Ender's Game Series (Question)

**Hijinks** · May 13th, 2008, 02:46 AM

I just finished reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and enjoyed it. The book was short but was interesting and an easy read for breaks at work.

My question is, are the other books in the series worth the time or would I be better off considering it a stand alone book and moving on? If you have read some or the rest of the series I would appreciate your input.

**Andols** · May 13th, 2008, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by Hijinks

I just finished reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and enjoyed it. The book was short but was interesting and an easy read for breaks at work.

My question is, are the other books in the series worth the time or would I be better off considering it a stand alone book and moving on? If you have read some or the rest of the series I would appreciate your input.

I actually like the Shadow series more than the first novel. Also Speaker and Xenocide are great books that are almost stand alone anyway.

With Children of the Mind you're on your own. If any work has mixed reviews it's that one.

**Fung Koo** · May 13th, 2008, 10:05 AM

100% for sure read Ender's Shadow. It follows Bean through the same story arc as Ender's Game. Very cool.

The others were OK. Nothing I'd really rave about. Not as much to my taste.

**phil_geo** · May 13th, 2008, 01:25 PM

I'll weigh in with I greatly enjoyed Speaker and Xenocide, but Xenocide ends in a cliffhanger. I felt that series could easily have been wrapped up in three books and that Card was just dragging it out. I was so insulted that I didn't finish the series.

I liked Shadow less than most other people - I found it very derivative and it did not make me want to read more.

**Andols** · May 13th, 2008, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by phil_geo

I'll weigh in with I greatly enjoyed Speaker and Xenocide, but Xenocide ends in a cliffhanger. I felt that series could easily have been wrapped up in three books and that Card was just dragging it out. I was so insulted that I didn't finish the series.

I liked Shadow less than most other people - I found it very derivative and it did not make me want to read more.

Derivative in that it was based in the same world as Ender's Game? I found the Shadow series did more for Peter than any of the other books. I also enjoyed Bean for more than any other character.

**randar23rhenn** · May 13th, 2008, 08:24 PM

I think the shadow series is better, but the rest of the ender series is definitely well worth reading

**Hijinks** · May 14th, 2008, 04:50 AM

Thanks for all the info, I found a person at work who has the entire collection. Soon as he locates the books I will start reading the rest of the series.

**phil_geo** · May 14th, 2008, 11:39 AM

Derivative in that it was based in the same world as Ender's Game? I found the Shadow series did more for Peter than any of the other books. I also enjoyed Bean for more than any other character.

I meant derivative in the sense that he was milking a story that was already told, and to me it felt like he was telling the exact same story with a different name for the main character. It didn't really feel like a parallel tale to me, just a retelling of Ender's game. In the brief gimpses you got of Ender, I would always think "Oh yeah, it was better the first time around"

I agree with you about Peter, that was the one undeveloped thread I wondered about in the first trilogy and wanted to see more of. I could tell it was coming in Shadow and it almost kept me reading, but not quite.

**Andols** · May 14th, 2008, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by phil_geo

I meant derivative in the sense that he was milking a story that was already told, and to me it felt like he was telling the exact same story with a different name for the main character. It didn't really feel like a parallel tale to me, just a retelling of Ender's game. In the brief gimpses you got of Ender, I would always think "Oh yeah, it was better the first time around"

I agree with you about Peter, that was the one undeveloped thread I wondered about in the first trilogy and wanted to see more of. I could tell it was coming in Shadow and it almost kept me reading, but not quite.

I guess depending on if you prefered Ender over Bean, Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow will have mixed reviews.

The sequals to Enders's Shadow I found to be much more enjoyable than Speaker/Xenocide. Peter's political dealings and Beans subsequent involvement made for some great scenes and power plays.

**mirage2101** · May 22nd, 2008, 10:08 AM

Ender's game was great. Enders shadow and what came after were slightly different books, more political, I enjoyed those in a different way.
If you like Ender's game then shadow and sequals will be your thing.

I read speaker for the dead and well... It's a nice book, but it's only related to Ender in name. it could've been a complete standalone book.

**Werthead** · May 22nd, 2008, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by mirage2101

Ender's game was great. Enders shadow and what came after were slightly different books, more political, I enjoyed those in a different way.
If you like Ender's game then shadow and sequals will be your thing.

