Ender's Game (novel series)

Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series—often called the Ender saga or the Enderverse—is a collection of science fiction novels and short stories. It started as a novelette that Card later turned into a full novel. The series as a whole includes multiple novels and short stories, but the core Ender sequence consists of six novels and one novella. The first two books, *Ender’s Game* and *Speaker for the Dead*, each won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

The story takes place in a future where humanity is threatened with extinction by an insect-like alien species called the Formics, or “Buggers.” The main character, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, is a child soldier trained at Battle School and later Command School to become a leader who can defend Earth.

The Ender series begins with *Ender’s Game* and continues with five more novels and one novella. The first four are sometimes sold together as *The Ender Quartet*, and with *Ender in Exile* they form *The Ender Quintet*. While *Ender’s Game* focuses on armies and space battles, the later books—*Speaker for the Dead*, *Xenocide*, and *Children of the Mind*—are more philosophical. They explore the tense relationship between humans and the “Piggies” (or Pequeninos) on the planet Lusitania, and Ender’s efforts to prevent another xenocide. The novella *A War of Gifts* is a side story set during Ender’s first year at Battle School. *Ender in Exile* bridges *Ender’s Game* and *Speaker for the Dead*, following Ender’s journey to the first human colony on a former Formic world. It replaces the final chapter of *Ender’s Game* and also ties up a plotline from the parallel Shadow saga.

The Shadow saga starts with *Ender’s Shadow*, a parallel novel that retells *Ender’s Game* from the perspective of Bean, Ender’s second-in-command. The next three books—*Shadow of the Hegemon*, *Shadow Puppets*, and *Shadow of the Giant*—deal with the power struggle for control of Earth after the Bugger War, involving the Battle School kids, Ender’s brother Peter Wiggin, and Petra Arkanian, all opposing Achilles de Flandres. The novella *Shadows in Flight* follows three of Bean’s children, who share his genetic condition. *The Last Shadow*, released in 2021, takes place after both *Children of the Mind* and *Shadows in Flight*, wrapping up both series and answering lingering questions.