Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Laddertop  By  cover art

Laddertop

By: Emily Janice Card, Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Emily Janice Card, Stefan Rudnicki
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $7.76

Buy for $7.76

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

An original science fiction tale by the best-selling author of Ender’s Game and his daughter.

Twenty five years ago, the alien Givers came to Earth and bestowed upon the human race the greatest technology ever seen—four giant towers known as Ladders that rise 36,000 miles and culminate in space stations that power the entire planet. Then, for reasons unknown, the Givers disappeared. Due to the unique alien construction of the Laddertop space stations, only a skilled crew of children can perform the maintenance necessary to keep the stations up and running.

Back on Earth, competition is fierce to enter Laddertop Academy. It is an honor few students will achieve. Best friends Robbi and Azure, two 11-year-old girls who are candidates for the academy, will become entangled in a dangerous mystery that may help them solve the riddle of the Givers—if it doesn’t destroy the Earth first.

©2011 Orson Scott Card and Emily Janice Card (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The main characters in this volume are largely female, strong and intelligent, a wonderful departure from maledominated extraterrestrial offerings…An intriguing beginning—readers will clamor for the followup.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about Laddertop

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    118
  • 4 Stars
    83
  • 3 Stars
    63
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    27
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    152
  • 4 Stars
    71
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    12
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    113
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    57
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    31

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

For immature readers (no offense intended).

What disappointed you about Laddertop?

Quite a few things unfortunately. I've read and then have listened to almost every OSC novel. I don't really enjoy short stories because there's usually no real depth. I was amazed really that the book is read like a dramatized play, like an old time players theater when radio was the only entertainment, with sound effects and da-da-ta-duuuh music. Very distracting to me. The story and the writing is very simple and the childish voices (but then, this is a book about children which included their self-centered view of life) were a bit irritating. That was probably my biggest disappointment. That is until I reached the end of the book. The last few lines took a weird left turn and then, huh? It's over? I had to back it up and listen to the ending again. Perhaps I missed something. The last section seemed to have no relevance to the direction of the story. I suppose this could be the first of a series but the first book is usually 3.5 plus hours long. I fear this is the book. The end.

What was most disappointing about Orson Scott Card and Emily Janice Card ’s story?

The silliness of the kid's interactions. I'm used to OSC's kids being more mature, even when they're 5 or 6 years old. These kids were probably more true to life. The conversations were petty and immature. For this reason pre-adolescents would probably enjoy the story and presentation better. The adults in the story were shallow. And one more thing. The conversations of the adults made it seem they were discussing the intentions of the Givers for the first time instead of having 25 years of experience with the incomprehensible equipment.

Which character – as performed by Emily Janice Card and Stefan Rudnicki – was your favorite?

Didn't really have one. If I have to pick it would be Roberta.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment and a bit of disbelieve that this was an Orson Scott Card book.

Any additional comments?

I had similar reactions to Pretty Boy and Space Boy which I had listened too just before Laddertop. Come on.... did Mr. Card really write these books? (No offense intended.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Very Disappointing

I have purchased and enjoyed every Card download available on Audible except for laddertop. If it was any other author, I would have given up at 30 minutes.

The story appears to be a cross between a short story and a script for a play. The disconcerting style allows for zero character development.

Nothing interesting happens and the ending is so underwhelming that I listened to the last five minutes twice not believing that OSC would allow something so lame to be promoted with his name.

The performance gets a three only due to Stephan Rudnicki. EJC sounds as if her voice is modulated to increase the listener's discomfort.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

what a let down

I am a fan of Card. I enjoy his style of story telling and his character development.

When I downloaded this I expected a short story but not one that lacked depth. It seemed like I purchased a pre-release introduction. After good character and plot introduction the story stopped. What happened to the next 10 hours of story line?

I am actually going to ask for a refund on this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

incomplete only half the chapters

incomplete story ends in the middle missing half its chapters
second half isn't available making this frustrating and useless

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

where's the end

The story is nicely written, but it just ended when it appeared to be just getting started. Maybe I missed something important and I was interrupted several times near the end but it just left me hanging. It had all the features that made most of Card's other books so readable but ... Where's the Beef???

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Lacking in all areas

3 stars because of Rudnicki's performance. If he was the only performer then overall would be 2 stars. Audio engineer has volume up way too high when it overlaps performs. Great example first 3 minutes of the "book".

The book lacks time scale (no clue how much time passes between major events), forced protagonist triggers (all the adults break out in arguments because protagonist fails a thing that people rarely pass), and a severe lack of general character development.

Everything felt rushed and trite. The performance, sound effects, and excessive music were all trying desperately to distract from the other massive failings.

Big fan of OSC. Daughter needs to try again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

not a book

just an introduction. there is no story only a story idea. needs to be massively expanded and developed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

incomplete

this story just feels incomplete. It's all for shadowing with no action. idk why it wasn't fleshed out

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Cannot Be The Entire Story

The music was jarring, annoying and lasted too long. Sound effects were not needed. The footsteps during the soccer game were distracting. The voices were pretty good and I'm interested enough in the story to want to know the ending. Strange production.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not Card's best

There was a decent premise, but not a good attempt. The narration was pretty poor too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful