| Orson Scott Card Ender |
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| Ender Series Ender's Game (1977) Ender's Shadow Shadow of the Hegemon (2000) Speaker for the Dead (1986) Xenocide (1991) Children of the Mind (1996) Shadow Puppets (2002) Publisher Tor (A Division of Tom Doherty Associates) Link Orson Scott Card's Official Site |
| This is, by far, my favorite science fiction series. Orson Scott Card is an incredible writer, and his tale of Ender is nothing short of enthralling. The Earth has already succeeded (though barely) in one war with the Buggers, a malevolent alien species, but are being threatened again. Ender, a boy genius, travels to space to learn to be the greatest general Earth has ever seen. Follow him as he grows into a man like no other. The first book is about Ender, a young genius, as he experiences the terrible ordeal of battle school. Ender's Shadow is an identical story to Ender's Game, but told from the viewpoint of another student, Bean. Some are dissuaded from this book, thinking that it will be boring as it is the same story, but Bean's narration offers a completely different and radical viewpoint from Ender's. In fact, Ender's Shadow is my favorite book in the entire series. Shadow of the Hegemon takes place after the war with the Buggers, when the Battle School children face life on Earth. Speaker for the Dead skips ahead in time hundreds of years to Ender (who is still alive). He finds himself on Litsuania, a colonized planet, where he is known as Speaker Andrew. He grows closer to the people and native sentient creatures in the next book, Xenocide, and finds that the small planet is endangered of being completely destroyed. The series ends in a stirring, and somewhat surprising, conclusion in Children of the Mind, where Ender's tale finally comes to a close. I highly recommend this series. It will change your view of children (even if you are one -- especially a gifted one), and will enhance your love of life and humanity. I give this series an A+. |
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