Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Ender's Game  By  cover art

Ender's Game

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

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

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)

Featured Article: 35+ Quotes About Hard Work to Keep You Motivated and Moving Forward


The things most worth doing require the most from us—it takes hard work to accomplish important tasks, achieve major goals, and realize your dreams. Commitment, sweat, exhaustion, frustration, and a willingness to fail are all necessary parts of taking on challenges. When you’re in the middle of a difficult project, there will be times when you’re tempted to simply give up. In such moments, look to these quotes about hard work to keep you going.

What listeners say about Ender's Game

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    31,879
  • 4 Stars
    8,935
  • 3 Stars
    2,233
  • 2 Stars
    508
  • 1 Stars
    393
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23,467
  • 4 Stars
    7,248
  • 3 Stars
    1,810
  • 2 Stars
    337
  • 1 Stars
    228
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24,979
  • 4 Stars
    6,046
  • 3 Stars
    1,663
  • 2 Stars
    371
  • 1 Stars
    275

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

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

Totally Blown Away

Wow...all I can say is wow, believe the other reviewers, you need to read this book. This one is as good as it gets for sci-fi, but I think anyone can enjoy it. It is also a great performance, a wonderful listen as well as a great story.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

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

I guess it is time to admit (to myself) - I am not

the greatest fan of Mr. Card. I have listened to two of his books now and read one a long time ago. I think I find them a bit too 1960s SciFi in that the story is imaginative but a little two dimensional in plot and character. My tastes have moved on to more sophisticated stories, plots, and authors: Patrick Rothfus, George R.R. Martin, Stephen Donaldston (his "Chronicles") and the like. I was not bored and never once thought I wouldn't finish the book - just that while it was good Sci-Fi it is not great literature. I don't mind a good read. For example as a recent read: "The Help" was a great read. I wouldn't class it as great Lit, but it was a wonderful experience.

Just ignore this review if you also loved "Hunger Games," a book that stretched out a marvelous one-novel story into a weak trilogy. More Rothfus please!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not for readers of more sophisticated fare

With many dear friends who worship this book, I really, really wanted to like it. I'm not a sci-fi newbie, having read virtually everything by Bradbury, Asimov, Henry Cutter, and many others. Orson Card writes a very pedestrian novel here, with yet-another Messianic "The ONE" (a la Star Wars, the Matrix, the Wizard of OZ, Bible) thread about THE BOY (a heavily misogynistic tale) who will save mankind. The "this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you" style of Officer Training that 6-year old Ender Wiggin is put into would make an excellent model for suicide bomber camps everywhere. In fact, I'll bet it does!

Peter, the character who embodies pure evil, is as beguiling as Eddy Haskell from "Leave it to Beaver", but while the Cleavers could see straight through Eddy from the start, NO ADULT, but only Peter's young sister, can see him for what he is. Of course she is powerless to stop him, or resist him.

Everyone asked me to reflect on the "twist" in the story at the end. When I finally choked this whole thing down, I was bewildered. TWIST? Have you people ever read *any*thing else? Yes, it takes a tad bit unexpected turn at the end, and I'm told that I REALLY REALLY should try the more-sophisticated sequel. That's okay. I still have plenty of other things to read and *enjoy*.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

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

Join the war against the Buggers!

Ender's Game is considered a classic Sci Fi novel and after listening to this 20th anniversary version I can see why. There are plenty of concepts here to take issue with but I was so quickly sucked into the story of Ender Wiggen that I just went with the flow and didn't get caught up in the things that didn't make much sense.

Twice before the human race has faced extinction at the hands of the Buggers, an alien race that ruthlessly attacks without communicating in any way, and many feel the 3rd war is imminent. It is within this context that we learn about the battle school set up by the "IF" to train children to become commanders of the human fleet. With the 3rd war almost upon us, humanity is running out of time to prepare. The powers that be will cut any corner and take any risk they deem necessary to get ready because if they fail there will be no humans left to condemn their actions as immoral.

The children that enter battle school are heralded as heroes as they essentially forfeit their childhood (and lives) to be tools of the military. Ender Wiggen is one such child and the centerpiece of the story. Due to population issues, couples in this future are expected to be "compliant" and have no more than 2 children. As a "third" child Ender's life is forfeit to the military to be used as they see fit. He is monitored and manipulated from the moment of his birth which was permitted only because of the potential shown by his siblings.

