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Reawakening

The Side-Step Trilogy #2 / 3
by Orson Scott Card
Reawakening (The Side-Step Trilogy #2) by Orson Scott Card
⧗ 9.50 / 6
12345671819410

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ender’s Game comes Reawakening, the thrilling sequel to Wakers, following Laz as he uses his abilities to travel to parallel worlds and fight to save them.

Laz has already saved humanity before.

As a side-stepper, Laz was born with the power to jump his consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. He used this power to find a new home for humanity after learning his own Earth was destined to be destroyed. And he hoped his help would never be needed again.

But now he’s being called on once more to use his powers to change the course of history. This time, it’s not just the fate of the world at stake—but many worlds.

And only Laz has the ability to stop the coming interdimensional war from consuming them all.

Also known as Wakers Book 2.
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Science FictionYoung Adult
Release date: November 11, 2025

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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.

The Side-Step Trilogy

In a world where identity is no longer bound by a single timeline, The Side-Step Trilogy bends reality into a question: what if every version of you still existed—and you could take their place?

This quietly mind-bending series begins with Wakers, where teenage Laz discovers he can "side-step" into alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. It’s not a flashy superpower; it’s a terrifying escape hatch—one he pulls only when life becomes unbearable. But when Laz wakes up in a cloning facility surrounded by hundreds of motionless copies of himself, the rules of his ability, and the very nature of his identity, begin to fracture.

Read more ...

As the trilogy unfolds, it doesn't just leap across dimensions—it digs deep into what makes a person whole. Each book builds on the unsettling tension between autonomy and design, freedom and fate. In Reawakening, Laz confronts the consequences of tampering with timelines, not just for himself, but for the fragile, overlapping realities he's begun to unravel.

What makes the trilogy so compelling isn’t just its multiverse premise or speculative science fiction edge—it’s the haunting quiet between the chaos. The loneliness of a boy who doesn’t know which version of himself is real. The ethical unease of borrowed lives. The slow realization that some doors, once opened, can’t be closed again.

With the precision and psychological weight readers expect from the author of Ender’s Game, this series trades space battles for internal ones, asking not how far we can travel, but how far we’re willing to go to escape ourselves. The Side-Step Trilogy isn't loud—but it lingers.


The Side-Step Trilogy consists of two books and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

Wakers (The Side-Step Trilogy #1)
⧗ 9.00 / 1
Reawakening (The Side-Step Trilogy #2)
⧗ 9.50 / 6
The Side-Step Book 3 (The Side-Step Trilogy #3)
⧗ 9.00 / 2


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