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Ender's Game

Special 20th Anniversary Edition

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Ender's Game

Written by: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Gabrielle de Cuir
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About this listen

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
Classics Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Young Adult Military Space Adventure Interstellar War Solider
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What the critics say

  • 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: Quotes About Hard Work to Keep You Motivated and Moving Forward

Anything worth achieving is worth working for. Those goals that we reach when we really strive for them, giving it our all, are the most rewarding. Whether it is taking small steps towards your goals, shooting for a new objective, or simply dreaming those big dreams, hard work is what gets us there. Trusting in yourself and your own abilities will allow you to dig deep, put in the time, and get where you want to be. Everything is achievable with the right mindset.

What listeners say about Ender's Game

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Very interesting and smart

I really enjoyed it and lost track of time listening to it at work. Made 5hrs blow right by

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Very Enjoyable!

This book is so far my favourite.
The different voices was fun to listen to.

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  • Overall
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This sets a new standard for audio performances

Fantastic performance. From start to finish, this book really draws you in. The main voice actor/producer has a soothing voice, and accurately differentiates characters through tone and inflection.

The writing style is very easy to understand. It doesn't bore you with gobbledygook or fluff words. Everything written has importance.

This is how the story should be experienced.

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1 person found this helpful

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Fist audiobook

This was my first audiobook, and I absolutely loved listening to it while riding a bus to school. Amazing story, with fun twists that you can only predict once its too late. The story is so fantastically written and so original. The speakers did a great job making all the characters recognizable. Seriously recommend.

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amazing read

I couldn't put this one down. Fantastic narration and captivating story. I highly recommend it.

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Surprised that I loved it

I was hesitant to spend a credit on this. The hype is for real. This is a very, very good novel. I don't much like 'Young Adult" fiction. A little too polished, a little too cookie-cutter, often just pushing out stuff that will sell.
While guilty of a little of this, 'Ender's Game' works. The broody, overly self-conscious kid fits the story. The precocity is actually part of the plot, so the way-too-mature protagonist makes sense, where it seems somewhat inexplicable in most YA. While a little weak on the Science underlying the make-believe, the events are still plausible (descriptions of moving in zero G are excellent).
The one (minor) weakness in this audiobook is the performance. It would do better with a single reader, rather than an ensemble. 9 out of 10 Stars.

While this is a great book, I won't go on with Scott Card's "Enderverse". If you are looking for a space epic - grittier, more mature, and with a bit more hard science to back it and make it plausible - I suggest James S.A. Corey

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Thoroughly enjoyable

Captivating story, dystopian future, very starship troopers but with more heart. The relationship between Ender and his friends feels real and the tension is palpable.

Loved it.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration - decent story

A fairly straight forward story with a predictable ending, but it’s good. The narration and voice acting are superb. My favourite aspect of the story itself is that you, as the reader, are not treated like an idiot. You view things as Ender does. When he has a revelation, you do too, and you’re not left thinking the other characters are idiots, but that Ender is simply a smart kid.

I wish I pirated this though, knowing that the author is such a terrible person to kind of everyone, including his own church at times, just makes me not want to support him. I read the Wikipedia for the remaining books though. They get weird, but not in a good way.

Anyway, this was good. Get it, don’t bother with the sequels.

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Couldn't get enough!

Ender's Game had me hooked from the beginning and didn't let go. The voice actors made the story come to life and easy to follow. Book 2 is already on deck!!

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one of the best novels of all time

I have read this a half dozen time and now listened twice, it's such a treasure.

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