Book · 1985
Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
A six-year-old is drafted into a war academy that trains him to command a fleet, and he doesn't find out what he actually did until it's over.
What does Reddit think of Ender's Game?
2,542 mentions, led decisively by r/printSF's 1,758, with r/suggestmeabook adding 647 and r/Fantasy a smaller 137. The book and its author have become impossible to separate in these threads, and Reddit says so directly: one comment (↑127) opens with "even though the author has been canceled and everybody hates him," then calls the novel "the most riveting" science fiction they've read, staying up until 5am on a six-pack to finish it. Another (↑202) admits it's "hard to reconcile the views of the Author who wrote that book with the views of Orson Scott Card." That tension runs through every mention. Meanwhile the franchise itself is quietly fading. One commenter (↑130) notes that The Last Shadow, billed as the series' culmination, "just came out a few days ago" and "no one is talking about it," even from someone who says the original was "hugely influential" as a kid. Mentions have held steady since 2019, never dropping below 320 a year.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · child soldiers and delayed moral reckoning
- · separating the book from Orson Scott Card's politics
- · a franchise nobody follows past the first novel
Common praise
- + One reader calls it "the most riveting" science fiction novel they've read, staying up until 5am to finish it in one go (↑127).
- + It gets paired with Dune as a default genre-starter recommendation in the same breath (↑143).
- + A reader who says the book was "hugely influential" as a child still checks in on the series decades later, even as the sequels lose momentum (↑130).
Common criticism
- − Multiple commenters can't discuss the book without addressing Orson Scott Card directly, calling him "canceled" and someone "everybody hates" before praising the novel anyway (↑127).
- − One comment admits it's genuinely "hard to reconcile" the author's views with the book he wrote (↑202).
- − The franchise's later entries have lost the room: The Last Shadow's release went almost unmentioned even by longtime fans (↑130).
Who it's for
Read this if you can hold a great book and a bad author in your head at the same time; Reddit clearly does, repeatedly (↑127, ↑202). It's the default entry point alongside Dune for readers new to science fiction (↑143), and it holds up as a standalone even if you have no interest in following Ender through Speaker for the Dead or the later Shadow books. Don't expect anyone to be talking about the newest sequel when you finish it.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Ender's Game?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“Enders Game, Enders Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. I particularly love Speaker for the Dead, and it's actually kinda hard to reconcile the views of the Author who wrote that book with the views of Orson Scott Card.
“1. The awesome painted covers are still around, they tend to be for specific subgenres, however, notably space opera and military science fiction. My "Old Man's War" series, for example, has John Harris covers (they're painted, I know because I have the OMW cover on my office wall), and the Interdep…
“10: **Forever Peace** by Joe Haldeman (1998-1999) - A look at remote controlled armoured warfare combined with the violence of man. This book shouldn't be called Forever Peace in my view, it gets unfairly judged vs the original when it is only loosely linked and a fantastic book in it's own right, w…
“Enders Game and Dune
“Seconding Enders Game and Ready Player One. Outside of that, you might look at Brandon Sanderson books, such as the Mistborn books or the Stormlight Archives. I really like an adult fantasy series (definitely adult) called the Dresden Files, though the first couple books for me were a little tougher…
“The Last Shadow just came out a few days ago. It's the culmination of the Ender's Game series, reuniting and concluding the Ender series and the Shadow series. And no one is talking about it. Ender's Game was hugely influential to me as a child, and probably a lot of other people as well, but the mo…
“Hard to pick out one, but even though the author has been canceled and everybody hates him, I can't forget *Ender's Game*. If not the best SF novel I've ever read, it is the most riveting. I read chapter 1 one morning, went out for the day, and was up until 5 the next morning with a six-pack because…
“Also scifi, but the Ender's Game series deals with a few characters who did some really momentous things at some point in their life and then thanks to relativistic space travel managed to live to see the resulting society hundreds of years after those events, including how history views them and th…
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Readers also mention
All books like Ender's Game →Books that share discussion threads with Ender's Game — counted from the comments, not curated.
Dune
Frank Herbert
A duke's son survives his family's betrayal on a desert planet and becomes the prophet who leads its people to war.
Hyperion
Dan Simmons
Seven pilgrims journey toward a monster that grants one wish and kills everyone else, and each tells the story of why they came.
Foundation
Isaac Asimov
A mathematician predicts the fall of a galactic empire and hides the fix inside an encyclopedia nobody will read for a thousand years.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Earth gets demolished for a hyperspace bypass minutes after a man's house is demolished for a road, and his best friend turns out to be an alien with a towel.
Red Rising
Pierce Brown
A miner's son fakes his way into the ruling class's brutal war-games academy to bring down the system that executed his wife.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Le Guin
An envoy is sent alone to a planet where everyone is genderless most of the month, and he has to unlearn who he assumes is in charge.
Ender's Game — frequently asked
Should I read Ender's Game given Orson Scott Card's views?+
Reddit's answer is largely yes, with the caveat stated out loud every time. One comment (↑127) opens by calling the author "canceled" and someone "everybody hates" before naming the book "the most riveting" science fiction they've read. Another (↑202) admits the reconciliation between author and book is genuinely hard, but doesn't recommend skipping it.
Is Ender's Game still worth reading in 2026?+
Mention volume says yes: 321 mentions in 2025 alone, out of 2,542 total, holding roughly steady since 2019. r/printSF carries 1,758 of those mentions, more than any other tracked sub, suggesting it remains a foundational reference point for hard science fiction discussion rather than a dated curiosity.
Do people still read the Ender's Game sequels?+
Less and less. One commenter (↑130) notes that The Last Shadow, marketed as the series' culmination, arrived to almost no discussion, "no one is talking about it," despite calling the original book "hugely influential" growing up. The franchise's later momentum hasn't kept pace with the first novel's reputation.
What books pair well with Ender's Game?+
Dune shows up in the same breath repeatedly (↑143), and one longer recommendation thread (↑131) seconds Ender's Game alongside Ready Player One before branching into Sanderson's Mistborn and the Dresden Files. It functions as a gateway pick that opens onto both hard sci-fi and fantasy series.