Ender's Game

Lore & Background

The novel originated as a short story of the same name, published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. Card released an updated version in 1991, changing some political facts to account for the then-recent dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The book has been translated into 34 languages. In the movie adaptation and novels after the original sequels, 'buggers' are referred to as 'Formics.'

Reader's Guide

Ender's Game has been largely positively received and has become suggested reading for military organizations such as the United States Marine Corps. It was recognized as 'best novel' by the 1985 Nebula Award and the 1986 Hugo Award. Its four sequels—Speaker for the Dead (1986), Xenocide (1991), Children of the Mind (1996), and Ender in Exile (2008)—follow Ender's subsequent travels. A film adaptation directed by Gavin Hood and starring Asa Butterfield was released in October 2013. The novel has also been adapted into two comic book series. In 1999, it placed No. 59 on the reader's list of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, and it won the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2008 along with Ender's Shadow.

Did You Know?

• The novel was not the first science-fiction novel published entirely online; it appeared on Delphi in 1994, years after its 1985 print publication, not a year before.
• Card conceived of the 'Battle Room' for zero gravity war game training at age 16.
• The novel was not written to establish the character of Ender for Speaker for the Dead; Card wrote the short story first, then expanded it into the novel, and later wrote Speaker for the Dead as a sequel.
• Card named Ender so that his name would sound like 'endgame' from chess.