Ender's Game

Written by Orson Scott Card

Book #1 in the Ender Quintet series

A boy genius leads Earth's last stand against alien invaders, unaware of the true stakes.

6.3/7 Bookroo experts·4.3/5 Goodreads · 1,498,295 ratings

253 pages· 100,609 words· Est. 9.5 hour read

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Bookroo's summary

Ender Wiggin, a child prodigy, is thrust into Battle School to prepare for an alien threat. As he excels in zero-gravity war games, he faces isolation and rivalry. Unbeknownst to him, these games are more than they seem. Can Ender become the leader Earth desperately needs, or will the weight of his hidden mission crush him? With his siblings possessing unique talents, the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Will Ender discover the truth before it's too late?

From the publisher

A veteran of years of simulated war games, Ender believes he is engaged in one more computer war game when in truth he is commanding the last fleet of Earth against an alien race seeking the complete destruction of Earth.

At a glance

Format
Pages: 253
Words: 100,609
Reading age: 12–18
Audience: Young Adult
Lexile: 780L

Themes & topics

Books about war Books about aliens and extraterrestrial beings Books about outer space Books about genetic engineering Books about self-discovery

For the grown-ups

The parent guide

What families may want to know

Every family reads differently. These are the concepts our editors noticed in this book — worth seeking out for some readers, worth knowing about for others. The list isn't exhaustive, but it's a spoiler-light head start.

Language

This book contains repeated inclusions of profanity, including a** and bas****.

Potty Humor

This book contains some instances of potty humor.

Violence

This book contains many instances of violence, including a graphic description of the death of a child.

What readers & critics say

Reviews

6.3

out of 7

7.0

“Ender's Game is a phenomenal book. I read a lot of different books growing up and rarely read the same book more than once. Ender's Game was the exception, and I read it again and again. Ender's Game has an incredible mix of sportsmanship, strategy, fantasy, and violence. Young, intellectually-gifted children are trained for war against the alien "buggers," at Battle School. Ender learns about his own potential and his survival instinct as training to fight the buggers is absorbed into and reflected in a more present struggle to survive a brutal training regimen, a dark and disconcerting virtual world, and, most threatening, the other Battle School students who see Ender's brilliance as a threat to their own power. Ender's Game made me feel like a grown up as I read about children placed into very adult situations, and the freeze-gun fights in the Battle Room made my imagination spin with excitement.”

Lemony Snickers

Trusted reviewer

For readers who can't stop at one