Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards
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 … 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.
Ender’s Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
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Outstanding! Author fought to keep love story out of his novel. Original character was a small boy, not the teen in the movie. Once again, the book is better than the movie. Reading this kind of book is the visual equivalent of opening a box of chocolates and inhaling deeply. Enjoy.
One of the top 10 all time great science fiction books.
I absolutely LOVE this book. I own multiple copies and have re-read it at least once a year for the past 20 years. Amazing story, fantastic character development, just WOW!
If you watched that pathetic movie they made, wipe all memory of it for your mind and then read this book. You’ll be glad you did!
This is a classic, but the world OC has created was future-tech – so it still works. The movie did a good job of explaining the story. But, honestly, nothing beats the kind of information about character, motivation and reasoning that good, solid writing can. If you loved the movie, I think the book will fill in the gaps and answer questions that the movie could not. This one is on my re-read shelf.
Loved it!
Thought provoking and entertaining
I have loved the Ender’s Game Book Collection for as long as I can remember, I have read every book in the series so many times that my paperback books are worn out and I have purchased replacement books a few times. I was happy when my husband got me a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 for Christmas so I could purchase a copy of the books in a format that I can read over and over, a format that will never wear out. I Love not only the book Ender’s Game, but every single book in the series, and even those that are related to it (especially the Shadow Series). What An Awesome read!!
Of all the books I’ve read, this is one that stays with me the most. Ender is such a real and complete character that I find him entering my thoughts from time to time. The world around him is also complete. And the story is touching, scary, and realistic. It brings up questions of how far we will go if we, as a society, are pushed into a bad situation.
In my opinion, this is not a story for children because of the adult themes. But I would recommend it to adults. It is extremely well written.
This book was horrendous. I hated every second of it. If I hadn’t had to read it for a project, I would’ve stopped reading by page three. And that’s tough for me. I normally have to finish what I’ve started, but this book was so painstakingly one-dimensional I wanted to cry. The characters are from all around the world and yet… they all have the same accent! Except one, and I never saw the purpose in him being different.
Ok so the plot line is adequate, but the world building and character development of anyone other than Ender is trash. Background characters are important for the story, and I feel that the way these characters were presented and shown off was very detrimental to the book.
Was likely great twenty years ago. Now feels dated. If new to genre, great starting point. Good read for teens. All in all, it’s fine. Maybe books later in the series will improve my impression. Have heard enough good things, I’ll try one more book from the series.
Well done, Mr. Card, well done.
Even if you’ve seen the movie, as usual, the book is better! Even though I enjoyed the movie immensely. They just couldn’t get everything into the movie, and I think the book at putting you in Ender’s skin.
Better than the movie