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Ender's Game

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Ender's Game is a famous science fiction novel. American author Orson Scott Card wrote it in 1985. The story is set in the future on Earth. Humans are facing a threat from insect-like aliens. People call these aliens "buggers" or "Formics." To prepare for a third invasion, the military looks for special children. They want to train these kids to be elite officers.

The main character is a boy named Andrew "Ender" Wiggin. Ender is a "Third," which is rare on Earth. This means he is an extra child in a two-child family. He is sent to a place called Battle School. There, children learn leadership and military strategy. They practice by playing very hard war games. Some of these games happen in zero gravity.

Orson Scott Card began the story as a short tale. It was first published in 1977 in a magazine. He wrote the full novel later to expand the plot. Card named the character Ender to sound like "endgame" in chess. He also thought about how pilots train in three dimensions. This idea helped him create the zero gravity Battle Room.

The book has many important facts and awards. It won the Nebula Award in 1985. It also won the Hugo Award in 1986. These are two of the biggest prizes in science fiction. The story has been translated into 34 different languages. A movie version was released in October 2013. It starred Asa Butterfield as the character Ender.

Many people find the book very useful today. The United States Marine Corps includes it on their reading list. They use it to study leadership and ethics. Some people also use it to study game-based learning. Card wrote four sequels to tell more of the story. These books follow Ender to many different worlds in the galaxy.

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