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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Five out of five aliens (because it’s sci-fi haha) Just finished this fantastic book! Really loved getting close the main character and it was such an easy read. I haven’t actually shut my brain off and read in a while and this one was perfect for just that. Really suggest for anyone that likes sci-fi or is just getting into sci-fi as it’s not too intense with world-building or technologies. As someone who is just getting into sci-fi, I can say it was super easy to follow.
Yes
Science fiction at its finest. This book kept me engaged from start to finish. The plot twist was devastating, and the side plot with Ender’s siblings was just as engaging as the main. I found it interesting that in an interstellar war with an alien species, the US and Russia were still trying to outmaneuver one another, and resume aggressions once the major threat was over.
this book was very thought provoking! Well written!
What a great read. Nothing else to say.
When I think of great authors, imaginative writing, and surprising twists, I think of Ender’s Game. Great book.
I’m not a big sci-fi fan but this is an awesome book.
The book was stupid and badly written.
Great book about thinking outside of the box. This was on the Marine Corps must read book list when I was on active duy.
Such a good sci-fi!!! Won’t regret reading this book! And I love Ender!
A favorite of mine for years. I love the characters and what they go through. This book had my imagination running the whole time. It has both inspired and impacted me in a way few books have.
Read this book 25 years ago, and I was blown away by it. The movie is a decent adaptation, but the book is astounding. Read the book before seeing the movie.
Great read and great movie – read and then watch
It isn’t possible for me to avoid comparing Ender’s Game to The Forever War, since I read them both this year and they’re the only sci-fi I’ve read in a long time. But there is no comparison. Mr. Scott avoided getting bogged down in the technology of Ender’s world. Instead, he focused on character and story and the situation ethics that arise in war. And in love.
Scott brilliantly made his characters young children, which introduced all kinds of interesting psychological dynamics and gave him an out for not dealing with a lot of sexual undercurrents that wouldn’t have added to this particular story.
Ender’s Game is a big novel about big, grown-up themes. I wholeheartedly recommend it, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
A classic
A classic. Card at his best.
Loved it
This is really a great read. Loved the story and the characters. But if you peel back all of that good stuff, I also found that the way the author endeared the reader to the main character, how that character won over the other kids was a brilliant study in leadership. How to earn respect. (Which, I think is missing more and more in our society today). That underlining leadership theme is really what carries the story. The recruitment, training and battles were just the way the author got that point across.
Highly recommend this book. (Not only for readers but for future leaders as well).
I really enjoyed this book. I wound up reading the entire series.
This book had a massive impact on me. The idea of kids being trained to be killers was one thing, but that it’s government sanctioned to save humanity from aliens is another. The story is complex, including politics of overpopulation, aside from the more obvious elements of human life after learning that aliens are real. The story is also gritty and realistic, to the point that you can almost feel the beatings Ender takes at the hands of his brother. An amazing read. Highly recommended!