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My advice is to not worry yourself with "books" when considering Ender's Game. The first book is a complete product, and it wraps up everything it needs to. Th

My advice is to not worry yourself with "books" when considering Ender's Game. The first book is a complete product, and it wraps up everything it needs to. The sequels are good too, but they're also unnecessary if you aren't curious to experience more of the world. The ending of Ender's Game is roughly like the slideshow epilogue of a movie saying things like "Johnny went on to medical school and got married". The sequels and side-stories go into things like what happened while Johnny was at medical school, how he met his future wife, or what their retirement looked like, but the epilogue itself doesn't leave you hanging on anything.

avhon1 5y ago
For sure, nobody needs to worry about reading any of the books other than the original. The story begins, happens, and ends, all in one not-very-long novel. After that novel is a whole series of novels that follow Ender into distant futures and places, as he literally runs from his past to keep it from defining him. The first one, Speaker for the Dead, is very recommendable for follow-up reading. The others I would only recommend if you've already decided that you want to read more of the series. However, there is also a different set of sequels, and the first of them is the first book I would recommend to anyone who wanted to read more: Ender's Shadow. (Like Ender's Game, it won both a Hugo award and a Nebula award.) It takes place during the same time as Ender's Game, but from the perspective of one of the secondary characters. This second series of sequels generally takes place on Earth in the time shortly after Ender's Game, and follows Ender's siblings and the other Battle School characters. Like the first series of sequels, I won't go out of my way to recommend these to people who haven't already decided they're interested in reading them. AS I write this comment, I learn that Orson Scott Card has been writing prequels: a trilogy in 2012-2014 (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens) describing the First Formic War (which took place ~50 years before, and is heavily referenced in, Ender's Game), and a not-yet-complete trilogy since 2016 (The Swarm, The Hive, and the not-yet-published The Queens), which appears to be about the actions that were taken after the First Formic War to produce Ender. The reviews on Goodreads are promising; I might read some of these.
- handrous 5y ago
  > For sure, nobody needs to worry about reading any of the books other than the original. Hell, I've only read the novella, and don't really see how it'd be improved by being extended into a full novel. Even a short one.
  - IggleSniggle 5y ago
    While I’m sure it sums up well as a novella, as pre-teen, the “big reveal” probably hit with more force by being in novel format. It reads like a typical “coming of age” adventure, and then…suddenly isn’t. Although I haven’t read it since then, I think there was a fair amount of character development, which also increases the impact of the reveal since you’ve been given time to care about the characters and relate to them. Also, as a kid who loved strategy games, the training program was just really fun to read. While I don’t usually care about spoilers, even knowing that there is a big reveal feels a bit like a spoiler.
- DylanSp 5y ago
  Ender's Shadow didn't even make the shortlists for the Hugo or Nebula awards.
garren 5y ago
I don’t know. I read Ender’s Shadow before Ender’s Game, and felt like Shadow was a much better book. It’s been a while, but as I recall it runs parallel to Ender’s Game and goes into much more depth regarding the difficulties and anguish Ender endures.
- duskwuff 5y ago
  On the other hand: Ender's Shadow also introduces a rather ridiculous and unnecessary origin story for its central character ("Bean"), involving an evil genetic scientist. This plot line continues through the rest of the spinoff series.
- delecti 5y ago
  It's been a long time, so I can't remember which I liked more, but I definitely don't remember Ender's Shadow being a complete package in the way Ender's Game was. It leaves open a bunch of questions about the events in Ender's Game, doesn't have the same satisfying epilogue, and introduces a bunch of things that feel unresolved (the genetic engineering, and more focus on the global conflict stuff). If the GP commenter liked Ender's Game, they could go on to read the sequels and Shadow series, but if they didn't like Ender's Shadow, they'd have a bunch of unresolved questions.

avhon1 5y ago

For sure, nobody needs to worry about reading any of the books other than the original. The story begins, happens, and ends, all in one not-very-long novel. After that novel is a whole series of novels that follow Ender into distant futures and places, as he literally runs from his past to keep it from defining him. The first one, Speaker for the Dead, is very recommendable for follow-up reading. The others I would only recommend if you've already decided that you want to read more of the series. However, there is also a different set of sequels, and the first of them is the first book I would recommend to anyone who wanted to read more: Ender's Shadow. (Like Ender's Game, it won both a Hugo award and a Nebula award.) It takes place during the same time as Ender's Game, but from the perspective of one of the secondary characters. This second series of sequels generally takes place on Earth in the time shortly after Ender's Game, and follows Ender's siblings and the other Battle School characters. Like the first series of sequels, I won't go out of my way to recommend these to people who haven't already decided they're interested in reading them. AS I write this comment, I learn that Orson Scott Card has been writing prequels: a trilogy in 2012-2014 (Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens) describing the First Formic War (which took place ~50 years before, and is heavily referenced in, Ender's Game), and a not-yet-complete trilogy since 2016 (The Swarm, The Hive, and the not-yet-published The Queens), which appears to be about the actions that were taken after the First Formic War to produce Ender. The reviews on Goodreads are promising; I might read some of these.

handrous 5y ago
> For sure, nobody needs to worry about reading any of the books other than the original. Hell, I've only read the novella, and don't really see how it'd be improved by being extended into a full novel. Even a short one.
- IggleSniggle 5y ago
  While I’m sure it sums up well as a novella, as pre-teen, the “big reveal” probably hit with more force by being in novel format. It reads like a typical “coming of age” adventure, and then…suddenly isn’t. Although I haven’t read it since then, I think there was a fair amount of character development, which also increases the impact of the reveal since you’ve been given time to care about the characters and relate to them. Also, as a kid who loved strategy games, the training program was just really fun to read. While I don’t usually care about spoilers, even knowing that there is a big reveal feels a bit like a spoiler.
DylanSp 5y ago
Ender's Shadow didn't even make the shortlists for the Hugo or Nebula awards.

garren 5y ago

I don’t know. I read Ender’s Shadow before Ender’s Game, and felt like Shadow was a much better book. It’s been a while, but as I recall it runs parallel to Ender’s Game and goes into much more depth regarding the difficulties and anguish Ender endures.

duskwuff 5y ago
On the other hand: Ender's Shadow also introduces a rather ridiculous and unnecessary origin story for its central character ("Bean"), involving an evil genetic scientist. This plot line continues through the rest of the spinoff series.
delecti 5y ago
It's been a long time, so I can't remember which I liked more, but I definitely don't remember Ender's Shadow being a complete package in the way Ender's Game was. It leaves open a bunch of questions about the events in Ender's Game, doesn't have the same satisfying epilogue, and introduces a bunch of things that feel unresolved (the genetic engineering, and more focus on the global conflict stuff). If the GP commenter liked Ender's Game, they could go on to read the sequels and Shadow series, but if they didn't like Ender's Shadow, they'd have a bunch of unresolved questions.