Ender's Game

Special 20th Anniversary Edition

By: Orson Scott Card

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

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.

©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)

Did this guy have crystal ball?

For a story that is arguably 30 years old, the foresight of how games are played and how computers would operate is amazing. Did Steve Jobs model his Ipad on the Ender's desk? I wonder if Orson Scott Card is related to Nostradamus. Great Story, really well read with excellent voice characters. Love it.

Found Valentine's narrator difficult to listen to

I have loved Ender's game since I was 11 years old, now I am 24! I liked the use of multiple narrators for the different subplots. I couldn't really get used to Valentine's narrator, however. She sounded way too haughty, not the way I imagined Valentine. I found myself getting very annoyed with Valentine.

Well-performed refresher of a classic

If you could sum up Ender's Game in three words, what would they be?

Poor young Ender!

What other book might you compare Ender's Game to and why?

It isn't really a fair comparison, but I could compare it to Hunger Games in a few ways. The fact that the characters are children is a really important factor.

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

My favorite character is actually Colonol Graff. He is dynamic wih lots of sides to his personality.

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

One boy's fate is connected to the world.

Any additional comments?

Usually audiobooks with multiple casts distract me. This was the most seamless and well-performed multi-cast production I've seen. I read Ender's Game long ago and this was a great way to experience the story again!

Can't stand Gabrielle de Cuir's voice....

Good overall book, and mostly well narrated. Every chapter narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir, though...

Wowing!

One of the best I've read in a long time did not want it to end.