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Ender's Game

Ender #1 / 4
by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Game (Ender #1) by Orson Scott Card
  ★ 8.80 / 73
1★2★3★24★5★56★7★238★99★3410★

Nebula Award 1985, Hugo Award 1986.

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut — young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

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Standard Shelves
Updated 04/07/2025
Category: Science Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Movie, Nebula Award, Hugo Award
Release date: 1985

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Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card

Before Ender’s Game became required reading in classrooms and a touchstone for science fiction fans worldwide, it was just a short story—one that Orson Scott Card wrote while trying to understand how humanity might survive its own genius. That idea, born of curiosity and a deep interest in moral complexity, would eventually grow into a sprawling series exploring war, empathy, leadership, and the loneliness of brilliance.

Born in Richland, Washington in 1951 and raised mostly in Utah and California, Card grew up in a family where storytelling was a living thing—spoken, passed down, constantly evolving. Though he began his career writing plays and studying literature, he found his true voice in speculative fiction. And when he wrote Ender’s Game—and later Speaker for the Dead—he did something science fiction rarely dared at the time: he treated the genre as a tool for exploring the human soul.

Read more ...

Card’s stories often revolve around young protagonists placed in impossible moral situations—characters like Ender Wiggin, whose tactical genius hides a tortured conscience. Rather than romanticizing heroism, Card leans into the consequences of power, especially when it’s given to children. His work blends emotional depth with high-stakes storytelling, and he’s known for his skill in portraying complex interpersonal dynamics, particularly within families and communities.

He is one of the few authors to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards two years in a row—first for Ender’s Game and then for Speaker for the Dead—an achievement that reflects both critical acclaim and cultural resonance. But even beyond the Enderverse, Card has ventured into historical fiction, fantasy (The Tales of Alvin Maker), and even religious commentary, always writing with a voice that challenges, provokes, and invites reflection.

Card’s influence in science fiction is undeniable, but his writing often resists the genre’s traditional boundaries. His characters are rarely just heroes or villains—they're people shaped by trauma, faith, and moral ambiguity. That willingness to dig beneath the surface has drawn both admiration and controversy, making his career one of the most talked-about in modern speculative fiction.

In one interview, Card remarked, “Every person is the center of their own story.” It's a philosophy that underpins much of his work—whether he's writing about a child commander in deep space or a young visionary reshaping early America. For readers willing to grapple with big questions, Card’s books don’t offer easy answers—just the kind that stay with you.

Ender

The Ender's Game Series (or Ender Series), a series of science fiction books by Orson Scott Card.

Ender consists of four primary books, and includes three additional books that complement the series but are not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

Main series Enderverse

Ender's Game (Ender #1)
  ★ 8.80 / 73
Speaker for the Dead (Ender #2)
  ★ 8.12 / 32
Xenocide (Ender #3)
  ★ 7.52 / 19
Children of the Mind (Ender #4)
  ★ 7.00 / 12
First Meetings (Ender)
  ★ 6.00 / 3
A War of Gifts (Ender)
  ★ 5.00 / 2
Ender in Exile (Ender)
  ★ 6.66 / 3


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