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)

Riviting

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

This is the first time with Audible, this was a "GREAT BOOK" to start out with. Yes, I intend to listen to it again. I listen at work and in the car, the plot kept me intrigued, I could actually "visualize" what was happening and all the players. IT's wonderful. I must apologize to my office mates for getting upset with them when they interrupt me. But it was that good, I didn't want to miss a minute of it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ender is my favorite caaracter, because it was wonderful to imagine a child being so brilliant and accomplishing so much at such a young age. I just wish there were children in thisday and time that could do that. Excell above all odds.

Which character – as performed by Stefan Rudnicki and Harlan Ellison – was your favorite?

Not sure which parts they played so I'm unable to give a real opinion, but everyone I heard was great.

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

Yes, butI listened over several days.

Any additional comments?

Hope the movie is as exciting as the book.

Lacks Suspense

NO SPOILER: The common traits I find in books that I really enjoy are, an interesting plot that keeps me guessing, characters that I really care about and good narration (for audiobooks). Ender's game has a good mix of narration that was enjoyable, but I don't find that I was too concerned about what happened to Ender or anyone else for that matter. We get to see inside his head pretty far, but for some reason, his struggles were not mine and that made a difference in my involvement. This book really lacked the nail biting suspense that causes you to shush everyone around you and stop everything you are doing to listen. Also, the insertion of children even caring about, much less being heavily involved in world politics was so unreasonable that it didn't add anything to the main point of the story. I understand it is fiction, but at some point it is too unbelievable to add value... in the same way it would be to write a story about a newborn leading an army to victory. The main part of battle school was interesting and all of the changes Ender goes through does keep you wondering 'What's the point?'. The ending is fairly satisfying and does make you appreciate the title of the book in new light. I would not recommend a friend to use a credit on this, however, I do not regret reading it. You can listen at 1.5x speed pretty comfortably. Hope this helps. Later.

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Sci-Fi with a Heart and Soul

What did you love best about Ender's Game?

This was a book that used science fiction and a futuristic battle school to set the stage for a heart-warming story of courage and perseverance. The contrast was incredible, the readers were Oscar-award winning actors for all I could tell, and every moment was captivating due to that.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ender's Game?

Ender's first experience as commander.... pretty awesome.

What about Stefan Rudnicki and Harlan Ellison ’s performance did you like?

Everything about the performance of the voice actors was incredible. They were truly invested in making the story memorable for the readers/listeners.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Love is a Battlefield.

a great listen

What made the experience of listening to Ender's Game the most enjoyable?

I was looking for a book in the same vein as Swan Song, Hunger Games and Dune and the reviews of this story seem to fit the bill. It was an easy listend and kept me finding ways to listen, housework, driving gardening etc.

What did you like best about this story?

Once again it was the futuristic aspect that I enjoyed and also the concept that good over comes evil and then to find there is a twist at the end...

Surprisingly good

I am really surprised that I enjoyed this novel. I tend to get so bogged down when I read dystopian novels that I figured this would be yet another one that blends into the genre. That really isn't the case here. This book does have elements from other dystopians but it built it in a nice and semi unique way. I can see why so many people try and emulate this book.

I will admit, I went into this novel anticipating that I would hate it. It's petty but I'm not a huge fan of Orson Scott Card's political standings so I just assumed I would hate this book because I dislike the artist. Though I may not like him, I did enjoy his book. I think that he was able to bring a dark and dreary aspect to the genre and make it seem interesting and almost hopeless in a manner.

The characters were interesting and I struggled with the age of the kids in this story. I liked that Orson Scott Card may sure that you remembered how young everyone was. It was tragic in a good way. The characters though young, were interesting to read about and I think that many people will be able to relate in some sort of way with one of the Wiggins kids.

For those of you who are on the fence with this book, I will say to give it a shot. Sometimes you really can separate the art from the artist.

Great Book!

Loved it and it had great narration to go along with. Listened to it quite a few times now.

Stands the test of time.. amazing!

If you are at all concerned about this book feeling dated dont fret! I had my reservations and let this book sit in my wist list for nearly six months. I just listed through the whole thing in a few days and am pleased to say that it lives up to all the hype.

I would recommend that any science fiction fans read this book. It is a classic work that speaks to today's audience as loudly as it did back int he 80's. I chose to listen to the audio version of this book and it was performed extremely well. Card suggests that his book is best read aloud and the work put into the twentieth anniversary audio edition proves him right. Ender's Game has quickly become one of my all time favorite works of fiction.

A backbone of the sci-fi genre

Any additional comments?

I have been meaning to read Ender’s Game since I was in high school but somehow never got around to it. That may partially be because I’ve tended to lean more towards the Fantasy half of the sci-fi/ fantasy genre until very recently.

Orson Scott Card’s timeless sci-fi classic has definitely earned its classification as one of the pillars of modern sci-fi. The elements that Card contributes and expands upon are pervasive throughout the genre now. First and foremost this is the story of a young kid that is forced from a very young age to become an adult. That process is not laid gently at his feet; rather he is forced rather abruptly into becoming the ultimate soldier of the era.

Ender is a not typical 6-year-old boy when the story begins. He is the victim of prejudice from his peers and heartless bullying by his brother. Those themes follow Ender throughout the story while exposing the effects of war on the psyche of child soldiers. It does not seem like Card’s goal here is to disparage child soldiers in places like Africa, because, let’s face it, those children and their war lords are not the intended audience of the sci-fi genre. Rather, Ender’s Game is very much a classic coming of age tale focusing on the human ability to adapt and endure through hardship.

However, there is very real dialogue from some of the auxiliary characters in this book debating the merits of forcing children into war and putting them through such a hard regimen. Card says that a lot of the influence for this story came from our reality of sending 18-year-old kids to war and placing impossible expectations on them as they bear the brunt of any war effort. You can see that in a few of the scenes as the kids get more and more expectations thrust upon them throughout the story.

Aside from the real world problems and setting, Card does a fantastic job of creating characters that are relatable and genuine and putting them through difficult and impossible situations and showing how hard it is to retain our humanity in those situations. The story is very well paced, despite spending most of the time in a training school, the training itself and the evolution of the characters make this feel like a much shorter story than it actually is and I can’t think of a higher praise than that.

Wonderful book

A interesting premise with some nice suprises. Both me and my 12 year old son enjoyed it.