Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card · first published 1985
39% recommend52% neutral9% critical
Why HN recommends it
Gripping sci-fi about a gifted child trained for war, praised for its psychological twists and moral questions about what makes an ideal human. Especially suits teen readers and anyone who wants a page-turner.
Common criticism: Some find it better suited to adolescents than to mature sci-fi readers
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with the Formics, an insectoid alien species they dub the "buggers". In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, children, including the novel's protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, are trained from a very young age by putting them through increasingly difficult games, including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed. The book originated as a short story of the same
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…movie so ingrained in children's culture, it was an uphill battle to prevent my son from watching it when he was three [I felt like it was a victory that he didn't see it until he was five]. That said, Ender's Game is appropriate reading for 14 year olds, and the idea of it as pornographic is asinine. Same could be said of Bloom's Forever of my youth.
on “Teacher Suspended For Reading 'Ender's Game' To Middle School Students” ↗The Harry Potter series remains the most enjoyable books I've ever read. The Pillars of the Earth comes close though. Terrific sci-fi reads were Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Hyperion, Ringworld, and to a lesser extent A Deepness in the Sky. Also Excession, whose human characters are poorly developed and written but whose world-building and AI characters…
on “Ask HN: What are some must read books?” ↗…Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky - a Soviet sf classic, I've read it 3x already. It tells a story about a closed zone where 'aliens' left their artifcats, and how that changed people around them. Ender's Game - I don't think there is an explanation needed. It is a total classic. It helps a lot to understand outsiders, not just aliens but a humans too. All of the above are either hard or soft sf.
on “Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?” ↗…but I enjoyed it so much I went through the rest of it on my own during Christmas break. Was probably the greatest experience I have had programming since first groking OO. Favorite non-computer book: Ender's Game - ISBN 0-812-55070-6 - I have probably read this about 10 times. All the other books in the series are good too, but it really stands apart from the rest. As an aside, the Economist is probably the best…
on “What books would you recommend reading? Why?” ↗Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. My best friend in 7th grade had older siblings and they had all read Ender’s Game. He read it and told me I had to read it. Being the impressionable 7th grader (2006-7) that I was…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗When I was a kid, Ender's Game. The movie is garbage, it's not worth watching. The most interesting stuff happens in the main character's internal dialogue. The main character is an intelligent outcast and that thinks differently,…
on “Ask HN: What book have you re-read 3x or more?” ↗…Crichton) - Read the books as a kid. I usually listen to it while I am traveling. Still gets me as excited as it did when I first read the book. (The movies are nothing compared to the book...) 6. Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) - I am looking forward to reading the entire series. Read it once, listened to it many times (lost count). I love Space! 7. Ready Player One (Ernest Cline) -I picked this book up…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗…so immediately. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812550757/ref=as_li_ss_tl?... (yes, it is an affiliate link) Fun fact: Orson Scott Card (author) had the idea for Speaker for The Dead before writing Ender's Game, and essentially wrote the first novel simply to set up the complex universe that unfolds in the sequel.
on “"Ender's Game" movie happening” ↗I have a seriously hard time reading this comment while knowing what Orson Scott Card is actually like. In the frame of who he really is, everything about Ender's game seems like a reflection of an idea of parody or hyperbole of the personality types in the book. That said, it's one of my favorite books.
on “The idea of empathy for all ignores the limits of human psychology” ↗…led to) - Foundation [Foundation 1] (Prescient with where the world is, what might happen in reality) - Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that can't... (Ok, not great, read it on blinkist) - Ender's Game (Under rated, most fun I had reading this year, I know...) - Neuromancer (classic, must read) - Pre-suation (interesting and worth reading if starting a consumer facing business) - The Three-Body Problem…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. The movie didn't even come close to doing it justice, the book presents so many cool problems and solutions that it just failed to convey. The book is phenomenal for sparking out…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…It's all focused on war-fighting, but it gives a great look into the Marines: GATES OF FIRE: AN EPIC NOVEL OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE by Steven Pressfield STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline GHOST FLEET: A NOVEL OF THE NEXT WORLD WAR by P. W. Singer; August Cole THE KILLER ANGELS: THE CLASSIC NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR by Michael Shaara…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…read. If you like that, you might also enjoy The Lifecycle of Software Objects, an absolutely heartbreaking novella about simulated children, and his follow-up collection Exhalation. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is fantastic, and it's follow-up, Speaker for the Dead is even better, and my favorite science fiction novel of all time. They won back to back Hugo and Nebula awards. Card is a polarizing figure for…
on “Ask HN: I only read tech/business books – recommend me some fiction?” ↗I really think "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card should have been on that list of Sci-Fi Books.
on “Grok This: Forget The Business Books, Go Sci-Fi To Stoke Your Imagination” ↗…in a kind of a strange order, first reading The Complete Robot, then the Foundation Series, the Empire Series, and now the Robot Series. I have enjoyed them all, I like Asimov's style. I also enjoyed Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and will be reading the next book in the series "Speaker for the Dead" soon.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