Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card

Take a 6 year old genius who always has to win and put him in a military school where children learn how to enjoin combat through military games. He is taken from his family and dumped into this school with no friends and a lot of goading. He is quickly put into command positions in the military games.

Meanwhile, a huge alien war is brewing. Ender is being groomed to lead the conflict against the "bugs" or "buggers" if there is time. The bugs seem to be gathering to once again attack Earth. They had been beaten back once. Time has passed and they have had time to regroup. Ender is Earth's government's hope to win the final war.

But Ender has to go through military school before he can fight in a war. He is companions with and in competition with his classmates. Some of them are definitely his enemies - whether of jealousy of Ender, their desire to win, their own matching arrogance, or their own feelings of superiority. Ender has those feelings as well as his compulsion to win, to do what is needed, to be the best in his strategy games.

The story is told from Ender's viewpoint. There are times when it is also told from his sister's back at home or the adults who are responsible for Ender's training and future.

Ender's Game was recommended by a member of one of my reading sites. It is excellent and is now a science fiction classic. I was not able to second guess this one. I wondered the whole way through how it would be resolved. I constantly recommend this book to friends both who like science fiction and to those who don't.

If you like science fiction, or if you just like reading a well written book, do not miss this one!

After you've read this book, visit . They have an abridged version of this book that you can read in a minute or less. Great humor! Also, check out 100 Top Sci-Fi Books. This is a list voted on by visitors to the site. Ender's Game is always first or second (it juggles with Dune).

Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
First Meetings: Three Stories from the Enderverse
Shadow of the Giant
Ender in Exile

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Foundation by Isaac Asimov