Ender's Game

Special 20th Anniversary Edition

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

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 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.

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Browse more titles in the Ender Wiggin series.

©1977, 1985, 1991 Orson Scott Card (P)2002 Fantastic Audio, an imprint of Audio Literature

Critic reviews

• Nebula Award Winner, Best Novel, 1985

• Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 1986

"'Intense' is the word for Ender's Game." (The New York Times)

I finally read my teenagers favorite book

I was worried this book would be more teenage boy focused. It is really well written. The reading is a little different in spots, but good. If you like scifi read this book. Great recommendation from my children.

Amazing

This book was fantastic. Though I don’t recommend this to younger kids. Some certain references are made that make me feel glad that I waited until I was older to read this book. The male reader was great, but the female didn’t deliver very well. I loved how the author doesn’t spell everything out fir you, but lets you piece the story together yourself. Altogether great book, highly recommended for teens.

Perfect

The best audio book I've listened to. Well written story, wonderful characters and excellent pace. Narration is exceptional. The multiple voices/accents contribute to the great storytelling.

Very well done

This is a great book. It is the story of the rollercoaster ride through the childhood of a boy that would become the savior of the human race. Many twists and turns brings out what I would consider to be one of the greatest fears that we have deep within each of us. One that we could be totally annihilated as a species. Cannot wait to get the next.

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Any additional comments?

It stops 4 minutes into the 14th chapter and no matter what I have tried, it keeps starting over or just stopping .

WOW I now feel like I'm in the CLUB

This book is the GOLD standard when reading Sci-Fi. It seemed like everyone but me had read it. I loved the interpersonal conflicts between characters. I didn't like the language. I liked how new and original the war games were presented and battle techniques. The climax was a real treat, yet the ending dragged on. A family member said the ending set up the next book in the series which was a flop.
Would I recommend this book? YES

Surprised

I didn't really expect much from this book despite previous reviews. I was quite pleasantly surprised and was sucked into it right away. I like this one a lot. The narration is quite well done.

Well worth it. Excellent book.

Well worth it. Excellent book, one of my all time favorites since my teen years. Primary narrator does well, but uses limited voices during chapters leading reader to sometimes guess who's speaking or rewind a bit to better determine from context.

AMAZING!

Would you listen to Ender's Game again? Why?

I still have this book downloaded to my phone and have started listening to it again already. The story itself is great and I have read the book once before, but the narration made this work come to life in a way that I never thought possible.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Griff by far at his best in this book. Got to love his attitude toward the world.

What does Stefan Rudnicki and Harlan Ellison bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having read the paper back version of this book I found my self amazed by the ability of the narrators to bring the story to life in my mind. having the ability to sit back close my eyes and see the story in my mind made listen to this book an unbelievable experience.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Many of the books that I listen to brad my attention but the Ender Series for some reason do it more so then many others. I am always disappointed to look down and see the book is nearly half over, even though I know I still have about 6 hours of listening time left.

Any additional comments?

The narration and the work itself were great, together they rival with perfection!

Good for sci-fi

I'm not that into science fiction, but my son is reading this in paperback so I decided to give it a try. This turned out to be a good listen for my commute.