I read speaker for the dead and well... It's a nice book, but it's only related to Ender in name. it could've been a complete standalone book.

I think OSC has admitted that some of the Ender books only had Ender slotted into them to make them more marketable after he came up with the original idea.

**azidhak** · May 22nd, 2008, 11:46 AM

I liked Ender's Game, and the rest of the original series was from ok to barely readable. I also liked the first two of the Shadow series but he got progressively worse, not least because of his preaching (embryoes are children). The same was of course the problem with the Crystal City (the final part of the Alvin Maker series) where Alvin plays the parts of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and founds Mormon Utopia together with Abraham Lincoln.

**WhiteWolf** · May 22nd, 2008, 11:36 PM

ENDER'S GAME is a true classic, and one of the most beloved SF stories of our time, so you are right to enjoy it and inquire about its sequels.

SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, the first sequels written after ENDER'S GAME, takes place when he is an adult, but not much further along in coping or dealing with the consequences of his actions in ENDER'S GAME. It is a brilliant novel in its own right, nearly the equal of ENDER'S GAME. But it is not a true sequel in that sense, because it begins a largely different tale. It incidentally won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, the only time that a sequel to a book that also won those awards as well has been so honored.

A post earlier indicated that Card was trying to milk the story, that there was a cliffhanger at the end of XENOCIDE. Actually, XENOCIDE and CHILDREN OF THE MIND were conceived as one book, but were split in two by the publisher. Technically, they should be viewed that way as well, and read back to back to get the best reading experience out of them. The SPEAKER-XENO-CHILDREN sequence is, overall, outstanding, though there is far less action and far more introspection than in ENDER'S GAME.

ENDER'S SHADOW is likewise a terrific addition to the Ender Wiggin pantheon. A parallel novel, in that it takes place during events of ENDER'S GAME, it actually only overlaps some scenes, but spends more time on the characters of Bean and Achilles, and explains many of the things going on behind the scenes of the first book. It's a lot of fun and sometimes even amazing to learn about how much Bean ahd to do with the events of ENDER'S GAME. It also sets into motion then next three books, all of which are very different from the SPEAKER-XENO-CHILDREN sequence.

If you liked the plot thread dealing with Peter and Valentine's political manipulations as "Locke & Demosthenes," then you might like these books as well. HEGEMON, PUPPETS, and GIANT all deal heavily wit geopolitical and military maneuvering, at times relying heavily on strategy. Some events actually read like a chess match between geniuses, except that their chess pieces are actual military units. The books also contain some fascinating cultural commentary, and may spark your interest in reading more on some of the subjects they touch on.

It should also be noted that a forthcoming book, ENDER IN EXILE, will be a direct sequel to ENDER'S GAME, and deal with Ender and Valentine while they are in transit following that novel and well before the events of SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD.

**mauricejj** · May 24th, 2008, 11:33 AM

OK, let me throw this out to the crowd. I recently read Ender's Game for the first time and found it to be once the best stories I've ever read. Really enjoyed the experience and for once, the end of the book came as a surprise. I then read Speaker for the Dead and while I found it enjoyable, it didn't have the same "push" and Ender's Game. I understand that the two and really quite different and tell stories from different sensibilities.

My question for the group is this, if I planned on reading the remaining books in the series (and I do) is there a particular order, other than the publishing dates, that they should be read? In other words, in your opinions how should the over all story unfold?

**WhiteWolf** · May 24th, 2008, 12:17 PM

Tough call. I can only say that each story arc must be read in order, that being the Shadow arc and the Ender arc.

ENDER'S GAME is ground zero, and should always be the first book of any to be read. From there, I don't think it really matters if you choose to read ENDER'S SHADOW and the following books next, or SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD and the following books next, as long as you read each of their sequels in order.

Personally, I read them along the lines of publishing dates, and enjoyed them all immensely that way.

The actual chronology goes something linke this:

1. ENDER'S GAME/ENDER'S SHADOW (overlap)
2. SHADOW OF THE HEGEMON
3. SHADOW PUPPETS
4. SHADOW OF THE GIANT

5. ENDER IN EXILE (forthcoming)

6. SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD
7. XENOCIDE
8. CHILDREN OF THE MIND