We come to know many of the ways that Ender is being manipulated, but not all of them. This knowledge puts us in a morally ambiguous position when judging his actions. Is Ender truly responsible for his actions or is he a victim of circumstance? Should he resist this pre-ordained path and perhaps forsake mankind to the Buggers or suck it up and do when is needed of him?

I recommend you give it a listen and draw your own conclusions about Ender Wiggen.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

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

Good balance between sci-fi and thriller

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'm not a huge fan of science fiction, but with the movie coming out soon and the positive reviews 'Ender's Game" received I decided to give it a try. The plot was fast- paced and exciting, although there were times when the story stepped a little too far into science fiction territory for me (lots of anti- gravity situations that didn't further the plot).
The writing style is quite cynical and at times very dark, and I definitely think there is some political commentary, or at the very least Card subconsciously projects his cynical views of government into the plot.
Criticisms aside, I thought the book was very thought provoking, and extremely entertaining. It's definitely worth a read!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

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

Not bad, but not as good as the reviews suggest.

Any additional comments?

Not a bad book, but it also was not profound, nor particularly exciting or funny. I just was never pulled into it and I had hoped - after reading the reviews - that it would have been a pleasure. For me, it just passed the time.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Tedious and Annoying

As a true lover of audio books, I really try to give every audio book a fair chance, even if the the first part of the book doesn't capture my interest immediately.

Listening to Ender's Game was, for the most part, painful. Several different narrators were used, and some were so annoying that I nearly pushed the stop button on my Otis.

I will not be listening to any additional work from Mr. Card or from this particular group of narrators.

For a much more enjoyable (make that spell-binding) piece, try Paranoia, also available from Audible.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

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

Simply Brilliant!

I cannot believe this was written in the 80's. This book is captivating, entertaining, humorous, heart warming and emotional. I found myself wanting more, watching Ender grow up and the trials he goes through at such a young age tugged at my heart strings. I really liked the story of Peter and Valentine as well. Honestly, I'm glad they made a movie because I probably would not have picked this book up otherwise. I always read the books before a movie and I can't be sure the movie can do the book justice but I will definitely be seeing the movie.
The narration was perfect. I am a very picky listener and don't like trying new narrators because they can absolutely ruin a book. These readers did an amazing job. I never got confused on the characters and it flowed seamlessly.
Onto the next. I am a Orson Scott Card fan for life now!!!

HAPPY LISTENING!

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

Can't Wait for the Movie

This book has sat on my shelf since the days when I taught reading to 6th and 7th graders. I never got around to reading it then, but recently decided I was ready to take it on, especially since I could listen to it. I'm not the world's biggest sci-fi fan, but occasionally I really like to read it. This is a book easily understood and followed, unlike a lot of sci-fi, which may be why I don't often read it. Having to learn a whole new existence is hard work. I enjoyed this story a lot. I saw a lot of symbolism in it which always makes a book interesting to me. I could empathize with Ender right from the very start, and he became, if not dear to me, at least someone I could care about. It is great to read a book by a fellow Utahn, especially someone like Orson Scott Card who has made it big time with his writing. I'm not sure if I will read/listen to another book in this series, but I am not discounting it.

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

Repugnant glorification of dehumanization

I "read" two Audible books every month and this is the first one that I have really regretted buying. I seriously resent the fact that I have contributed money to a work which, although very well written, I find morally and ethically repugnant and an insult to human values. In essence, Ender's Game is a glorification of the systematic duhamanization of children and their conversion into soulless military machines. It is like taking the training methods portrayed in Stanley Kubrik's "Full Metal Jacket" and applying them to six-year-olds. The author's occasional appeals to more positive emotions are patently nothing more than tokens -- Orson Scott Card is clearly in love with the macho fascist aesthetics of military reality, and this is compounded by the (excellent) reader, who becomes audibly aroused during particularly brutal passages.

It is also interesting to note that much of the style and approach of the plot appear to have been drawn from violent computer games. If this is the case then Ender's Game is an excellent argument for the dehumanizing effect of these games.

In his militaristic fervor Card is reminiscent of Robert Heinlein at his worst and most jingoistic, but Card's computer world has none of the depth and vision that more than mitigated those sides of Heinlein's character. Card might be able to produce something like Starship Troopers, at least in basic outline, but I doubt if he could even understand insights of a book like Stranger in a Strange Land, let alone produce something of an equal calibre himself.

This is a truly unpleasant book in almost every way and I am very sorry that I bought it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful