Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.
But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender's two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military's purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine's abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth—an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.
Newsday said of this novel "Card has done strong work before, but this could be the book to break him out of the pack." It was. "Ender's Game" took the [science fiction] world by storm, sweeping the awards. It won both the Hugo and Nebula, and rose to the top of national bestseller lists.
Copyright © 1985 Orson Scott Card
Other reviews of Ender's Game:
From The New York Times Book Review, by Gerald Jonas
. . . an affecting novel full of surprises that seem inevitable once they are explained. The key, of course, is Ender Wiggin himself. Mr. Card never makes the mistake of patronizing or sentimentalizing his hero. Alternately likable and insufferable, his is a convincing little Napoleon in short pants.
From AudioFile (referring to the audio-book)
This Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel is given award-winning treatment as an audiobook. Stefan Rudnicki's resonant voice provides the main narration, while others are used when the point of view shifts from that of Ender Wiggin, a brilliant boy who is mankind's hope of surviving war with an alien race. Short conversations precede every chapter of the novel. Here, several different actors perform those conversations as audio drama. The author himself reads a postscript in which he discusses the origins of the novel. Ender's Game offers outstanding production and first-rate narration. Don't miss it. S.D. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.
From Booklist
Card has taken the venerable [science fiction] concepts of a superman and interstellar war against aliens, and, with superb characterization, pacing and language, combined them into a seamless story of compelling power. This is Card at the height of his very considerable powers—a major [science fiction] novel by any reasonable standards.
