I am currently training for a marathon so I have lots of time to listen to audiobooks on my long runs. I have pretty much read all the Ender's game and Shadow Series books, but decided to listen to the audiobooks while I run. The voice acting is done really well and I like that they seem to use the same voice actors throughout the series so it feels familiar. The thing that is horrible is there are these weird instrumental musical interludes between some of the chapters/parts of the books. On some of these audiobooks the music is loud and plays while the narration starts and you can barely hear the dialogue. On some of the other books the dont' do this, but the music itself is just weird and out of place. It's like weird sci-fi renaissance music on a harpsichord. Everytime I hear it, it kind of takes me out of the story. Just curious if anyone else is bothered by this.

Someone posted an awesome custom license plate in /r/theexpanse, and I realized I should share mine here. I have never identified with anything more than the notion of being so foreign that no meaningful communication can ever be expected.

Ironically my dad and I both found the notion very relatable, and I shared that story (and a very brief explanation of the levels of foreignness) at his funeral a couple years ago. I didn't go full Speaker for the Dead, but enough that he would have recognized what I was doing, and would have appreciated it.

So school starts soon, and Ive been reading the first book. Its pretty good but I won't have time to finish it. Can anyone help me summarize it in the gist so I at least know what im talking about?

Haha the first book has been beaten up to death, more to say it’s a well loved book.

Ender’s Game is a pinball game for the Multimorphic Inc. multigame P³ pinball machine based on author Orson Scott Card’s landmark science fiction novel.

In Ender’s Game, you play as Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, a six-year-old prodigy who has just arrived at Battle School with no idea that the fate of humanity rests on his shoulders. The machine asks the same question as the novel: can Ender find the balance between the compassion of his sister Valentine and the aggression of his brother Peter? Tip too far in either direction and consequences follow.

The playfield is loaded with mechanical interactivity, including a 360° double-level disk that brings interactive features right in front of the flippers, such as a target bank, kickback, moving shot paths and a player-loadable and controllable cannon. Additional playfield features include a six-ball balance mech with multiple ball-releases, a bashable fight ring with magnetic ball lock, sling-lock ball stops on each inlane and a jump ramp with magnetic catch-and-fling action.

Progression through the game mirrors Ender’s climb through Battle School: players make allies, survive confrontations with rivals, develop skills through training and prove themselves in battle.

Survive it all and players advance to Command School, where the final simulation awaits. Succeed there and Ender becomes fleet commander. But as fans of the novel know, not everything in Ender’s world is what it appears to be.

• Learn more about the Ender’s Game pinball game: https://www.multimorphic.com/enders-game
• Learn more the Multimorphic P³ physical pinball platform: https://www.multimorphic.com

Ender’s Game has been my favorite book for years, and the Battle Room always stuck in my head as one of the coolest game ideas.

For Vibe Jam 2026, I finally built my own web multiplayer prototype inspired by that feeling: zero-G movement, teams, freeze pistols, launch bars, and breaching the enemy room to score.

It’s called Orbital Breach, and it runs in the browser here:

https://orbital-breach.vercel.app/?ref=vibejam

It’s still a game jam build, so it’s rough around the edges, but I’d really appreciate feedback from people who know exactly why the Battle Room is such a great concept.

Enjoy and remember - "The enemy's gate is down" 👇😉

I reread Ender's Game a few months ago and couldn't help but think this. I wanted to reread the book after learning about Card's views to see if it would affect how I felt about the book at all. I still found the book to be incredibly touching, sensitive, and empathetic. I just can't understand how Card wrote this book and then went on to say so many things that feel completely outlandish compared to everything said in the book.

Not the first post about this. I am brand new. Watched Ender’s Game the movie and wanted to read the books it was based upon knowing it was much better. I’m 3/4 into Enders Game. Where do I go after I am done? I want to finish his story and as far as I understand Enders Shadow is focused on Bean. The entire timeline seems sorta confusing, please help a brand new Ender Noob in need.

Regards,

The enthusiastic noob

I have recommended reading ES after reading EG to many people. I like it better in some ways and it really helps to round out the story.

Opinions?

Eros isn't THAT far away when you have near light speed travel. But in the book he takes 3 months to get there that's an an average speed of 8,359 m/s assuming a distance of 65 million km.

If we do some kinematics and use expanse rules then they're accelerating at a very slow .0043 m/s² half of the way there and -.0043 m/s² on the latter half. That's a very gentle ≈ .04% of a G

That's goofy slow for a society that is so close to relativistic speed Rackham is still kicking

Considering Eros doesn't ever get over 2AU away from us (and at its closest it's .15 AU away) that's like a little under 2 days if you're accelerating at around a G half of the way and decelerating at a G the other half. You'll only be reaching a maximum of ≈ .27% the speed of light which isn't nearly enough to cause any "noticeable" relativistic time dilation

I love enders game so much

After I finish the book, I am currently reading. I might read this next. Is it worth it?

Just finished the movie and I'd like to read more as movie itself barely broke even and probably won't see any sequel for years.

I am looking at a $37 book set on Amazon that has these 5 books: Ender's Game / Speaker for the Dead / Xenocide / Children of the Mind / Ender in Exile. Is this a decent set or should I look for more? I am not sure if I want to do the entire series. Also on Wikipedia, there's a chart. Is it about accurate for reading order? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ender%27s_Game_Chronology-2.PNG

TIA!

How long are we watching for the queens? I need closure!

I made this edit for hunger games but I can’t stop thinking about how well the song would go with Ender’s game, then I remember the limited community for it and the only visual media is that fuck ass movie 💔

I have read all of the Ender and Shadow books, but it’s been a long time. I’ve been listening to all of the series on audio since I discovered them on Libby and right now I’m in the first chapters of Xenocide. In Speaker, Jane goes to great lengths to ensure that everyone finds out about the interference with the piggies and ends up creating the mess in Xenocide. The fleet is coming to Lusitania with the Little Doctor and she has to decide if she should put her life at risk by revealing her existence in order to interfere with the order to destroy Lusitania. Can someone explain why she created this situation in the first place? I can’t remember this from my previous readings and I’ve probably missed something from listening to the audiobook instead of reading.

I’m currently listening to the full cast audio play on audible and I have a question. There have been a few mentions of things like “my phone” or “ringtone” and “sent me a text”.

My understanding was texting was invented well after the book, and even cell phones were commercially available only 2 years before publication.

I don’t have a paper copy to cross-reference, can someone tell me if this was just a very good prediction on Orson Scott-Card’s part, or was the actual verbiage changed for the audio play?

My boyfriend is convinced that Ender was in his early 20's at the end of the first book when he found the Queen egg. I believe he was still 12-13 or in his early teens when this happened. He disagrees.