Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card.

Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub "the buggers".

In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, Earth's international military force recruits young children, including the novel's protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, to be trained as elite officers.

The children learn military strategy and leadership by playing increasingly difficult war games, including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.

The book originated as a short story of the same name, published in the August 1977 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

Later, by elaborating on characters and plotlines depicted in the novel, Card wrote additional books in the Ender's Game series.

Card released an updated version of Ender's Game in 1991, changing some political facts to account for the then-recent dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

A film adaptation of the same name, written for the screen and directed by Gavin Hood, and starring Asa Butterfield as Ender, was released in October 2013.

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is born a "Third": a rare exception to Earth's two-child policy, allowed by the government due to the promise and high intellect displayed by his two older siblings.

Meanwhile on Earth, Peter Wiggin uses a global communication system to post political essays under the pseudonym "Locke", hoping to establish himself as a respected orator and then as a powerful politician.

After some preliminary battles in the simulator, he is introduced to Mazer Rackham, a hero from the First and Second Invasions who saw key patterns in the bugger behavior.

He discovers a structure that matches the simulation of the giant game from Battle School and inside finds the dormant egg of a queen.

The bugger queen telepathically communicates to Ender that before the First Invasion, they had assumed humans were a non-sentient race, for want of collective consciousness, but realized their mistake too late.

The combined works create a new type of funeral, in which the Speaker for the Dead tells the whole and unapologetic story of the deceased, adopted by many on Earth and its colonies.

Ender and Valentine leave the colony and travel to other worlds, looking for a safe place to establish the unborn Hive Queen.

[8] Ender's Game was the first science-fiction novel published entirely online, when it appeared on Delphi a year before print publication.

[17] The New York Times writer Gerald Jonas asserts that the novel's plot summary resembles a "grade Z, made-for-television, science-fiction rip-off movie", but says that Card develops the elements well despite this "unpromising material".

Jonas further praises the development of the character Ender Wiggin: "Alternately likable and insufferable, he is a convincing little Napoleon in short pants.

"[20] Noah Berlatsky makes similar claims in his analysis of the relationship between colonization and science fiction, where he describes Ender's Game as in part a justification of "Western expansion and genocide".

[21] However, more recently, science fiction scholar Mike Ryder has refuted the claims of Kessel and Radford, arguing that Ender is exploited by powers beyond his control.

[23] The book was placed on the reading list by Captain John F. Schmitt, author of FMFM-1 (Fleet Marine Force Manual, on maneuver doctrine) for "provid[ing] useful allegories to explain why militaries do what they do in a particularly effective shorthand way".

[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] In 1991, Card made several minor changes to reflect the political climates of the time, including the decline of the Soviet Union.

In order to more closely match the other material, Card has rewritten chapter 15 and plans to offer a revised edition of the book.

Ender's Game Alive is directed by Gabrielle de Cuir, produced by Stefan Rudnicki at Skyboat Media, published by Audible.com, and performed by a cast of over 30 voice actors playing over 100 roles.

Titled Ender's Game/Das grosse Spiel - Das ungekürzte Hörspiel ("The unabridged audio drama"), this adaptation was produced by "Lauscherlounge", directed by Balthasar von Weymarn and performed by a cast of 100 different voice actors including children.