orson Scott Card will be familiar to many for his classic Sci Fi novel, Ender's Game. The War of Gifts, is a short story of one of the many by-plays, that can be envisaged happening in Battle School, during Ender's time there.
For the uninitiated Ender is the most brilliant of hundreds of brilliant children, who have been removed at a very young age from their parents (to reduce the effect of culture & religion) and sent to Battle School...situated on a space station above the Earth. there is no contact with family again until the war is ended.
The children are being trained in war craft so they will be ready to fight off the invasion fleet of Formics, which is already in transit. The children are from all nations and cultures, so to promote a sense of the unity of Humankind against the alien enemy, all religious and cultural observances are banned.
Therefore Christmas does not exist.
The War of Gifts explores what happens when a fundamentally religious person is put into this
environment, and observes a Dutch boy leaving his shoes out of his locker for Sinterklaas to fill.
Orson Scott Card is a fantastic writer who draws you into the psychology of a character, poses moral and intellectual dilemmas and most often provides solutions...usually in the most unexpected of manners.
Prior knowledge of the series is not required to enjoy this tale which explores the true meaning of Christmas 'gifts'.
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